Middle East & North Africa

30 Oct 2019; MEMO: Israel’s Cabinet yesterday discussed the possibility of establishing a consultative body to monitor Chinese investment in the country, local media reported.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli security cabinet the meeting came in response to a US request, no details were issues as to whether to body would be setup.

30 Oct 2019; MEMO: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said yesterday that he is ready to resign on grounds of the escalating anti-government wave of protests across the country, the New Khaleej report.

“If [Muqtada] Al-Sadr [the head of the largest bloc in parliament] and Hadi Al-Amiri [leader of the second largest party] agreed to have a new government, I would resign.”

Beirut, Oct 30; AFP/GANASHAKTI: Lebanon's prime minister submitted his government's resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism.

Saad Hariri's sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

30 October 2019; AFP: The armies of Syria and Turkey traded deadly fire Tuesday for the first time since Ankara launched an anti-Kurdish offensive in early October, as Russia announced Kurdish forces had withdrawn from the key border area.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Kurdish forces had pulled back from the entire Turkish-Syrian border in accordance with a deal struck between Ankara and regime backer Moscow in Sochi earlier this month.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Talks between Turkish and Russian officials on developments in northeast Syria have concluded and the two delegations have “largely” reached an agreement, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Russia had informed Turkey that the Syrian Kurdish YPG had left a planned “safe zone” within a deadline set by Ankara and Moscow. Under their agreement, Russia and Turkey were then due to start joint patrols.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s two main backers have agreed to work to remove him from office as protests against his government gained momentum in Baghdad and much of the Shi’ite south only to be met with violence.

Populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads parliament’s largest bloc, had asked Abdul Mahdi to call an early election. When the premier refused, he called on his main political rival Hadi al-Amiri to help oust him.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s parliament will respond to U.S. resolutions recognizing the mass killings of Armenians as genocide and calling for sanctions against Turkey over its military operation in Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to recognize the mass killings of Armenians a century ago as a genocide.

Turkey does not recognize the resolution, which has no value to Ankara, Erdogan said.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Tuesday called for holding national dialogue to resolve the ongoing anti-government protests in Iraq.

Hennis-Plasschaert, quoted by a statement issued by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), condemned the rising toll in the violent protests, citing that "violence is never the answer, the protection of life is the overriding imperative."

BAGHDAD (AP) — Masked gunmen opened fire at Iraqi protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister resigned Tuesday, bowing to one of the central demands of anti-government demonstrators shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters.

The demonstrators later returned to the camp in time to hear the news that Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he was stepping down after hitting a “dead end” in trying to resolve the crisis, which has paralyzed the country for nearly two weeks. The protesters erupted in cheers at the news.