Saudi forces intercept Yemeni rebel drone
AFP, Riyadh
Saudi forces on Saturday intercepted a Yemeni rebel drone targeting the southern city of Abha, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, the latest in a series of assaults this week.
The unmanned drone was downed with no casualties or damage reported in a coalition statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Iran-aligned Huthi rebels declared drone attacks on the airports of Abha and southern Jizan city, with a spokesman on rebel-run Al-Masirah TV promising “painful days” for the Saudi regime in response to its bombing campaign in Yemen.
Turkey expects S-400s delivery in early July
AFP, Ankara
Turkey expects the delivery of the controversial Russian S-400 missile defence system to begin in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying in Turkish media on Sunday.
“I believe (S-400s) will begin to arrive in the first half of July. Colleagues in charge of the schedule are following the issue,” Erdogan said according to CNN Turk broadcaster.
Ankara’s deal with Moscow has been a major source of tension between Turkey and the United States, with Washington threatening consequences including sanctions against its fellow NATO member.
France launches trial of Macron’s new national service for teens
AFP, Paris
Nearly two decades after France phased out conscription for men, some 2,000 teenagers Sunday began trialling a new national service, a pet project of French President Emmanuel Macron.
For a fortnight, the 15- and 16-year-olds will leave home for training in first aid and other basic skills, followed later by another two weeks of volunteering.
Damaged Japanese tanker arrives at UAE anchorage
AFP, Dubai
A Japanese tanker, attacked in the Gulf in an incident that sparked a new standoff between Washington and Tehran, “arrived safely” Sunday at an anchorage off the UAE, its management said. The Kokuka Courageous was carrying highly flammable methanol through the Gulf of Oman on Thursday when it and the Norwegian-operated Front Altair were rocked by explosions.
Somali journalists’ group slams police ‘threats’
AFP, Mogadishu
A Somali journalists’ association Sunday slammed the actions of police who it said threatened to shoot reporters trying to access the scene of a car bombing near parliament, and warned of a “worsening situation” for the country’s press. Police at a checkpoint near the site of Saturday’s bombing in Mogadishu, which killed eight people and was claimed by the Al-Shabaab jihadist group, stopped a group of reporters from international news groups, including Al Jazeera’s Jama Nur Ahmed.
