Authorities in the Yemeni city of Taiz and surrounding areas have stepped up security measures around the offices of international organizations and have approved a ban on carrying weapons. The new measures were introduced days after a World Food Program (WFP) staff member was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in Turbah in southern Taiz. Official sources revealed that Taiz Governor Nabil Shamsan and members of the security committee met in the southern Taiz countryside and approved the tightened measures and weapons ban.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the developments in the Palestinian territories, the recent Israeli raids in Jenin and the West Bank, and the intra-Palestinian dialogue. Erdogan received Abbas with an official ceremony at the presidential palace in Ankara and held a closed session on Tuesday, and the delegations later joined them. Abbas arrived in Ankara on Monday on a two-day visit, and it came at a time of rising fears of renewed Israeli violence and attacks on the Palestinian territories.
French presidential envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian kicked off a Tuesday a new visit to the country in the hopes of achieving a breakthrough in the impasse over the presidential elections. He started his three-day trip by meeting parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who described the talks as good. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Le Drian briefed him on the talks that were held by the quintet on Lebanon in Doha. Berri said a breakthrough in the deadlock has been reached, but declined to offer more details about his optimism.
Lebanese former Foreign Minister Farez Boueiz recalled to Asharq Al-Awsat the hectic period towards the end of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war over Elias Hrawi’s election as president and the ouster of Michel Aoun from the presidential palace and Syria’s role in both affairs. Hrawi, like most Maronite politicians in Lebanon, dreamed of becoming president. Boueiz, Hrawi’s son-in-law, detailed to Asharq Al-Awsat the events that led up to his election.
Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants who opened fire on them from a car near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, Israel's defense minister and army said. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that three people had been killed in the incident. Palestine TV showed footage of a military vehicle blocking access to the area of the incident, including to an ambulance, as soldiers appeared to carry out an inspection.