Middle East & North Africa

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Thursday, intensifying a months-long campaign decrying the proposed overhaul that would curb some Supreme Court powers and tighten political control over the appointment of judges, Reuters reported.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of protesters raised Israeli flags and marched through the city, stopping traffic in the middle of the working day, while a small group set tires on fire in front of a seaport, blocking traffic for a brief period.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: The family of jailed Tunisian parliamentarian and Ennhada Movement leader, Said Ferjani, has filed a legal appeal, calling on the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on Tunisian officials, including President Kais Saied, for gross human rights violations, family lawyer, Saber Al-Obeidi, said.

The appeal was filed under the UK's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020.

The case also includes Tunisia's Justice Minister, Leïla Jaffel, and former Interior Minister, Taoufik Charfeddine.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has approved a law which will grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immunity from prosecution on criminal charges. The Basic Law: The Government passed its second and third readings, and will prevent a sitting prime minister from being dismissed from office and declared to be unable to fulfil his or her duties.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that his government will lay the foundation stone today for homes to be built for those affected by the double earthquake that struck the south of the country on 6 February. He made the announcement in a television interview yesterday.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, agreed to meet with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, soon in order to pave the way for the reopening of embassies and consulates.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported today that the two ministers exchanged greetings on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Container homes from Qatar are being set up for the afflicted in Turkiye's Adiyaman province that was hit hard by the 6 February twin earthquakes, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to sources, officials in Adiyaman have been handed over 1,000 living containers, and as many as 600 of them have, so far, been placed near the city's main bus terminal.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said Thursday that "the situation requires a quick emergency operation to save the country," stressing that the solution is to elect a president, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Mikati met with Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, at the assembly's headquarters in Beirut, according to a statement by Berri's office.

23 Mar 2023; MEMO: Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to re-open their embassies after cutting diplomatic ties more than a decade ago, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, a step that would mark a leap forward in Damascus's return to the Arab fold, Reuters reports.

BEIRUT, Mar 23 (NNN-NNA) – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), yesterday launched a project, with 2.2 million U.S. dollars in grant financing, to help revitalise the cultural life in Lebanon.

Implemented by UN-Habitat, the BERYT project is financed by the Lebanon Financing Facility (LFF), a multi-donor trust fund, administered by the World Bank, and UNESCO Beirut will oversee the implementation of the cultural and creative industries component.

ALGIERS, March 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Algeria’s relations with Morocco have reached “the point of no return”, according to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the latest evidence of the continued poor relationship between the two countries, which broke off relations in 2021.

Speaking in an interview, Tebboune said that while he regretted the deteriorating relations between Algeria and its neighbour, he blamed Morocco for the current state of affairs.