Middle East & North Africa

DOHA, Sept 30 (NNN-QNA) – Qatar and Jordan discussed Qatar’s initiative to secure 10,000 jobs for Jordanians in the Gulf country.

Visiting Jordanian Minister of Labour, Faisal Nidal al-Batayneh, met in Doha with Qatar’s Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Yousef bin Mohammed Al Othman Fakhroo, exchanging views on means to boost cooperation between the two countries in the field of labour.

ANKARA, Sept 30 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish army, on Sunday, shot down a drone that violated Turkish airspace for six times, the Defence Ministry, said.

Two Turkish F-16 fighter jets tracked down the drone, after its repeated violations of Turkish airspace, but which country the drone belonged to, could not be immediately determined, said the ministry.

SANAA, Sept 30 (NNN-SABA) – Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea said, in a live broadcast by Yemen’s Houthi TV, al-Masirah, over 2,000 soldiers of Saudi-led coalition forces were “captured” in a major offensive on Saudi’s border province of Najran.

“Around 500 other coalition soldiers were killed or injured during the attack,” Sarea added.

He said that the military operation was supported by missile forces and drone strikes on Najran airport.

TEHRAN, Iran, Sept 30 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s defence minister, said Sunday, that, Iran will give strong response to any “act of aggression” against the country, Press TV reported.

“We will deal severely with the slightest act of aggression on the country,” Amir Hatami was quoted as saying.

Iran is currently capable of meeting all its defence requirements, Hatami said, adding that, the fight against terrorists and the downing of an “intruding” U.S. drone, are proof of Iran’s defence might.

TEHRAN, Sept 30 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran and Turkey are in talks, to set up an automotive joint venture, Eghtesadonline news website quoted an Iranian deputy minister of the industry ministry as saying.

The two sides are working on a deal that envisages the joint production of passenger vehicles, Hossein Modarres said.

“As soon as the terms and conditions of the agreement are finalised, the project will be launched,” Modarres said.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will continue with efforts to shed light on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In a Washington Post op-ed published Monday, Erdogan described the journalist’s killing by a Saudi hit squad as “arguably the most influential and controversial incident of the 21st Century.”

His comments come ahead of the first anniversary of Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 slaying at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

SANAA (Reuters) - A fuel shortage is deepening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, forcing drivers to wait for days in queues that stretch back from some petrol stations as far as the eye can see.

The new shortage is just one of many problems causing suffering in the civil war being fought by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and a Saudi-led coalition backed by the West.

But its consequences are far-reaching. Fuel is needed not just for cars but also for water pumps, hospital generators and to transport goods around a country where millions are on the brink of famine.

29 Sep 2019; MEMO: The personal bodyguard of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has been killed, according to local media on Sunday.

State-run Al Ekhbariya TV reported that Major General Abdulaziz al-Fagham was shot during a personal dispute in Jeddah. Al-Fagham was killed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, where the government relocates for the summer months, the broadcaster said. It did not say when the incident occurred or where exactly it took place.

CAIRO, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egypt rejected on Saturday the recent statement issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on recent protests in Egypt.

"It is unacceptable that such statement is issued by a UN entity that should verify the accuracy of its statement and should not base its assessments on assumptions and expectations in order to promote impressions that run counter to the reality and truth of matters," Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

28 Sep 2019; MEMO: The Islamic Palestinian movement, Hamas, announced on Thursday its readiness to carry out presidential parliamentary National Council elections, a statement confirmed.

In the statement, a copy of which was sent to MEMO, Hamas announced “based on the national necessity to unite all efforts against the ongoing dangerous challenges, mainly the deal of the century, we announce our readiness for presidential parliamentary National Council elections.”