Middle East & North Africa

21 Nov 2020; MEMO: Leaders of Sunnis in Iraq convened and called for the incoming US administration under President-elect Joe Biden to help them obtain autonomous rule in the areas of Sunni majorities in the north and west of the country, Al-Khaleej Online reported on Friday.

One of the prominent leaders who attended the meeting was Rafi Al-Issawi, the former finance minister and deputy prime minister during the era of Nouri Al-Maliki.

21 Nov 2020; MEMO: The UK government has responded to pressure from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Conservative Friends of Israel by listing Israel and occupied Jerusalem together as one country in its weekly update to COVID-19 related travel corridors.

Washington, Nov 22 (PTI) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met negotiators from the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, amidst signs of progress in their stalled talks and an uptick in violence that threatens to jeopardise the peace push in the war-torn country.

This was the first meeting of the top American diplomat with the Taliban and the Afghans representatives after the US' recent announcement that it will reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 each by January 15 next year.

GAZA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A handmade rocket was launched on Saturday from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, according to Palestinian and Israeli security sources.

The Palestinian sources told Xinhua that the rocket, which was fired from northern Gaza, caused an explosion in the border areas.

Meanwhile, Avichai Adraee, spokesman of the Israeli army, said in a statement that "Palestinian militants launched a handmade rocket from the Gaza Strip toward an Israeli territory."

No injuries were reported, according to Adraee.

BEIRUT (AP) — Khaldoun Jaber was taking part in an anti-government protest near the presidential palace outside Beirut last November when several Lebanese intelligence officers in plainclothes approached and forcibly took him away.

The demonstration was part of a wave of protests sweeping Lebanon against corruption and misrule by a group of politicians who have monopolized power since the country’s civil war ended three decades ago.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Group of 20 summit opened on Saturday with appeals by the world’s most powerful leaders to collectively chart a way forward as the coronavirus pandemic overshadows this year’s gathering, transforming it from in-person meetings to a virtual gathering of speeches and declarations.

The pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.37 million lives worldwide, has offered the G-20 an opportunity to prove how such bodies can facilitate international cooperation in crises — but has also underscored their shortcomings.

BEIRUT, Nov 21 (NNN-NNA) — Lebanon signed, yesterday, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France, aimed at developing the capabilities of the Lebanese army, a statement by the Lebanese army reported.

The MoU was signed between Lebanon’s Armed Forces Commander, General Joseph Aoun, and Chief of the French Defence Staff, General Francois Lecointre, who is on an official visit to Lebanon.

The two officials held a meeting in the army commander’s office, during which they discussed relations between the armies of the two countries and ways to enhance them.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey said it was extending the seismic survey work of its Oruc Reis ship in a disputed area of the eastern Mediterranean until Nov. 29, in a move that could add to tensions in the region.

NATO members Turkey and Greece are locked in a dispute over the extent of their continental shelves and conflicting claims to hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

The row erupted in August when Turkey sent Oruc Reis into waters also claimed by Greece and Cyprus.

RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih said on Saturday foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 12% in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period last year.

The Saudi government, which is hosting this year’s G20 summit, has made attracting greater foreign investment a cornerstone of its Vision 2030 plan to diversify the economy of the world’s largest oil exporter away from oil revenues.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said in his opening remarks to G20 leaders on Saturday that they must work towards affordable and equitable access to vaccines and other tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although we are optimistic about the progress made in developing vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics tools for COVID-19, we must work to create the conditions for affordable and equitable access to these tools for all peoples,” he said, opening the meeting of the leaders of the 20 biggest world economies.