Middle East & North Africa

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Thousands of Moroccans protested against normalisation with Israel in several cities on Saturday, coinciding with the second anniversary since Rabat resumed its diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.

The Moroccan Front in Support of Palestine and Against Normalisation said in a statement that these protests were against the normalisation agreement with Israel.

According to the statement, the protesters expressed their unconditional support for the Palestinian resistance.

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that the arrests of citizens linked to the United Kingdom showed London's "destructive role" in the recent protests in Iran.

Asked by a reporter to comment on Sunday's announcement in Tehran of the arrest of seven people linked to Britain, foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: "Some countries, especially the one you mentioned, had an unconstructive role regarding the recent developments in Iran.

27 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Consultative Assembly in the Sultanate of Oman on Monday referred a bill amending Article 1 of the Law of Boycotting Israel to the Legislative and Legal Committee to complete the procedures.

27 Dec 2022; MEMO: From inside his small shop in souk in the centre of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, Abdullah Al-Sarraj was able to make bee stings an "effective and rapid treatment" for people who are suffering from chronic diseases.

27 Dec 2022; MEMO: The first Judicial Conference of the Constitutional/Supreme Courts/Councils of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member/Observer States kicked off in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday.

The Turkish constitutional court said in a statement that presidents and official constitutional representatives from 32 Islamic countries participated in the conference.

27 Dec 2022; MEMO: Algeria's foreign reserves amounted to $60 billion by the end of 2022, the governor of the Bank of Algeria announced yesterday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Salah-Eddine Taleb told reporters that the available reserves would cover the country's import needs from goods and services for two and a half years.

RAMALLAH, Dec 26 (NNN-WAFA) – Dozens of Palestinians participated in a vigil yesterday, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, demanding the return of bodies of Palestinians killed in conflicts by Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinian national campaign organised the protest to bring back Palestinian corpses, which Israel has kept for years. The participants, waving Palestinian flags and pictures of the dead, chanted: “We want our children.”

TEHRAN, Dec 26 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian media delegation, headed by Assistant Minister of Information, Ahmad Dhawa, held two working sessions at the Iranian Radio and TV Corporation, which dealt with boosting cooperation in the fields of media and technical content.

The Assistant Minister of Information stressed the importance of developing media relations and joint cooperation, to keep pace with the political relations between the two countries.

RAMALLAH, Dec 26 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official said yesterday that, the new Israeli government, formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently, is replacing peace and the two-state solution with annexation and settlement.

Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, told “Voice of Palestine” that, the peace process and the option of the two-state solution “are no longer on the agenda of the new Israeli government.”

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of Ethiopian federal government officials on Monday headed to Mekele, the rebel-held capital of the country's Tigray region.

The trip, which came after a permanent cessation of hostilities agreement signed on Nov. 2 between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which now controls the northernmost region, is the first by a federal government delegation since conflict erupted back in November 2020.