Middle East & North Africa

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Traffic was being diverted away from Lebanon's Zahrani oil facility this morning after a fire broke out at a gasoline storage tank, a security source told Reuters.

The areas surrounding the fire, which was still not under control, were being cooled to prevent it spreading, the source said. There was no immediate official comment or reports of casualties at the Zahrani oil facility on the Mediterranean coast.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres revealed that Morocco has refused to withdraw from the Guerguerat border crossing.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: The General Assembly of Algerian Contractors, an economic employers' association, yesterday announced that it had decided to boycott the imports of 500 French companies following French President Emmanuel Macron's "harmful comments" about Algeria's history and image.

"We thank all the economic institutions that took the initiative to cut their commercial dealings with about 500 French export and import companies," the body said in a statement.

11 Oct 2021; MEMO: Vote counting was underway in Iraq today, a day after a record low turnout in a parliamentary election, reflecting what many Iraqis said was a loss of faith in the country's democratic process and political class, Reuters reports.

The turnout in yesterday's election was 41 per cent, the electoral commission said. The lowest turnout was in Baghdad, with between 31 per cent and 34 per cent.

ALGIERS, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday affirmed that the return of the Algerian Ambassador to France could be conditional on "total respect" from Paris for Algeria.

In an interview aired live on the local media, Tebboune said, "We can't act like nothing happened ... and our ambassador will return to Paris only when France shows total respect for the Algerian state."

TEHRAN, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that his country's stockpile of 20-percent enriched uranium has exceeded 120 kg, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

Regarding the storage of 20 percent enriched uranium, "we have exceeded 120 kg and in this matter, we are ahead of the plan," Mohammad Eslami, the head of the AEOI, was quoted as saying.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq saw a record low turnout in this weekend’s parliamentary elections, the independent body that oversees the election said Monday. The preliminary results signal widespread dissatisfaction and distrust in the vote.

The election was held months ahead of schedule as a concession to a youth-led popular uprising against corruption and mismanagement. But the vote was marred by widespread apathy and a boycott by many of the same young activists who thronged the streets of Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces in late 2019, calling for change and new elections.

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 10 (NNN-ENA) – Nearly 97 percent of voters in a local referendum, held on Sept 30, approved a proposal to create Ethiopia’s 11th region, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) disclosed yesterday.

The NEBE disclosed, out of 1,262,679 votes cast, 1,221,092 votes approved the proposal to create the new region, which will be called the South-west region, reported state media outlet, Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC).

JERUSALEM, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The coming weeks are decisive for the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, adding that every day that passes without Tehran responding to U.S. overtures will result in Iran enriching more uranium.

Speaking during a visit to Israel, the outgoing chancellor said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a responsibilty to help to push Iran back to the negotiating table, she said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Dubai police seized 500 kilograms of pure cocaine worth more than 500 million dirhams ($136 million) in a drugs raid, Dubai's media office said on Sunday.

The police arrested one person of Middle-Eastern origins, who was operating as an intermediary for an international drug syndicate, the media office added.