Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s state TV says there was a “hostile operation” that targeted the Jiddah oil depot, which erupted in flames ahead of a Formula One race there.

The acknowledgment on Friday night comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an attack targeting the North Jiddah Bulk Plant near the city’s airport.

Journalists covering practice saw the smoke rise over the city around 5:40 p.m.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

24 March 2022; MEMO: Saudi oil exports recorded a significant jump of 57.5 per cent on an annual basis, amounting to $8 billion during the month of January.

According to government data, issued by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, petroleum exports amounted to $22 billion compared to $14 billion in the same month in 2021.

Merchandise exports increased in January 2022 by 49.6 per cent compared to the same month last year.

25 March 2022; MEMO: Algerian Minister of Energy, Mohamed Arkab, met with the President of the Turkish Kalyon Enerji company, Mortada Atta, yesterday discussed strengthening cooperation in the field of energy.

This came during a meeting in Algiers, in the presence of the Turkish Ambassador Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas, according to a statement by the Algerian Ministry of Energy and Mines.

24 March 2022; MEMO: A French court, on Wednesday, annulled the government's decision to close a mosque near the city of Bordeaux, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Sefen Guez Guez, the lawyer of the Association of the Al Farouk Mosque, said that the Bordeaux Administrative Court annulled the Gironde Governorate's 14 March decision to close the mosque for six months.

Noting that the court's decision was a step against the "unfair" closure of mosques in recent years, Guez added that Muslims can come together in the mosque.

245 March 2022; MEMO: On the sidelines of Mosul's Traditional Music Festival, an Arabic calligraphy exhibition draws visitors to Mosul's museum, a cultural institution that had been looted and damaged by Daesh, Reuters reports.

Visitors gathered in Mosul's museum on Thursday (24 March) for the opening of a calligraphy exhibition entitled 'The Rhythm of Letters' by Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb, an Iraqi calligrapher.

24 March 2022; MEMO: The United States' military has reportedly been infiltrated by Turkey's outlawed Gulenist movement, according to a Turkish newspaper report.

Citing a recent Turkish intelligence memo, the Hürriyet newspaper reported that the US-based brother of a convicted member of the organisation headed by the religious cleric, Fethulla Gulen – branded as FETO – is leading efforts to infiltrate the Pentagon and American military.

25 March 2022; MEMO: Turkey urged Libya to refrain from any steps that would recreate conflict and called on authorities to follow democratic processes, amid a crisis over control of executive power in the country, Turkish media reports.

According to the report, Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) called on parties involved in Libya to "refrain from steps that could cause new clashes" and urged authorities in the country to "follow democratic processes on the basis of legitimacy for the achievement of lasting peace and stability."

25 March 2022; MEMO: Russia and Iran are considering the possibility of recognising the Russian payment system for electronic fund transfers MIR, as an alternative to the global Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) network, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow said on Thursday.

"We are making efforts in this direction in order to implement good steps in this field in the future," Kazem Jalali said.

24 March 2022; MEMO: The details of torture in an Israeli-run prison in Lebanon, including the electrocution of a female detainee and denial of medical care, have been uncovered in newly declassified Israeli documents.

24 March 2022; MEMO: Turkey has urged the Taliban government of Afghanistan to allow girls of all ages to pursue their education in the country, as the group's leadership yesterday imposed limits on girls' access to education based on their age.

Educational institutions in Afghanistan were officially re-opened yesterday, seven months after the Taliban took over the country and drove out the former Western-backed government.