Middle East & North Africa

26 September 2019; AFP: An Emirati has made history as the first Arab to reach the International Space Station, after blasting off from Kazakhstan.

The Russian spacecraft carrying Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates, who was accompanied by Russia's Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, docked Wednesday after a six-hour trip.

The three "entered the orbiting lab and joined six of their station crewmates for a joyful crew greeting ceremony today," NASA tweeted.

26 Sep 2019; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s son has launched a plan to thwart protests against his father’s rule, reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, including courting high-profile businessmen to consolidate support and directing media coverage of demonstrations.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Thursday for his pre-trial hearing next week on corruption allegations to be broadcast live, saying that “the time has come for the public to hear everything, including my side”.

Following a deadlocked Sept. 17 election, Netanyahu is fighting for a fifth term in office that might confer legal immunity in three long-running cases that he has cast as a baseless and politically motivated witch-hunt.

26 Sep 2019; MEMO: The number of arrests in Egypt has hit 1,909, according to figures documented by the Cairo-based NGO the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights.

Since the 20 September protests began in Egypt security services have been rounding up journalists, lawyers and politicians in a bid to quash further demonstrations.

26 Sep 2019; MEMO: Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh announced today that his movement had accepted an initiative launched by Palestinian factions to end internal Palestinian division.

During a meeting attended by representatives of the Palestinians factions held in his house, Haniyeh said: “This meeting is being held to announce our reply to the initiatives of the leaders of the Palestinian factions which included a national vision to achieve unity and end the division.”

26 Sep 2019; MEMO: Israel’s president tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday with assembling a new government after power-sharing talks with his strongest rival, Benny Gantz, failed following an inconclusive election, Reuters reports.

Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, and Israel’s longest-serving leader, still has no clear path to a fifth term after emerging from the Sept. 17 ballot, the second this year, short of a parliamentary majority.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said he bears responsibility for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year by Saudi operatives “because it happened under my watch,” according to a PBS documentary to be broadcast next week.

It is the first time that Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, has publicly indicated personal accountability for the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by operatives seen as close to him. The CIA and some Western governments have said they believe he ordered it, but Saudi officials say he had no role.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel's president on Wednesday requested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble the next government, tasking the decade-long leader with solving a political stalemate following inconclusive elections.

Netanyahu will have up to six weeks, beginning Thursday, to form a majority coalition.

He is facing struggles as his right-wing Likud faction won 32 seats in last Tuesday's voting, far cry from the needed 61 seats to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset.

TRIPOLI, Sept 26 (NNN-Xinhua) — Spokesman for Libya’s east-based army Ahmad al-Mismari said that the army commander Khalifa Haftar supports national dialogue and political process in the country.

“There must be dialogue and political process eventually. The comprehensive national dialogue must preserve the national unity,” al-Mismari said, pointing out that the army “has repeatedly demanded presidential and parliamentary elections be held.”

TEHRAN, Sept 26 (NNN-TASNIM) – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdolnaser Hemmati, announced that, Iran is using national currencies and euro, in bilateral trade with Russia and Turkey.

Hemmati said that, Iran currently does not use U.S. dollar in its trade with Russia and Turkey, and “this trend is gradually removing the U.S. dollar from (Iran’s) trade cycle.”