Middle East & North Africa

04 Nov 2022; MEMO: Turkiye, on Friday, pledged to send grain and fertilisers to the least-developed and developing countries, especially in Africa, Anadolu News Agency reports.

04 Nov 2022; MEMO: Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, on Friday said the country was "freed 43 years ago" and will not be a "milking cow" of Western powers in response to US President Joe Biden's vow to "free" Iran, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Speaking at a public rally in Tehran to mark the 43rd anniversary of the siege of the US embassy in the Iranian capital, Raisi said Biden's remarks were "because of his distraction".

04 Nov 2022; MEMO: Pope Francis on Friday appealed to religious leaders to help bring the world back from "the brink of a delicate precipice" and oppose a new race to rearm that he said was redesigning Cold War-era spheres of influence, Reuters reports.

Francis spoke on his first full day in Bahrain as he closed a forum on East-West dialogue promoted by the King of the Gulf country where Christians are allowed to practice their faith publicly in churches.

04 Nov 2022; MEMO: People calling for a boycott of the World Cup in Qatar are from a handful of countries that do not represent the rest of the world, which is looking forward to the tournament, Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has said, Reuters reports.

04 Nov 2022; MEMO: Israeli aircraft have fired several airstrikes against the Gaza Strip this morning, resulting in a power outage in some areas.

According to an Israeli army spokesman, the bombs came in response to the launching of rockets against Israel from Hamas.

However, there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Israeli military claimed that four rockets were fired from Gaza, three of which did not reach Israeli territory, while one rocket was intercepted by air defence systems.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that Greece's militarisation of at least 16 out of its 23 islands in the eastern Aegean Mediterranean Sea threatens Ankara's security, calling on Athens to comply with international law, Anadolu news agency reported.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the shin today when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt, Reuters reports.

Several others in the convoy were wounded and the information minister said a suspect had been arrested. One party member said there were reports one person had been killed.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: Nobel laureates have called upon the government in Egypt to release prisoners of conscience in advance of the COP27 climate change summit in Sharm El Sheikh. The laureates mentioned specifically a British-Egyptian prisoner on hunger strike, Alaa Abdel Fattah, saying that he may die in his cell.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: Jordan and Russia have agreed to step up coordination in tackling instability in southern Syria, which Amman blames on Iran-linked militias and multi-billion dollar drug smuggling across its border, Jordan's Foreign Minister said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Ayman Al Safadi was speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, that centred on south Syria to "neutralise the potential dangers of instability" in the area.

03 Nov 2022; MEMO: Qatar has trained more than 50,000 people to provide security during the World Cup, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday, with foreign forces helping out under Qatari command, Reuters reports.

Ministry spokesperson, Jabr Hammoud Jabr Al Nuaimi, did not say which countries were taking part.