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13 October 2022; MEMO: Malaysia has selected Turkish Aerospace Industries to provide three unmanned aircraft, Defence News reports.

According to the report, the Malaysian government has decided to contract with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the country's Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said in a statement.

The purchase will be funded under the country's five-year spending plan, rather than its defence budget, the Minister added.

13 October 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's President, Michel Aoun, announced on Thursday his country's acceptance of the US-brokered maritime border deal with Israel, saying talks had come to "a positive end", Reuters reports.

14 October 2022; MEMO: The Russian government has agreed to a cooperation agreement with Morocco in the field of nuclear energy, which includes support for the kingdom's construction of a nuclear plant.

The Russian TASS news agency said yesterday that the Russian Official Portal of Legal Information published on Wednesday a decision issued by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approving a draft agreement between Moscow and Rabat for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.

13 October 2022; MEMO: A leading Lebanese politician who is sanctioned by the United States said on Thursday he played a behind-the-scenes role in US-brokered talks to delineate Lebanon's maritime boundary with Israel by liaising with Hezbollah, Reuters reports.

Gebran Bassil, a Christian Member of Parliament and former minister, was sanctioned in 2020 for alleged corruption and material support to Hezbollah but denies the accusations.

14 October 2022; MEMO: Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked yesterday slammed Prime Minister Yair Lapid after he announced that he will not put the maritime border agreement with Lebanon to a vote in the Knesset, Maariv newspaper reported.

12 October 2022; MEMO: The Lebanese Resistance Movement, Hezbollah, says it will not recognise any maritime border deal between the government and Israel until it is officially signed.

Yesterday, Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said that until an agreement is finalised, Hezbollah "will remain vigilant".

"The pending hours are fateful. As the people of Lebanon, we are awaiting (declaration of) an official position on the part of our President and the Zionist enemy," he said.

12 October 2022; MEMO: Israel's cabinet on Wednesday endorsed a US-brokered deal to delineate a maritime border with Lebanon, paving the way for a potentially fractious two-week parliamentary review before it goes into force, Reuters reports.

Lawmakers and a Parliamentary Committee will now have 14 days to review details of the deal before it again comes before the cabinet for a final vote, according to a statement from Prime Minister, Yair Lapid's office. This brings it close to a 1 November national election.

13 October 2022; MEMO: Moscow will continue to work with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) led by Saudi Arabia and will not give up its leading position in the global energy market despite Western sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

Speaking at the Russia Energy Week, Putin added that Moscow is determined to keep oil production and export rates at their current levels until 2025.

12 October 2022; MEMO: Egypt is pushing to tie up a crucial financial package from the International Monetary Fund at annual meetings in Washington this week, hoping to stem a currency crisis that has restricted imports and sparked market unease over foreign debt repayments, Reuters reports.

12 October 2022; MEMO: Israel has been ranked as the fifth worst country in the world to work in, according to a report by the international insurance firm, William Russell.

The firm compiled a list of countries with the least favourable employment conditions, ranking each based on a score from 0 to 10.

The report explained that the average person in Israel works extremely high working hours, resulting in almost 36.6 hours per week.