Middle East & North Africa

TUNIS, Oct 2 (NNN-TAP) — Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Othman Jerandi said Tunisia is fully ready to host the Summit of the Francophonie and it will bring together all the means, logistical materials and content to ensure the success of this event.

He expressed the hope that the Tunisia Summit, which coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Francophonie, would be a turning point for Francophone cooperation.

RAMALLAH, Oct 2 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), yesterday warned that, the Israeli settlement construction took “centre stage,” in the electoral campaigns of the right-wing and extreme-right parties in Israel.

In a special report, the PLO’s National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said, the Palestinians view the approval of new settlement plans or the legalisation of existing outposts as new settlements “as an attempt to win the votes of settlers through the absolute exploitation of the stakeholders.”

ADEN, Oct 2 (NNN-YPA) – An updated UN proposal, calling for an extension of the existing truce, set to expire today, has been received by both sides of Yemen’s warring parties, but its fate remains unclear.

According to a government statement, released by Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency, yesterday, “the government has just received an updated proposal from the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to expand the truce starting from today.”

TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least five security troops were killed in Friday's "terrorist" attack in southeastern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday, citing a statement by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

In addition, 32 members of IRGC and Basij voluntary were injured in the incident in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, according to the IRGC statement.

So far, eight suspects in the attack have been arrested, according to Mehdi Shamsabadi, prosecutor general of Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces on Saturday shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank after a group of youths smashed a hole through the Israeli separation barrier and began throwing objects at police.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister on Sunday welcomed a U.S. proposal for setting the maritime border with Lebanon, saying the American plan for resolving a long-running dispute between the neighboring countries would lift Israel’s economy and boost regional security.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that protests over the death of a young woman in police custody could destabilize the country and urged security forces to deal harshly with those he claimed endanger public order.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf told lawmakers that unlike the current protests, which he said aim to topple the government, previous demonstrations by teachers and retirees over pay were aimed at reforms, according to the legislative body’s website.

2 October 2022; MEMO: Tunisian police have used excessive force against teachers who protested on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Education, demanding authorities provide them with permanent jobs.

According to the National Coordination of Representatives, the teachers were forced to end their protest after being subjected to "all forms of violence".

2 October 2022; MEMO: A Turkish soldier was killed in a terror attack in northern Iraq, authorities said Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Yusuf Atas was injured after terrorists opened "harassing fire" in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, according to the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

He later died at a hospital.

The ministry conveyed condolences to Atas's family, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the nation.

2 October 2022; MEMO: Israel gave its preliminary nod on Sunday to a draft US-brokered deal demarcating a maritime border with Lebanon that could lead to possible profit-sharing from future gas production by Beirut in a long-disputed Mediterranean prospect, Reuters reported.

Hoping to defuse one source of conflict between the enemy countries and perhaps prod them toward accommodation, US envoy Amos Hochstein last week submitted a new proposal that would pave the way for offshore energy exploration.