RIYADH, Sept 1 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi army units, arrived in Egypt yesterday, to participate in a multinational military drill.

The Bright Star military drill, which kicked off yesterday, on the Mohamed Naguib military base, at the Mediterranean Sea, will run until Sep 14, with the participation of 8,000 troops from 34 countries, according to a report from Egypt Daily News.

The exercise involves ground forces, infantry, artillery units, navy, air forces, and special operations forces, the Egyptian media outlet said.

31 August 2023; MEMO: Kurdish-American Jasmin Moghbeli arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday heading a NASA mission from the Kennedy Space Centre.

Her team, Crew-7, is expected to spend six months at the ISS, joining Expedition 69 members including UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi to collect data.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Eighteen suspected robbers were shot and killed during a shootout with South African police in the Limpopo province, the police said on Friday.

Addressing the media from the crime scene in Makhado in South Africa's northernmost province, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola said the suspects were allegedly planning a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist and were responsible for similar crimes in other provinces.

"We do believe this syndicate has been involved in a number of CITs in this province, Mpumalanga and Gauteng," Masemola said.

ISLAMABAD, Sep 1 (APP): Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Friday underscoring the close fraternal relations between Pakistan and Iran, reaffirmed the country’s strong commitment to further strengthen and deepen the bilateral ties.

The prime minister, in a meeting with the Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghaddam, who called on him, stressed the need to focus on enhancing cooperation in the economic and security domains.

ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission has suspended Gabon from the pan-African bloc until normal constitutional order is restored in the country following the latest military coup.

The decision to suspend Gabon from the AU membership was made by the Peace and Security Council of the AU Commission during its latest meeting on the situation in the Central African country, the AU said in a statement issued late Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/: Russia’s Finance Ministry stands for tighter currency control amid the current situation, though a discussion with the Central Bank is underway so far, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a conference.

30 August 2023; MEMO: Libya’s beleaguered Foreign Minister has fled the country after her suspension, following the widespread backlash against her secret meeting with her Israeli counterpart last week, amid ongoing questions on whether the Libyan government knew of and planned the controversial meeting.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s king on Friday reduced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s eight-year prison term to a single year following the divisive politician’s return last week from 15 years of self-imposed exile.

The action may mark a symbolic end to the political schism that has wracked the Southeast Asian nation since Thaksin was forced from power by the army 17 years ago, leaving democracy endangered.

BEIRUT, Sept 1 (NNN-NNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, arrived in Beirut yesterday, for an official visit to Lebanon, after wrapping up his tour in Syria.

Upon his arrival at the airport, the Iranian diplomat told the press that, his country called on the international community to help Lebanon, which has been mired in a major financial crisis and political impasse.

SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A former member of Singapore's ruling party on Saturday scored a landslide victory to become the city-state's president, in an election seen as a barometer of public sentiment amid economic challenges and high-profile scandals.

Former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, won 70.4% of votes, the elections department said, to become Singapore's head of state. The country is a parliamentary democracy and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is the head of government.

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/: The Bank of Russia does not rule out hiking the key rate at the September Board of Directors meeting, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said at a press conference on Friday.

"At the Bank of Russia's Board of Directors meeting on August 15, we gave a neutral signal. In essence, it means both the possibility of keeping the rate unchanged and the possibility of hiking it in order to meet our 4% inflation target in 2024," she explained.

30 August 2023; MEMO: The spokesperson for the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) yesterday criticised France’s decision to ban girls from wearing the abaya (black loose fitting dress) in schools.

On Sunday, French Education Minister Gabriel Attal told the local TF1 TV channel that wearing the abaya will no longer be allowed in schools.