Middle East & North Africa

24 October 2022; MEMO: The Houthis yesterday threatened to directly attack international oil tankers in response to the "looting of the wealth" of Yemen, senior official Mohammed Bukhaiti said.

Commenting on the targeting of Al-Dhabba oil terminal in the Hadhramaut governorate, Bukhaiti wrote on Twitter: "This attack was a warning to the oil tanker commissioned to steal Yemen's oil. The attack was not aimed at targeting the terminal."

23 October 2022; MEMO: The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Saturday it had thwarted several Israeli intelligence operations in the Gaza Strip, reports Anadolu Agency.

Iyad al-Bozom, the ministry spokesman, did not, however, provide any details of the thwarted operations.

On Monday, Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV said that last month Malaysian authorities had freed a Palestinian kidnapped by Israeli Mossad agents in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

24 October 2022; MEMO: Arab residents of Israel have attended massive gatherings in support of Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad).

The gatherings were organised in Um Al-Fahm, Baqa Al-Gharbiyyeh, Qafr Mandda and Jadeedat Al Makr, amongst others, with large numbers of people attending.

Attendees stressed their support for Abu Shehadeh and the National Democratic Assembly. They pledged to exert all possible efforts to ensure the party succeeds in the upcoming elections.

24 October 2022; MEMO: Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said yesterday that the server hosting the e-mail service of its nuclear programme was hacked by a "foreign" party.

The AEOI confirmed in a statement the hacking of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant's server from "a certain foreign country," with information about activities there being leaked online.

Anadolu said the agency played down the hacking, saying the move was designed to "attract public attention" and "create media space."

24 October 2022; MEMO: Former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday accused the current Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, of "deteriorating Israel's security and economy."

Criticising Lapid, Netanyahu told reporters that Lapid did not have "expertise in running the economy," warning that Israelis were the "ones paying the price."

"The cost of living in Israel skyrocketed this year…people are not making a living and the government seems to not care," he added.

ADEN, Oct 23 (NNN-YPA) – An explosion yesterday, struck an ambulance, carrying a medic team of the southern pro-government Yemeni forces, in southern Abyan province, killing five medics on board, a security official said.

“A remotely detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) struck an ambulance, carrying a military medical team of the southern troops, while passing through a main road in the Al Mahfid district of Abyan,” the security official said, on condition of anonymity, adding that, the blast also destroyed the ambulance.

RIYADH, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince on Sunday launched an initiative to attract investments in supply chains to and from the kingdom, with an aim of raising an initial 40 billion riyals ($10.64 billion).

The initiative by Prince Mohammed bin Salman will include allocating about 10 billion riyals in incentives for supply chain investors, state news agency SPA reported, without elaborating.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian was killed on Saturday by Israeli soldiers at an Israeli army roadblock near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a press statement that Rabi Arafa Rabi, 32, was killed by Israeli soldiers after being shot in the head.

TEHRAN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister on Saturday said his country has received a U.S. message expressing American hastiness to reach the nuclear deal with Iran, official IRNA news agency reported.

"Three days ago, we received a message from the United States, and told them that the (International Atomic Energy) Agency (IAEA)'s accusations against Iran's nuclear program should be resolved" before any agreement, said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s powerful 37-year-old crown prince will not attend an upcoming summit in Algeria after his doctors advised him not to travel, the Algerian presidency said early Sunday.