Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain said Sunday it approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Separately, Kuwait has granted emergency use for the Pfizer vaccine.

Bahrain’s state-run news agency said the Sinopharm vaccine would be available in the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.

12 Dec 2020; MEMO:  There have been several demands for an official move-in Algeria against "suspicious meetings" held by French ambassador Francois Gouyette, described as an intervention in local affairs, at a time when President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is absent from the political scene due to illness.

12 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced on Friday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has ignored national consensus when it decided to return to talks with Israel.

In a statement issued on its 53rd anniversary and sent to media, the PFLP stressed that returning to talks with Israel: "Is a continuation of failed bets on US administrations."

13 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop on Saturday condemned Iranian authorities over unfair accusations against the Turkish president for reading a poem during a ceremony in Azerbaijan, Anadolu Agency reports.

"The unseemly attitude of some Iranian officials against our president, who always bravely defended the law against the embargo and isolation imposed on Iran, can never be accepted," Sentop, posted on Twitter.

13 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Forces of the Yemeni separatist group known as the Southern Transitional Council (STC) started on Saturday to withdraw from the Aden province, southern Yemen, as part of implementing the military part of the Riyadh agreement, Anadolu Agency reports.

A member of a committee observing the implementation of the Riyadh agreement confirmed to Anadolu Agency that the STC forces began to withdraw from Aden and moved towards the frontlines in the Ad Dali' province.

12 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The Office of the European Union (EU) Representative called on Friday for Israel to cancel eviction orders for Palestinian families in the Batan Al-Hawa and Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhoods of occupied Jerusalem, a

13 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Arab media has reported that Saudi Arabia deported a number of non-resident Indians (NRI) living in the Gulf state for protesting against the highly controversial register introduced by the far-right Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jerusalem, Dec 13 (AP-PTI) A few thousand Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he resign in the face of corruption charges and the pandemic.

Some 2,000 people demonstrated outside Netanyahu's official residence in Jerusalem. The size of the crowds has shrunk in recent weeks with the arrival of wintry weather.

Protesters held signs reading Go and Everyone is equal under the law.

12 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Demonstrations of the Sahrawi people and supporters in the Spanish capital, Madrid against Rabat's policy

Ambassador of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia El-Hamra and Río de Oro (Polisario Front), Abdelkader Taleb Omar, declared that Trump's agreement with Rabat and Tel Aviv is null, lacks legitimacy, and violates the United Nations (UN) resolutions.

12 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The spokesman for the General Command of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) Major General Ahmed Al-Mesmari announced the release of a Turkish ship on Thursday, after its seizure five days earlier for its presence off the coast of the Ras Al-Hilal area in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar.