Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Wednesday it stood ready to extend all possible support to a new Lebanese government that was committed to good governance and creating opportunities for its citizens.

The rapid formation of a government that meets the expectations of all Lebanese people is the most urgent step required in Lebanon, the bank said in a statement after its World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Wednesday.

6 Nov 2019; MEMO: Director of Toxicology Centre at the Egyptian Kasr El Aini Hospital, Nabeel Abdul-Maqsoud, said yesterday that there are over 10 million drug users in Egypt, including three million addicts, Arabi21 reported.

Speaking to a local TV, Abdul-Maqsoud said that tramadol, heroin and Estrox are the most common types drugs among the Egyptian youths.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces opened fire on Wednesday to disperse protesters gathered on a bridge in central Baghdad, shooting live bullets in the air, a Reuters witness said. There appeared to be no casualties.

Protesters had blocked the Shuhada bridge since Tuesday afternoon as part of efforts to bring the country to a standstill, with thousands continuing to partake in anti-government demonstrations in the capital and southern provinces

AMMAN (Reuters) - Several tourists were stabbed on Wednesday in Jerash, a Jordanian city popular with foreign visitors, along with a local guide and a security guard, police said, adding that a man had been arrested.

A security source told Reuters three of the victims were Spanish women who had been taken to hospital.

Jerash is famed for its Roman ruins.

In Madrid, nobody at the Spanish foreign ministry was immediately available to comment.

6 Nov 2019; MEMO: Senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu-Marzouq yesterday denied reports that the movement had been in direct contact with Israel to reach a prisoner swap, Al-Hayat newspaper reported.

“It is impossible to carry out direct talks with Israel,” Abu-Marzouq, who lives in Cairo, said.

He also said that there are no direct or indirect negotiations with Israel regarding the issue of the prisoners or regarding any other issue.

6 Nov 2019; MEMO: The number of American troops in Syria remains “stable and unchanged” three weeks after the US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal announcement, a US official said on Monday.

“Trump’s decision to protect the oil fields in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ez-Zor has forced the Pentagon to send reinforcements to that area at a time where US soldiers were moving away from areas near the Syrian-Turkish border,” the official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

6 Nov 2019; MEMO: After the failure of the leader of the Blue and White Party to put together a coalition to govern Israel, monitors have said that the country is facing the possibility of a third General Election in less than a year. Benny Gantz had been trying to strike a deal with the leaders of the right-wing bloc, but on Monday they reaffirmed their strong support for incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

6 Nov 2019; MEMO: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani said yesterday that there would be no peace in the Middle East without recognising “legitimate” Palestinian rights, Quds Press reported.

During a speech at the opening of the Qatari Shura Council, the Emir said that the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital is the most important Palestinian right.

RIYADH, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni UN-backed government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) signed here on Tuesday a Saudi-sponsored "Riyadh Agreement," Al Arabiya TV reported.

The signing ceremony was attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, President of the STC Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, alongside other Arab and Western officials and ambassadors.

BAGHDAD (AP) — At least three anti-government protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces in southern Iraq, officials said Tuesday, as authorities tried to reopen the country’s main port, which had been blocked by demonstrators for three days.