Hariri leaves S Arabia for UAE trip
Reuters, Beirut
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who sparked a political crisis on Saturday by declaring his surprise resignation in Riyadh, has traveled to the UAE, Saudi-owned media said on Tuesday.
His resignation has thrust Lebanon back onto the front line of the Middle East’s most biting rivalry, pitting a mostly Sunni bloc led by Saudi Arabia and including the UAE against Shi’ite Iran and its allies.
Lavrov hopes for Syrian peace congress
Reuters, Moscow
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday he hoped that an international Syrian peace congress would take place in the near future.
The Russian-sponsored Syrian peace congress scheduled for Nov. 18 was postponed after objections by Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman said over the weekend.
At least 10 killed in Mali attacks
AFP, Bamako
At least 10 people died in attacks in Mali on Monday, as the prime minister cancelled a visit to a central town after a vehicle sent to protect his team hit a landmine. A bus travelling in the restive north was blown up by a mine on Monday, killing at least four people, police and administrative officials told AFP.
“A bus hit a mine near Ansongo,” a small town about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Gao, the regional hub, a Malian military officer in the area said.
Sisi won’t seek third term
Reuters, Cairo
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will not seek a third term in office, he said in an interview with CNBC, adding that he does not intend to change the constitution and its provision of a two-term presidential limit.
“It doesn’t suit me as a president to stay one more day against the will of the Egyptians,” he told CNBC over the weekend. “We will not interfere with (the constitution)..I am with preserving two four-year terms,” Sisi added.
13 killed in truck-van collision in India
Xinhua, New Delhi
At least 13 people have been killed and nine others injured in a road accident in the western Indian state of Gujarat, police said Tuesday.. “The accident occurred around midnight Monday when a van collided with a truck on Ahmedabad-Indore highway near Kathlal in the state’s Kheda district,” a police official said.
Five killed in Nicaragua
AFP, Managua
At least five people died and 11 were wounded in acts of violence during and after weekend municipal elections in Nicaragua that saw President Daniel Ortega’s party the victor, various party leaders and local media said Monday.
Two people were killed in the remote community of Sandy Bay Sirpi, on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. Both were members of the indigenous Yatama party, the group’s leader, George Henriquez, told AFP.
