auto-update week 22

middle-east/ae.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "Introduction": {
     "Background": {
-      "text": "The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Dhabi, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah. The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations. For more than three decades, oil and global finance drove the UAE's economy. In 2008-09, the confluence of falling oil prices, collapsing real estate prices, and the international banking crisis hit the UAE especially hard. The UAE did not experience the \"Arab Spring\" unrest seen elsewhere in the Middle East in 2010-11, partly because of the government's multi-year, $1.6-billion infrastructure investment plan for the poorer northern emirates, and its aggressive pursuit of advocates of political reform. The UAE in recent years has played a growing role in regional affairs. In addition to donating billions of dollars in economic aid to help stabilize Egypt, the UAE was one of the first countries to join the Defeat-ISIS coalition, and to participate as a key partner in a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. On 15 September 2020, the UAE and Bahrain signed a peace agreement (the Abraham Accords) with Israel – brokered by the US – in Washington DC. The UAE and Bahrain thus became the third and fourth Middle Eastern countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to recognize Israel."
+      "text": "The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th-century treaties. In 1971, six of these states -- Abu Dhabi, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn -- merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ra's al Khaymah joined in 1972. <br><br>The UAE's per-capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations. For more than three decades, oil and global finance drove the UAE's economy. In 2008-09, the confluence of falling oil prices, collapsing real estate prices, and the international banking crisis hit the UAE especially hard. The UAE did not experience the \"Arab Spring\" unrest seen elsewhere in the Middle East in 2010-11, partly because of the government's multi-year, $1.6-billion infrastructure investment plan for the poorer northern emirates, and its aggressive pursuit of advocates for political reform. <br><br>The UAE in recent years has played a growing role in regional affairs. In addition to donating billions of dollars in economic aid to help stabilize Egypt, the UAE was one of the first countries to join the Defeat ISIS coalition, and to participate as a key partner in a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. In 2020, the UAE and Bahrain signed a peace agreement (the Abraham Accords) with Israel -- brokered by the US -- in Washington, D.C. The UAE and Bahrain thus became the third and fourth Middle Eastern countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to recognize Israel."
     }
   },
   "Geography": {
@@ -1228,10 +1228,10 @@
   },
   "Space": {
     "Space agency/agencies": {
-      "text": "UAE Space Agency (created in 2014); Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC; established 2006); in 2015, MBRSC combined with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST; established 2006)&nbsp; (2023)"
+      "text": "UAE Space Agency (created in 2014); Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC; established 2006); in 2015, MBRSC combined with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST; established 2006) (2024)"
     },
     "Space program overview": {
-      "text": "has an ambitious and growing space program and is recognized as one of the leading programs in the region; focused on satellite development, including communications, remote sensing, and navigational; also placing emphasis on building expertise, infrastructure, ground stations, technology, and research and development capabilities to support its space program domestically; rather than building its own launch capabilities, has elected to utilize foreign partners to launch payloads from spaceports abroad; invests heavily in foreign commercial space companies and has sought to  encourage global partnerships; has a foreign-assisted astronaut training program; seeking to establish UAE as an international hub for space education; has signed more than 25 cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with major global and regional players in the space sector, including the Arab Space Cooperation Group, China, the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK, and the US; sees the development of its commercial space industry as a key pillar for diversifying and developing the country’s non-oil economy; approximately 60 space companies and entities operate in the UAE, including international and start-ups, and five space science research centers (2023)",
+      "text": "has an ambitious and growing space program and is recognized as one of the leading programs in the region; focused on satellite development, including communications, remote sensing, and navigational; also placing emphasis on building expertise, infrastructure, ground stations, technology, and research and development capabilities to support its space program domestically; rather than building its own launch capabilities, has elected to utilize foreign partners to launch payloads from spaceports abroad; has looked to invest heavily in foreign commercial space companies and  encourage global partnerships; has a foreign-assisted astronaut training program; seeking to establish UAE as an international hub for space education; has signed more than 25 cooperation agreements or memorandums of understanding with major global and regional players in the space sector, including the Arab Space Cooperation Group, China, the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the UK, and the US; sees the development of its commercial space industry as a key pillar for diversifying and developing the country’s non-oil economy; dozens of space companies and entities operate in the UAE, including international and start-ups, plus several space science research centers (2024)",
       "note": "<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S"
     }
   },

middle-east/gg.json

@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@
         "text": "<br>embgeo.usa@mfa.gov.ge<br><br>https://georgiaembassyusa.org/contact/"
       },
       "consulate(s) general": {
-        "text": "New York"
+        "text": "New York, San Francisco"
       }
     },
     "Diplomatic representation from the US": {

middle-east/sa.json

@@ -1230,10 +1230,10 @@
   },
   "Space": {
     "Space agency/agencies": {
-      "text": "Saudi Space Commission (SSC; established 2018); King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST; established 1977); KACST includes the Space and Aeronautics Research Institute (SARI; established 2000) (2023)"
+      "text": "Saudi Space Agency (SSA; elevated to agency level from previous Saudi Space Commission or SSC, which was established in 2018); King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST; established 1977); KACST includes the Space and Aeronautics Research Institute (SARI; established 2000) (2024)"
     },
     "Space program overview": {
-      "text": "has one of the more advanced space programs in the region; manufactures and operates communications, remote sensing (RS), and scientific satellites; develops a range of satellite subsystems and payload technologies; SSC’s missions also include accelerating economic diversification, enhancing research and development, and raising private sector participation in the global space industry; is the main founder and financier of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat; launched in 1976; headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the primary satellite communications service provider for over 170 million persons in the Arab world); cooperates with the space agencies and industries of a wide range of countries, including those of Belarus, China, the European Space Agency and its member states (particularly France, Germany, Greece, and Hungary), India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, and the US; member of the Arab Space Cooperation Group (established by the UAE in 2019 and includes Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, and Sudan) (2023)",
+      "text": "has an ambitious and growing space program; manufactures and operates communications, remote sensing (RS), and scientific satellites; develops a range of satellite subsystems and payload technologies; SSA's missions also include accelerating economic diversification, enhancing research and development, and raising private sector participation in the global space industry; is the main founder and financier of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat; launched in 1976; headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the primary satellite communications service provider for over 170 million persons in the Arab world); cooperates with the space agencies and industries of a wide range of countries, including those of Belarus, China, Egypt, the European Space Agency and its member states (particularly France, Germany, Greece, and Hungary), India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK, and the US; member of the Arab Space Cooperation Group (established by the UAE in 2019 and includes Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, and Sudan) (2024)",
       "note": "<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S"
     }
   },

middle-east/tu.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "Introduction": {
     "Background": {
-      "text": "<p>Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire by reformer and national hero Mustafa KEMAL, known as Ataturk or \"Father of the Turks.\" One-party rule ended in 1950, and the multiparty democracy has since been fractured by periods of instability and military coups (1960, 1971, 1980, 1997, 2016). </p> <p>Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and NATO in 1952. In 1963, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; it began accession talks with the EU in 2005. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the \"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,\" which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization, has long dominated the attention of Turkish security forces. In 2013, the Turkish Government and the PKK conducted negotiations aimed at ending the violence, but intense fighting resumed in 2015. </p> <p>The Turkish Government conducted a referendum in 2017 in which voters approved constitutional amendments changing Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. </p>"
+      "text": "<p>Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire by reformer and national hero Mustafa KEMAL, known as Ataturk or \"Father of the Turks.\" One-party rule ended in 1950, and periods of instability and military coups have since fractured the multiparty democracy, in 1960, 1971, 1980, 1997, and 2016. </p> <p>Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and NATO in 1952. In 1963, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; it began accession talks with the EU in 2005. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the \"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,\" which only Turkey recognizes. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization, began a separatist insurgency in Turkey in 1984, and the struggle has long dominated the attention of Turkish security forces. In 2013, the Turkish Government and the PKK conducted negotiations aimed at ending the violence, but intense fighting resumed in 2015. </p> <p>The Turkish Government conducted a referendum in 2017 in which voters approved constitutional amendments changing Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. </p>"
     }
   },
   "Geography": {
@@ -1301,13 +1301,13 @@
   },
   "Space": {
     "Space agency/agencies": {
-      "text": "Turkish Space Agency (TUA; established 2018); T&Uuml;BİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (UZAY; established in 1985 as Ankara Electronics Research and Development Institute); Turkish Space Systems, Integration and Test Center (USET) is a spacecraft production and testing facility owned by the Ministry of National Defense and operated by its subordinate Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) (2023)"
+      "text": "Turkish Space Agency (TUA; established 2018); T&Uuml;BİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (UZAY; established in 1985 as Ankara Electronics Research and Development Institute) (2024)"
     },
     "Space launch site(s)": {
-      "text": "rocket test launch site on the Black Sea in Sinop Province; the 2021 national space program called for the establishment of a space port; reportedly plans to build a rocket launch site in Somalia or use a sea-launch facility for future space launch vehicles&nbsp; (2023)"
+      "text": "rocket test launch site on the Black Sea in Sinop Province; the 2021 national space program called for the establishment of a space port; has reportedly discussed building a rocket launch site in Somalia or using a sea-launch facility for future space launch vehicles (2024)"
     },
     "Space program overview": {
-      "text": "has an ambitious space program with a large focus on satellites, software development, ground station technologies, and building up the country’s space industries; in recent years has also initiated a space launch program with the goal of placing domestically produced satellites into orbit independently and a probe on the Moon; manufactures and operates remote sensing and telecommunications satellites, as well as satellite components; has a space/satellite launch vehicle program; space sector is heavily import-reliant, particularly at the component level; has established relations with more than 25 foreign space agencies and corporations, including those of Azerbaijan, China, France, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the US, as well as the European Space Agency; has state-owned rocket development and satellite communications companies (2023)",
+      "text": "has an ambitious space program with a large focus on satellites, software development, ground station technologies, and building up the country’s space industries; in recent years has also initiated a space launch program with the goal of placing domestically produced satellites into orbit independently and a probe on the Moon; manufactures and operates remote sensing and telecommunications satellites, as well as satellite components; has a space/satellite launch vehicle program; space sector is heavily import-reliant, particularly at the component level; has established relations with more than 25 foreign space agencies and corporations, including those of Azerbaijan, China, France, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Ukraine, and the US, as well as the European Space Agency; has state-owned rocket development and satellite communications companies, including some under the Ministry of Defense (2024)",
       "note": "<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S"
     }
   },

middle-east/we.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "Introduction": {
     "Background": {
-      "text": "<p>The landlocked West Bank - the larger of the two Palestinian territories - is home to some three million Palestinians. Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., the lands of the area currently within the West Bank haves been dominated by a succession of different powers throughout its history. In the more recent history, it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. The area of the West Bank fell to British forces during World War I, becoming part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the West Bank was captured by Transjordan (later renamed Jordan), which annexed the West Bank in 1950; it was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords signed between 1993 and 1999, Israel transferred to the newly created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for the main many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip.</p> <p>In addition to establishing the PA as an interim government, the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three areas with one fully managed by the PA (Area A), another fully administered by Israel (Area C), and a third with shared control (Area B) until a permanent agreement could be reached between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. In 2000, a violent intifada or uprising began across the Palestinian territories, and in 2001 negotiations for a permanent agreement between the PLO and Israel on final status issues stalled. Subsequent attempts to re-start direct negotiations have not resulted in progress toward determining final status of the area. </p> <p>The PA last held national elections in 2006, when the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank, and HAMAS failed to maintain a unity government, leading to violent clashes between their respective supporters and to HAMAS's violent seizure of all PA military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. In December 2018, the Palestinian Constitutional Court dissolved the PLC. In recent years, Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement agreements. </p> <p>Since 1994, the PA has administered parts of the West Bank under its control, mainly the major Palestinian population centers and areas immediately surrounding them (Area A). Roughly 60% of the West Bank (Area C) remains under full Israeli civil and military control, impeding Palestinian movement and trade of people and goods throughout the territory.  </p>"
+      "text": "<p>The landlocked West Bank -- the larger of the two Palestinian territories -- is home to some three million Palestinians. Inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C., the area currently known as the West Bank has been dominated by a succession of different powers. In the early 16th century, it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. The West Bank fell to British forces during World War I, becoming part of the British Mandate of Palestine. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Transjordan (later renamed Jordan) captured the West Bank and annexed it in 1950; Israel then captured it in the Six-Day War in 1967. Under the Oslo Accords -- a series of agreements that were signed between 1993 and 1999 -- Israel transferred to the newly created Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for the many Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank, as well as the Gaza Strip.</p> <p>In addition to establishing the PA as an interim government, the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three areas, with one fully managed by the PA (Area A), another fully managed by Israel (Area C), and a third with shared control (Area B) until a permanent agreement could be reached between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. In 2000, a violent <em>intifada</em>, or uprising, began across the Palestinian territories, and in 2001, negotiations for a permanent agreement between the PLO and Israel on final status issues stalled. Subsequent attempts to re-start direct negotiations have not resulted in progress toward determining final status of the area. </p> <p>The PA last held national elections in 2006, when the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank, and HAMAS failed to maintain a unity government, leading to violent clashes between their respective supporters and to HAMAS's violent seizure of all PA military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip in 2007. In 2018, the Palestinian Constitutional Court dissolved the PLC. In recent years, Fatah and HAMAS have made several attempts at reconciliation, but the factions have been unable to implement agreements. </p>"
     }
   },
   "Geography": {