Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Sept 9 (NNN-WAFA) – Senior Palestinian officials urged the U.S. to reconsider its strategy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in the wake of the resignation of U.S. Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt.

Member of Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party and Civil Affairs Minister, Hussein Al-Sheikh, said, “Greenblatt’s resignation requires that the U.S. administration reconsidered its policy towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after its failure.”

TEL AVIV, September 8. /TASS/: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement at a weekly government meeting on Sunday he could visit Russia next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"During the week, I may head to Russia to discuss with President Putin the efforts on continuing coordination between our military," Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

On September 5, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said Netanyahu’s visit to Russia could take place very soon. The visit is most likely to be held in Sochi, he said.

8 Sep 2019; MEMO: Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Saturday addressed steps to achieve a bilateral trade volume target of $100 billion during their meeting in the capital Ankara, reported Anadolu Agency.

“We examined means of achieving $100 billion trade volume between the two countries,” Pekcan said on Twitter.

8 Sep 2019; MEMO: The US travel advisory issued for Turkey “does not reflect the reality” for the assessments regarding country’s eastern and southeastern provinces, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

However, the ministry statement noted that the travel advisory contains “generally positive evaluations” as a result of the solid security conditions in Turkey.

8 Sep 2019; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s king appointed his son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, as energy minister on Sunday, replacing Khalid al-Falih and for the first time handing the portfolio in the world’s top oil exporter to a member of the royal family, reports Reuters.

8 Sep 2019; MEMO: Iranian coast guards seized control of a foreign ship for allegedly smuggling Iranian oil, its media reported on Saturday.

According to the Iranian Fars news agency, the coast guards stopped the ship carrying about 284 thousand liters of smuggled Iranian oil near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian news agency also reported that the coast guards arrested the 12 Philippine nationals on the ship and referred them to the country’s judicial authorities.

8 Sep 2019; MEMO: Armed Turkish military vehicles crossed into Syria on Sunday and headed southwest with US counterparts to begin planned joint patrols to establish a “safe zone” along a border region mainly controlled by Kurdish forces.

According to the report by Reuters, vehicles with Turkish flags joined those in Syria with US flags some 15 kilometers (nine miles) east of the Turkish border town of Akcakale, near Syria’s Tel Abyad. Two military helicopters were seen overhead.

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Sept 8 (NNN-PETRA) – Israeli occupation forces, on Sunday (today) seized 100 dunams (24.71 acres) of Palestinian-owned land, in the villages of Qaryut and Jaloud, south of Nablus, and the village of Turmos’ya, northeast of Ramallah, according to Palestinian sources.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The air force of Libya's eastern-based army on Saturday targeted Mitiga International Airport in the capital Tripoli, according to a military source.

"An airstrike targeted a military objective inside Mitiga air base," an army official said, providing no further details about the airstrike.

The UN-backed government of Libya has been engaged in a deadly armed conflict since early April in and around Tripoli against the eastern-based army, which is trying to take over the city and overthrow the government.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Saturday said it now uses arrays of advanced centrifuges prohibited by its 2015 nuclear deal and can enrich uranium “much more beyond” current levels to weapons-grade material, taking a third step away from the accord while warning Europe has little time to offer it new terms.