Middle East & North Africa

26 April 2022; MEMO: A British judge will, on Tuesday, rule whether Airbus must keep building A321neo jetliners for estranged Qatar Airways in a decision with implications for future multi-billion-dollar jet deals, as their public bust-up returns to London's High Court, Reuters reports.

Airbus revoked the A321neo deal in January in retaliation for Qatar's refusal to stop taking A350s in a separate legal and safety dispute over damage to the surface of the larger jets.

26 April 2022; MEMO: After an extended detention, facing corruption charges, prominent Sudanese politician and former Cabinet Minister, Khalid Omer Yousif, was released on bail on Tuesday, a lawyer on his defence team said and Reuters reports.

Yousif and other politicians were arrested in February after a coup by the military leaders, who shared power with the civilian coalition they are part of, following their work on a committee working to dismantle the Omar Al-Bashir regime.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett received a letter with a threat to his life and a bullet at his family's private home in the city of Ra'anana.

Taking to Twitter, Bennett stressed the need for the political conflict in Israel not to reach the level of "bullying, violence and death threats".

The Israeli prime minister called on Israeli citizens, including politicians and social media activists to take time for calm and reconciliation, and "lower the temperature on the political discourse".

27 April 2022; MEMO: The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce expected the kingdom's imports from Turkiye to increase in the near future, in the latest sign of the steady improvement of relations between two of the largest Islamic countries.

Sources in the Council of Chambers of Commerce, who requested to remain anonymous, told Anadolu Agency today that the import of Turkish goods by merchants will return to normal at an accelerated rate, as soon as the official announcement of the return of relations.

27 April 2022; MEMO: The Adalah Centre for Rights and Freedoms has launched a human campaign calling on the Egyptian authorities to halt the issuance and implementation of executions of those held on political grounds.

The rights group said the death sentences recently issued and the executions that preceded them have been handed out as a form of "political revenge", and as a result of trying to achieve justice through fair trials.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Archbishop Atallah Hanna said yesterday that Israeli aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque is aggression on Church of Holy Sepulchre.

The archbishop's remarks came during a popular action organised in the holy city in support for Al-Aqsa Mosque and Muslim worshippers who have been subjected to Israeli aggression throughout the month of fasting, Ramadan.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Human rights groups accused the Israeli judiciary on Tuesday of providing legal cover for the army's crimes against unarmed Palestinian civilians.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the security services to take action in the occupied West Bank cities of Jenin and Hebron against anti-occupation armed resistance activities, Khleej.net reported on Tuesday. The security sweep, said PA Interior Minister Ziyad Hab Al-Reeh, will concentrate on the two cities.

27 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces have turned Jerusalem into a military base to choke Al-Aqsa Mosque, Grand Imam, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, said yesterday.

"Israeli measures in Jerusalem and against Al-Aqsa Mosque reiterate the Zionist plans to dominate the holy city," Sheikh Sabri said.

27 April 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the 22-centimeter (6.7-inch) tall limestone head was found while the farmer was working his land in Khan Yunis, and is believed to be dated to around 2,500 BC.

"The statue represents the Canaanite goddess, Anat," Jamal Abu Reda, in charge of antiquities at the ministry, said in a statement.

Anat, one of the best-known Canaanite deities, was the goddess of love and war.