Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian and U.S. naval forces have conducted a joint drill within the range of Southern Fleet in the Red Sea, the armed forces said in a statement on Monday.

The activities took place with the participation of the Egyptian frigate "Alexandria" and the U.S. amphibious ship USS Portland, it said.

"The drills are part of the Egyptian Armed Forces' efforts to promote military relations and exchange of expertise with different countries," according to the statement.

BAGHDAD, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Iraqi students and teachers on Monday returned to classrooms for the start of a new school year after two years of studying online due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Early in the morning, the students went to the thousands of primary and secondary schools across the country, except for the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which started the school year earlier.

The UN Special Representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, on Sunday met with deposed Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, saying he is still under house arrest, Anadolu Agency reported.

"Just met with Hamdok at his residence where he remains well but under house arrest," Perthes wrote on Twitter.

The UN envoy said he and Hamdok discussed "options for mediation and the way forward for Sudan," stressing that he will continue "efforts with other Sudanese stakeholders."

31 Oct 2021; MEMO: Kuwait and the UAE have become the latest Gulf states to recall their ambassadors from Beirut, following the lead of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over a diplomatic row provoked by a Lebanese minister's criticism of Riyadh's on-going military intervention in Yemen.

01 Nov 2021; MEMO: The head of Sudan's former ruling National Congress Party, Ibrahim Ghandour, was released from prison yesterday, Anadolu has reported. Ghandour was foreign minister under deposed President Omar Al-Bashir.

The senior official was detained on 29 June last year along with other Bashir aides accused of planning to foil the revolution.

31 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Lebanese minister at the centre of a dispute with Saudi Arabia said on Sunday resigning from the government "is out of the question," Al Jadeed TV channel quoted him as saying, Reuters reported.

01 Nov 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has deposited $3 billion into Egypt's central bank as part of efforts to help the North African country confront the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the Gulf state extended the terms of $2.3 billion worth of previous deposits.

Egypt and Saudi are close allies with both countries forming half of the quartet which placed a blockade on Qatar in 2017.

31 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israel on Sunday launched a week-long military exercise to test the preparedness of the home front in countering unprecedented attacks, including precise rockets firing, use of chemical weapons and cyberattacks, Anadolu Agency reported.

The military exercise is expected to continue until Wednesday with involvement of the Israeli army and all government and emergency offices, according to a statement by the Israeli army.

01 Nov 2021; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said that his government "strongly rejects" the creation of a Palestinian state, Quds Press reported yesterday.

According to the news site, prior to heading to Glasgow to take part in the UN conference on climate change, Bennett told the Times: "Creating state-like entities doesn't work."

DAMASCUS, Oct 31 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned the Turkish decision, to extend its troops’ deployment in Syria and Iraq, for two more years, saying, such practices threaten international peace and security.

In a statement, the ministry stressed that the regional and international status quo can’t tolerate the practices of the Turkish government.