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26 February 2024; AA: Denmark on Monday closed its investigation into the 2022 Nord Stream blasts, saying there was a "deliberate sabotage" but no "sufficient grounds" to pursue a criminal case.

The joint investigation was conducted by Copenhagen Police and the Danish Security and Intelligence Services (PET).

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that sending Western troops on the ground in Ukraine is not “ruled out” in the future after the issue was debated at a gathering of European leaders in Paris, as Russia’s full-scale invasion grinds into a third year.

The French leader said that “we will do everything needed so Russia cannot win the war” after the meeting of over 20 European heads of state and government and other Western officials.

20 February 2024; MEMO: Israel’s economy shrank by almost 20 per cent in the last quarter of 2023, amid Israeli forces’ ongoing offensive and bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, preliminary figures showed that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by an annualised 19.4 per cent in the final three months of last year, which was almost double the market expectation of the decrease.

23 February 2024; MEMO: Nestlé has seen “hesitancy among consumers and a preference for local brands” in the Middle East since the start of the Israeli devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip, its CEO said in a call with journalists on Thursday, Reuters reports.

23 February 2024; MEMO: Talks with Egypt to boost its International Monetary Fund loan programme are making excellent progress, the IMF said yesterday, saying that Egypt needs a “very comprehensive support package” to deal with economic challenges, including pressures from the war in Gaza, Reuters reports.

26 February 2024; MEMO: Yemen’s Houthis fired a missile that likely targeted the “Torm Thor” in the Gulf of Aden on 24 February, but missed the US-flagged oil tanker, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday, as the group steps up attacks on ships, Reuters reports.

26 February 2024; MEMO: Trade and investments between Turkiye and South Africa are booming, with an increase reported annually, Turkey’s Ambassador to Pretoria said Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“The total volume of Turkish investments in South Africa is $32 million. In 2022, it was $ 31 million, which is an increase,” Aysegul Kandas told Anadolu in an interview at her office in the capital, Pretoria.

26 February 2024; MEMO: Jacob Rothschild, a British Jewish banker, passed away at the age of 87, his family announced on Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

7 December 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has praised the Kingdom’s relationship and coordination with Russia as having “helped remove tensions in the Middle East”, as the two oil giants continue to advance relations and steer global oil markets.

7 December 2023; MEMO: After years of strained relations that raised tensions to alarming levels, long time regional rivals, Greece and Turkiye, made a significant step Thursday in mending ties during a visit to Athens by Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AP reports.