Middle East & North Africa

Jerusalem, Jan 31 (AP-PTI) Israeli police sprayed a crowd of protesters with a water cannon Saturday night as they tried to disperse demonstrators calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation over corruption charges.

Temperatures were about 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) on a raw winter evening when the crowd was sprayed. The protesters have been gathering every week near Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem for over seven months, but the use of water cannons is rare.

TUNIS (Reuters) - Participants at Libya’s U.N.-sponsored peace talks have approved a list of candidates seeking to lead a transitional government that will prepare the North African state for a national election at the end of 2021, the United Nations said.

The transitional government will oversee preparations for the vote that aims to end a decade of chaos and conflict that has left Libya split down the middle and hammered its vital oil exports on which the country’s economy depends.

GAZA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- For the first time in two months, the Egyptian authorities will temporarily reopen the Rafah border crossing point with the Gaza Strip for four days for travel in both directions, said the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza.

In a press statement, the ministry said the Rafah's crossing point on the border with Egypt would open from Monday to Thursday.

"The ministry will allow patients, students, Egyptian and foreign passport holders, as well as those who have residency documents to travel through," the statement added.

BEIRUT, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Saturday to maintain his country's support for Lebanon in various fields, the National News Agency reported.

"France will stand by Lebanon during its current difficult circumstances and will support it in various fields, namely in cabinet formation," Macron told his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun in a phone call.

Aoun thanked Macron for his support for Lebanon and his keenness to bolster Lebanese-French ties on all levels.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign Saturday in the city where the country’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed in March.

The North African nation is using Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine, and a 65-year-old retiree received the first shot at a hospital in Blida, a city about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Algiers. Health authorities were on hand for the event.

“All measures have been taken to ensure a good rollout of the vaccination campaign on the national territory,” Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid said.

30 Jan 2021; MEMO: Three lawmakers from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) have resigned.

The lawmakers, Mehmet Ali Celebi, Huseyin Avni Aksoy, and Ozcan Ozel, held a joint news conference in parliament to announce their resignation.

They are expected to join the recently launched Homeland Movement headed by Muharrem Ince, a former member of the CHP and its presidential candidate for the 2018 election.CHP now holds 135 out of 600 seats in parliament.

(Reuters) - Travellers to Iran from Europe will be required to self-quarantine for two weeks after testing negative upon arrival, a health official said on Saturday.

Travellers from other regions, including neighbouring countries, will have to have tested negative before arrival in the country, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the national coronavirus task force, said on state TV.

Raisi said travellers arriving from Europe should be holding negative test results, will be tested again and will have to self-quarantine even if their test is negative, state media reported.

30 Jan 2021; MEMO: A move by South Korea towards releasing $7 billion in frozen Iranian funds may help spur Iran's judiciary to resolve the seizure of a Korean ship being held for alleged environmental pollution, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Friday, Reuters reported.

30 Jan 2021; MEMO: The UAE has adopted law amendments that allow granting Emirati citizenship to investors, specialised talents, and professionals, reports The Khaleej Times.

The professionals include scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors, and their families.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced the new law on Saturday.

30 Jan 2021; MEMO: The UN special envoy on Syria said Friday this week's peace talks were a disappointment, Anadolu Agency reported.

"To me, it has been a disappointment," Geir Pedersen, the UN Syria envoy, who was facilitating the five-day talks of the 45-strong Syrian Constitutional Committee, told journalists after the week-long talks ended, leaving the schedule of a new round uncertain.