Middle East & North Africa

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA; 28 Aug 2018; AA: A Turkish fighter pilot has carried out the first flight of the F-35 jet in the U.S. as part of ongoing training, the Turkish General Staff said on Tuesday.

Early July, the Pentagon said Turkish pilots and maintenance personnel were being trained on the F-35 fighter jet in the state of Arizona.

Late June, Turkey took delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet at a ceremony in Forth Worth, Texas.

Turkey plans to get 100 F-35 fighter jets in upcoming years.

RAMALLAH, Palestine, Aug 28 (NNN-XINHUA) - Palestinian Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, said, the current U.S. government is an accomplice, in Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land and destabilisation of the region.
He made the remarks, during the opening ceremony of a new hospital in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. The Syrian air defenses have been placed on high alert in case of a sudden missile strike by the US, news portal Al-Masdar reported on Monday, citing a source in the republic’s military command. According to the source, the Mezzeh Airbase has received an order to prepare for a possible attack on Damascus.

TASS, August 28. The Saudi-led coalition carried out a series of strikes on the international airport in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a, Al Masirah TV channel reported on Tuesday.

The air strikes targeted more than ten facilities, including a military air base located near the airport, according to the report.

Sky News Arabiya TV channel reported that the alliance carried out 11 strikes on the Houthi rebels’ positions. The coalition’s aircraft continue intense flights over the Yemeni capital.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces demolished early on Tuesday morning the family home of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli in a West Bank settlement in July.

The military's Spokesperson's Unit released a footage showing a bulldozer razing the one-storey home in the Kauber village, north of Ramallah.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces have erupted in the West Bank city of Nablus after the Israeli military allowed Jewish worshippers to enter a holy site, the army said on Tuesday.

The Times of Israel reported that five Palestinians were injured. There were no reports of injuries among the Israeli forces.

The incident took place in Joseph's Tomb, a funerary monument outside Nablus holy to both Jews and Muslims, overnight between Monday and Tuesday.

GENEVA (AP) — Three experts working for the U.N.’s top human rights body say the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and “deprivation of the right to life” during 3½ years of escalated fighting against rebels in Yemen.

In their first report for the Human Rights Council, the experts also point to possible crimes by rebel Shiite militia in Yemen, which has been fighting the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s government since March 2015.

JERUSALEM; 27 Aug 2018; AA: Arab members of Knesset (Israel’s parliament) are seeking UN censure of Israel over a recent law recognizing Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”, The Jerusalem Post daily reported.

“The Palestinian delegation, in cooperation with Knesset members from the Arab parties, is planning steps aimed at smearing Israel and damaging its image through incitement and lies,” Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s parliament voted Sunday to sack the finance minister, dealing another blow to President Hassan Rouhani as he faces mounting discontent over the economy.

Critics of the ousted finance minister, Masoud Karbasian, said the government had failed to do enough to shore up the economy as President Donald Trump began restoring sanctions after withdrawing the United States from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

ANKARA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for joint efforts to "combat attacks on Turkey's economy" amid its persistent row with the United States.

"The commitment and determination of Turks is the guarantee needed to combat attacks on Turkey's economy," Erdogan said in a statement released to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

The historic battle saw Seljuk Turks defeat a Byzantine army and open up Anatolia for Turkish domination.