Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, October 25. /TASS/: Crew Dragon spaceships of Elon Musk’s SpaceX company have gained substantial experience for Russian cosmonauts to travel aboard them as part of cross flights, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"From our viewpoint, SpaceX has gained sufficient experience for representatives of our crews to make flights aboard its spacecraft," the Roscosmos chief told reporters at the 72nd international astronautical congress.

ADEN, Oct 25 (NNN-YPA) – Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition, yesterday continued bombing various sites controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen’s oil-rich province of Marib.

“The Houthi-held sites in Marib were heavily struck by the Saudi-led coalition warplanes, that succeeded in slowing down the rebels’ progress towards the strategic city,” the local military source said.

“The rebels partially ceased their advance on the ground, because of the heavy aerial bombardment that killed hundreds of them during the past days,” he added.

RAMALLAH, Oct 25 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ishtaye, yesterday announced that, international tourism in Palestine was back, after it had stopped for one year and a half, due to the spread of the COVID-19.

Ishtaye made the remarks, at the inauguration of several development projects in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

“Although Israel wasn’t allowing foreign tourists to stay overnight in the city of Bethlehem, the city is now ready for local and international tourism,” said Ishtaye, after visiting the city with other Palestinian ministers.

BEIRUT, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A Lebanese judge on Monday charged 68 people including 18 detainees with murder and incitement to sectarian strife over fatal clashes this month in Beirut, Lebanon's National News agency said.

Seven followers of Lebanon's Shiite Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its ally, the Amal Movement, were killed on Oct. 14 in the worst street violence in Beirut in over a decade.

25 Oct 2021; MEMO: Tunisia is imposing COVID-19 vaccine passes on Tunisians and all foreign visitors, Reuters reported on a presidential decree on Friday.

Officials, employees and users are required to show a card proving inoculation against the coronavirus to access public and private administrations, according to the decree. The pass will also be required to enter cafes, restaurants, hotels and tourist establishments, it said.

25 Oct 2021; MEMO: Reports that Holland's ambassador to Turkey has been deported from the country are allegedly false, amid Ankara's diplomatic fallout with Western states.

On Monday, ten Western ambassadors issued a joint statement calling for the release of Osman Kavala, the detained Turkish businessman and activist.

Urging a "just and speedy resolution to his case, they condemned the delays in his trial as casting "a shadow over respect for democracy, the rule of law and transparency in the Turkish judiciary system."

25 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israeli media reported on yesterday that Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz surprised the Americans, UN and Europeans by declaring six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist groups, local papers reported.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Gantz's declaration has two faults: the NGOs were banned without evidence being provided for the claims against them and the US – Israel's main ally – was not informed prior to the decision.

QALYUBIA, Egypt, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- A medicine city recently opened in Cairo is seeking to transform Egypt into a regional pharmaceutical hub, by securing local and regional markets with high quality products.

"We are building a strategic road map on establishing a regional pharmaceutical hub of excellence for multi-national companies as well as targeting export as a key milestone in our journey," Amre Mamdouh, chairman and CEO of Gypto Pharma, also known as medicine city, told Xinhua.

Former Israeli Army General, Nitzan Alon, yesterday described the occupation's bombing of Al Jalaa Tower, which hosted international media offices in the besieged Gaza Strip, as an "own-goal" for Israel, local media reported.

TRIPOLI, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Libya's High National Elections Commission (HNEC) on Sunday announced a plan for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to the plan, the polling day for the first round of the presidential elections is determined in the Commissioner's proposal that is approved by the House of Representatives (parliament), Imad Al-Sayah, the head of HNEC, told a press conference in the capital Tripoli.

The second round of the presidential elections will be held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections, Al-Sayah said.