Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Latest on the explosion and fire at a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia (all times local):

3:10 a.m.

The U.S. Energy Department says the U.S. “stands ready to deploy resources from the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserves if necessary to offset any disruptions to oil markets” in the wake of a drone attack in Saudi Arabia on the world’s largest oil processing facility.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched drone attacks on the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oil field Saturday, sparking huge fires and halting about half of the supplies from the world’s largest exporter of oil.

World oil price could rise by $10 per barrel after ten drones attacked one of Saudi Arabia’s largest oilfields in Hijra Khurais and the world’s biggest crude processing facility at Abqaiq on Saturday forcing Saudi to cut output in half.

Drones attack has caused a loss of 5.7 million barrels of crude production a day or 50% of the kingdom’s oil output. Exact price impact will depend on the repair time which can take weeks to months.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will discuss buying U.S. Patriot missiles with President Donald Trump this month, saying his personal bond with the U.S. leader could overcome a crisis caused by Ankara buying Russian air defense systems.

Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system in July raised the prospect of U.S. sanctions, and the State Department has said an offer to sell Raytheon Co’s Patriot missile defense system to Ankara has expired.

ANKARA (Reuters) - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday to discuss Israel’s announcement of its intention to annex areas of the West Bank, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the occupied West Bank that Israel captured in 1967 and which Palestinians want as part of a future state.

14 Sep 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will discuss buying US Patriot missiles with President Donald Trump this month, saying his personal bond with the US leader could overcome a crisis caused by Ankara buying Russian air defence systems, reports Reuters.

Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system in July raised the prospect of US sanctions, and the State Department has said an offer to sell Raytheon Co’s Patriot missile defence system to Ankara has expired.

14 Sep 2019; MEMO: The voting process for the Tunisian presidential elections for nationals living abroad in six electoral circles has begun on Friday at dawn. This will continue until 15 September, the date of commencement of the voting process within Tunisia.

14 Sep 2019; MEMO: Atallah Hanna, the archbishop of Sebastian Roman Orthodox, stated today that the ancient Orthodox real estate in the area of ​​Hebron Gate is under serious threat, and that extremist settlers may seize these properties at any time. “We might witness the same scenario of the building of Saint John the Beloved in the Old City, to

DAMASCUS, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Shells fired by the Syrian army slammed near a Turkish observation point in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on Friday, a war monitor reported.

The shells fell in the surrounding of the Turkish observation point in the southern countryside of Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the rebels also fired on government positions in the town of Khan Shaykhun in southern Idlib countryside.

The Observatory said there are no reports on casualties yet.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria is at a harrowing political impasse. Africa’s largest country hasn’t had an elected president for five months, and the powerful army chief wants to change that by holding an election, which he hopes will quell long-running protests he sees as a threat to his energy-rich nation’s stability. But many citizens want more.

They don’t want an election forced on them by a regime they decry, and see their uprising as a chance for a wholesale democratic rebirth.