1 Iraqi killed, 32 hurt in protest clashes
BAGHDAD -- An anti-government protester in Iraq was killed Sunday by a direct hit to the head from a tear gas canister amid fresh clashes on a strategic Baghdad bridge, security and medical officials said.
At least 32 others were wounded in violent clashes with security forces, just hours after demonstrators retook control of part of Ahrar Bridge from security forces. The protesters now hold three bridges spanning the Tigris River toward the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq's government. Security forces had deployed Sunday on the other side of the bridge and erected concrete barriers to keep protesters from pushing into the Green Zone.
Elsewhere, protesters blocked roads with burning tires in parts of central and southern Iraq, halting traffic and paralyzing work following a call for a national strike.
Since the anti-government protests began Oct. 1, at least 320 people have been killed and thousands wounded in the capital and the mostly Shiite southern provinces. Demonstrators have taken to the streets in the tens of thousands over what they say is widespread corruption, lack of job opportunities and poor basic services despite the country's oil wealth.
The leaderless, mass protests aim to sweep aside Iraq's political elite, blamed for corruption.
Bridges leading toward the Green Zone have been a frequent flashpoint in the protests. Demonstrators took control of those bridges earlier this month but were later repelled when security forces took harsh suppressive measures.
Yemen government's return blocked
SANAA, Yemen-- Yemen's internationally recognized government was forced to delay its return to the port city of Aden, officials said Sunday, blaming southern separatists for stalling on the key point of a power-sharing deal signed early this month to end their infighting.
Under the agreement brokered by Saudi Arabia between Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the separatists, the government was to have returned to Aden last Tuesday. The separatists pushed government forces out and captured Aden during clashes last summer.
Their infighting added another complex layer to the country's civil war, in which the government and the separatists, backed by the United Arab Emirates, are in a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia, against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
Government officials told The Associated Press that the separatists are refusing to hand over Aden headquarters and the presidential palace. The separatist Southern Transitional Council insists instead on joint committees.
The agreement dictates that both sides pull their forces and heavy weapons out of Aden, and says both Hadi's forces and the separatists are under control of the the Saudi-led coalition. That effectively means that if Hadi were to return to Aden, he would only be protected by his presidential guard.
Leaders trade blame for Lebanon crisis
BEIRUT -- Lebanon's political crisis worsened Sunday with the outgoing prime minister harshly criticizing the party of the country's president, blaming it for weeks of delay in forming a new Cabinet amid ongoing anti-government protests.
A statement released by Saad Hariri's office called the policies of President Michel Aoun's party "irresponsible regarding that national crisis that the country is passing through." Aoun has yet to call for consultations with parliamentary blocs' leaders to name a new premier, nearly three weeks after Hariri resigned amid nationwide protests.
Some major factions in Lebanon's sectarian political system want to keep Hariri in the new government. But they want him to form a cabinet of politicians and technocrats. He's insisting on only technocrats.
Aoun's party responded Sunday by saying that Hariri's stance he wants to dominate the new Cabinet by saying "its either me or no one else in the government."
As Hariri's office and Aoun's party were blaming each other for the formation of the Cabinet, thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Beirut chanting "The people want to bring down the regime." The protesters criticized current and former politicians over the country's dark economic and financial status.
Roadside bomb kills 3 Egyptian officers
EL-ARISH, Egypt -- A roadside bomb killed at least three members of Egypt's security forces in the restive northern Sinai province, security and medical officials said Sunday.
The explosion hit the forces' armored vehicle in the town of Sheikh Zuweid. Four other security force members were wounded, including an officer.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to reporters.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Egypt has for years been battling an insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula that's now led by an Islamic State group affiliate.
The fighting intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew the country's elected but divisive Islamist president.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 11/18/2019