Pompeo visits Belarus as Minsk’s ties with Moscow fray
Reuters, Minsk
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to Belarus on Saturday, seeking to “normalise” ties at a time when relations between Minsk and its traditional ally Russia are under strain.
The United States and the European Union have been frequent critics of authoritarian rule and the human rights record in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko has been in office since 1994.
Arab FMs meet in Cairo to discuss Trump’s Mideast plan
AP, Cairo
Arab foreign ministers are meeting Saturday in Egypt’s capital to discuss a White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem. The meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo was requested by the Palestinians, who responded angrily to the U.S. deal.
Passenger plane skids off snowy runaway in Iran
AP, Tehran
An Iranian jetliner skidded off a snowy runaway in the western city of Kermanshah due to low visibility on Saturday, Iran’s state TV said.
The report said that there were no injuries and that the plane overshot the landing strip by only a few meters. The Iran Air flight coming from the capital, Tehran, had not experienced any technical problems, it added.
US killed a top al-Qaida leader in Yemen
New York Times
The leader of al-Qaida’s Yemen branch is believed to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike earlier this year. The New York Times said three current or former U.S. officials “expressed confidence” that Qasim al-Raymi, the emir of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was killed in Yemen, although there was no official confirmation.
U.S. forces had been tracking al-Raymi for months, and there was a $10 million price on his head.
