Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, centrist Benny Gantz, claimed on Thursday victory in the closely-fought parliamentary elections.

In a broadcast statement on Israel's main TV channels, he called on Netanyahu to join him to a "broad, liberal unity government under my leadership."

He rejected Netanyahu's earlier call to form a unity government with Gantz' centrist Blue and White party and far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties as a "spin."

ABU DHABI, Sept 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States wants a peaceful solution to the crisis sparked by attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, after Iran raised the prospect of “all-out war”.

After meeting with allies in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Pompeo said there was an “enormous consensus in the region” that Iran carried out Saturday’s attacks, despite its denials.

“I didn’t hear anyone in the region who doubted that for a single moment,” he told reporters.

RIYADH, Sept 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry has shown off what it says is wreckage of drones and cruise missiles that proves Iranian involvement in weekend attacks on two oil facilities.

It said 18 drones and seven cruise missiles were fired from a direction that ruled out Yemen as a source.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have said they are behind the attacks.

Iran has denied any involvement and warned it would retaliate against any attack that targeted it.

TUNIS, Sept 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A presidential candidate in Tunisia who reached the final stage of the election is set to remain in custody after failing to win an appeal to be freed.

Nabil Karoui, 56, was detained last month on charges of money laundering and tax fraud, which he denies.

The media mogul was still able to stand despite his arrest but he was not allowed to vote. He reached the run-off vote which is expected next month.

On Wednesday, a judge refused to rule on whether or not he would be released.

MOSCOW, Sept 20 (NNN-BERNAMA-SPUTNIK) — The Saudi-led coalition launched a military operation against “military facilities” of the Houthi rebels in the northern part of the Yemeni province of Al Hudaydah, Sputnik news agency reported, quoting media reports on Friday.

The coalition has also called on civilians to keep distant from the targets of the operation, the Ekhbariya broadcaster reported.

The information about the start of the operation was confirmed by the coalition’s spokesman, Col. Turki Maliki.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Any attack on Iran by the U.S. or Saudi Arabia will spark an “all-out war,” Tehran’s top diplomat warned Thursday, raising the stakes as Washington and Riyadh weigh a response to a drone-and-missile strike on the kingdom’s oil industry that shook global energy markets.

19 Sep 2019; MEMO: The economic pain inflicted on Saudi Arabia by this weekend’s attacks on its largest oil processing plant, Abqaiq, is turning out to be more severe than it was initially thought. Despite its long-held position as the world’s largest exporter of oil, Riyadh has been left with no option other than to import diesel and jet fuel.

19 Sep 2019; MEMO: Saudi authorities have unexpectedly transferred a number of detained scholars and clerics to the capital Riyadh in order to prepare them for their trial.

Abdullah Al-Ouda, the son of prominent scholar Salman Al-Ouda, wrote on Twitter today that authorities had quickly moved his father to the capital after the court date was brought forward, taking the family by surprise as his original court date was set to be over a month away.

19 Sep 2019; MEMO: Amnesty International yesterday renewed its call for “international justice” for Palestinian victims of Israeli occupation forces after a woman was shot and killed at a checkpoint.

19 September 2019; AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on his main challenger Benny Gantz Thursday to form a unity government together, a major development after deadlocked election results put his long tenure in office at risk.

Netanyahu, in a video message, said he preferred to form a right-wing coalition, but the results showed it was not possible.