CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has met his French counterpart Catherine Colonna for bilateral talks away from the UN General Assembly meetings in New York.

Shoukry is keen for France to support efforts to bring stability to certain areas, particularly since the European country’s presidency of the UN Security Council coincides with Egypt’s interest in the current situations in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Sudan.

The two ministers discussed ways to advance cooperation in economic and investment fields, and reviewed their bilateral relations over recent years.

AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni troops have announced they have taken control of a large valley in Abyan’s southern province from Al-Qaeda, forcing its fighters to abandon their hiding spots and training facilities.
Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, a spokesperson for the pro-independence Southern Transitional Council, said forces had retaken control of the long and steep Omaran valley in the governorate, and were now working to defuse landmines and explosive devices to allow people to return to their villages.

TEHRAN: The Iranian human rights group Hengaw said two men were killed on Monday in protests against the death of a Kurdish woman after her arrest by Iran’s morality police, but there was no immediate official confirmation of the report.

“In Monday’s protests in the town of Divandarreh, at least two citizens — Fouad Qadimi and Mohsen Mohammadi — died after being taken to Kosar Hospital in Sanandaj and 15 others were injured,” Hengaw said on its Twitter account.

AMMAN: Palestinian parents and students succeeded in closing most schools in East Jerusalem on Monday in protest at attempts by the Israeli Ministry of Education to force them to accept a censored version of the Palestinian curriculum.

Some 152 schools did not open because students failed to turn up.

The decision to launch the city-wide stayaway was taken by parent-led committees. This was meant to prevent school administrations from having to choose to do so and potentially suffer a major loss of funding.

RAMALLAH: As Yousef Adi strolled through the Old City of Jerusalem on his way to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the last thought on his mind was that he would end up bloodied, beaten and unconscious in hospital.

But thanks to the actions of a rogue element of the Israeli security forces that critics say is increasingly out of control, that is exactly what happened.