Middle East & North Africa

GAZA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian and injured 50 others on the border between the northern Gaza Strip and Israel, the Gaza health ministry said.

In the first demonstration, a clutch of fishing boats sailed off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip until reaching the bordering area with Israel.

Israeli navy opened intensive gunfire at around 25 fishing boats to force their departure, with no injuries reported, local media said.

MOSCOW, September 24./TASS/. Within two weeks, the Syrian army will get from Russia S-300 air-defense missiles to strengthen its combat capabilities following the downing of a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft in Syria, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday.

"A modern S-300 air defense missile system will be supplied to the Syrian Armed Forces within two weeks. It is capable of intercepting air assault weapons at a distance of more than 250 kilometers and hit simultaneously several air targets," the minister said.

DAMASCUS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led coalition air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria has killed thousands of civilians since they entered the course of Syrian war four years ago, a war monitor reported on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll of civilians is part of a total of 12,000 rebels and ultra-radical militants killed by the U.S.-led strikes.

ALGIERS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 10th OPEC and non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in Algiers wrapped up on Sunday by maintaining the current oil output level, amid calls from the U.S. to raise oil production in a bid to curb mounting prices.

In fact, OPEC and non-OPEC members in Algiers snubbed the calls of the U.S. President Donald Trump. A couple of days ago, Trump accused OPEC of monopolizing the oil market, and called the cartel to raise production in a bid to reduce prices.

By Aziz Aslan 

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey; 20 Sep 2018; AA: A Turkish lawyer on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against several Myanmar officials on charges of committing genocide against Rohingya Muslims and crimes against humanity in Myanmar's Rakhine State.  

Lawyer Hasan Bozdas submitted the complaint against 22 high-ranking officials of the southeast Asian nation to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, also accusing them of other crimes to be revealed after investigations.  

BEIRUT, September 19. /TASS/. Agreements that the Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reached in Sochi over Idlib "allowed preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and averting the West’s aggression," Nidal Sabi, a Lebanese political analyst, told TASS on Wednesday.

Sabi, who is said to be an expert in the Syria crisis, said that "the decision approved in Sochi to set up a demilitarized zone provides a chance to disarm the Ankara-backed illegal armed groups in northwest Syria without any fighting or losses."

DUBAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Abu Dhabi has been named the safest city in the world for the second year by Numbeo, a website for crowd-sourced global data, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism said Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), surpassed more than 300 cities across the world, including Tokyo, Japan, Basel, Munich, and Vienna, to be graded the world's most secure city, according to Numbeo.

The index ranked 338 cities globally by estimating their overall safety levels.

DAMASCUS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The former U.S.-backed Liwa Shuhada al-Qaryatayn rebels will evacuate from southern Syria to positions of the Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria under a deal with the Russians, a pro-government newspaper reported on Thursday.

Citing opposition activists, the al-Watan newspaper said around 5,000 rebels and their families will evacuate in the coming days their positions near the U.S.-run base in the al-Tanf area toward areas controlled by Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) in Aleppo province.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Tuesday Russian President Vladimir Putin to convey Israel's condolences to the death of Russian aircrew shot down by Syrian forces during an Israeli airstrike.

The phone talk came after Syrian air defense missiles shot down a 15-crew Russian plane amidst an Israeli air raid on the Syrian city of Latakia, according to Israeli and Russian officials.

US government has expelled Palestinian Ambassador to the United States, Husam Zomlot, from the country, and frozen all the bank accounts of the family. New step followed closer of the PLO embassy in Washington

All American bank accounts affiliated with the PLO have also been frozen.