After almost 10 months of political turmoil, Algeria on Thursday holds a presidential vote bitterly opposed by a protest movement that sees it as a regime ploy to cling on to power. Five candidates are in the running, all of them widely rejected as "children of the regime" of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whom people power ousted in April after two decades in office. Turnout was expected to be extremely low after demonstrators shouting "no vote" again pressed their demand for a boycott on the eve of the polls, facing off with truncheon-wielding riot police in Algiers. "How can we trust those who betrayed the country and helped Bouteflika?" read one placard at the rally, which saw scores arrested and many wounded in clashes with security forces. Polls open at 0700 GMT and close at 1800 GMT but the result may not be announced until the following day, as it was after previous elections already marked by high abstention rates. Whoever wins will struggle to be accepted by the electorate in the north African country, where many citizens rail against a military-backed regime they see as inept, corrupt and unable to manage the flagging economy. "None of the five candidates can hope to be considered legitimate" in the eyes of the protesters, said Anthony Skinner, Middle East and North Africa director at risk analysis company Verisk Maplecroft. He predicted that "the vote will be boycotted on a large scale". No to the system In an early indication of mass abstentions, polling stations at Algerian embassies abroad stayed almost empty since they opened Saturday, with the few expatriates who did show up weathering insults by protesters. The "Hirak" street movement kicked off when Bouteflika, 82, announced in February he would seek a fifth term in office. Since then protesters have stayed on the streets for more than 40 weeks, demanding the total dismantling of the system that has ruled Algeria since independence from France in 1962. The military high command, which long wielded power from the shadows, has been forced to take a more visible role and has pushed for the election as a way to resolve the political crisis. Demonstrators have also directed their ire at the powerful army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who has emerged as Algeria s de facto strongman. A previous poll set for July was scrapped for lack of viable candidates and interim president Abdelkader Bensalah s term technically ended five months ago. Given the broad opposition, the five candidates have run low-key campaigns, usually under heavy police protection and often being drowned out by hecklers. All of them in the past either supported Bouteflika or participated in his government -- two as prime ministers and one as a minister. This week saw Algerian courts hand down heavy jail sentences in high-profile corruption trials for two other former prime ministers, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal. But even those verdicts did little to win over the protesters, who see the trials as little more than a high-level purge in a struggle between still-powerful regime insiders. Protests have been illegal in Algiers since 2001 and police have only tolerated weekly Hirak protests on Fridays and student marches on Tuesdays. Wednesday marked the anniversary of the outbreak of major demonstrations against French colonial power in Algeria in 1960, and calls online urged protesters to converge on the Algiers square commemorating it. Meriem, a 62-year-old Algiers resident, marched with her daughter and daughter-in-law brandishing red cards to oppose the election. "I m marching to say no to the vote," she said, "no to the Bouteflika system without Bouteflika."

Suicide blasts in Afghanistan killed one person and injured more than 60 in an attack on Wednesday on the United States main military base of Bagram that was repulsed after a 30-minute clash, Afghan and NATO officials said. The attack comes as the United States looks to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban militants who control more territory than at any point since being ousted from power by coalition forces in 2001. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday s blast, but a provincial official said the casualties were all Afghans. "A 30-minute clash also happened between the attackers, who obviously wanted to enter the base, and foreign forces," Wahida Shahkar, a spokeswoman for the governor of Parwan province, where the base is located, told Reuters. Two attackers detonated vehicles laden with explosives at the southern entrance to the base, while five opened fire. It was not immediately clear how many of the five gunmen were killed, Shahkar said. The attack was "quickly contained and repelled" and there were no U.S. or coalition casualties, but a medical base being built for locals was badly damaged, Resolute Support, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

Qatar s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, will not attend the Gulf summit in Riyadh, state media reported Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017 over allegations it backs radical Islamists and seeks closer ties with Saudi arch rival Tehran. Qatar vehemently denies the allegations. Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani will, however, head Qatar s delegation _ its highest level of representation at the annual meeting in two years and the most concrete sign yet of a potential thaw in a regional dispute. *This story was edited by Ahram Online

Russian forces have entered Raqqa, the former de facto capital of the Islamic State caliphate, in one of the starkest examples yet of how Moscow has filled the vacuum created by President Donald Trump s decision to pull U.S. forces from northern Syria. Russian troops were shown in footage on the defence ministry s Zvezda TV channel shaking hands with Syrian children and unloading humanitarian aid bundles with the slogan "Russia is with you" from the back of trucks. Raqqa was captured two years ago by U.S. troops and their Kurdish-led Syrian allies in the biggest victory of Washington s campaign against Islamic State in Syria. But since Trump abruptly ordered a pull-out in October, Moscow has swiftly advanced into territory where U.S. troops had operated. Russia is a close battlefield ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government, which was invited by the Kurds into territory they controlled after Trump pulled his forces out of the way of a Turkish assault against Kurdish-held areas. Russian troops in Raqqa were handing out humanitarian aid and its military doctors were offering residents medical attention, Vladimir Varnavsky, a defence ministry officer, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency. "Work in the city to get rid of the rubble and clear the area (of bombs or mines) is not yet complete and there is a shortage of clean water, medicine and food," he said. Russia last month set up a helicopter base an airport in a northeastern Syrian city and also landed forces at a sprawling air base in the region that had been vacated by U.S. forces. Russia and Turkey are carrying out joint patrols along Syria s northern border with Turkey as part of a deal struck between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan. After saying all U.S. troops would leave northern Syria, Washington has left some behind for now at some bases but rolled back most of their operations.

Anti-government protesters wielding a blood-drenched flag returned to Baghdad s central plaza on Saturday after a night of bloody attacks that left 25 people dead and more than 130 wounded. Storm clouds gathered over Khilani Square as the protesters surveyed the blackened facade of a parking garage that had served as their de facto command post before unknown assailants torched it Friday night. Buildings surrounding the square were pockmarked with bullet holes. One demonstrator collected as many as a dozen spent cartridges. The attack, which took place in darkness moments after the power was cut, marked a major escalation in assaults against protesters that have been taking place in recent weeks. It was among the deadliest since Oct. 1, when thousands of Iraqis first took to the streets calling for sweeping political reforms and the end of Iran s influence in Iraqi affairs. At least 400 have died at the hands of security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the demonstrations. Friday s attacks also came hours after Washington slapped sanctions on the leader of Asaib al-Haq, a powerful Iran-backed militia accused of being behind deadly sniping attacks on protesters. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned leader Qais al-Khazali, his brother Laith al-Khazali, a commander in the group, and Husain Falih Aziz al-Lami. Demonstrators feared the attacks would be followed by armed street fighting and more violence that would undermine the peaceful tone of their mass rallies. ``Everyone is terrified, said Noor, a protester who provided only her first name for fear of reprisal. ``We don t want this to become a street war. That is why we are trying to stay peaceful. But day after day we find that we are alone. Anti-government activists blame the attacks on Iran-backed militias, which have staged similar assaults against protester sit-ins in the capital and the country s southern cities. On Thursday, the militias attempted to hold their own demonstration in the square to counter anti-government protesters, many of whom were attacked with knives by unknown assailants. They later withdrew. Two Iraqi officials, who requested anonymity in line with regulations, said it was widely suspected that militiamen were involved in Friday night s attacks. Members of the Popular Mobilization Units, an official umbrella organization comprising an array of militia groups, have said the attacks during the protests have been aimed at infiltrators of the anti-government movement who were looking to cause disturbances. Falah Fayadh, chairman of the paramilitary PMUs, the program that oversees an array of Shiite militia groups, directed the PMU forces to stay away from squares occupied by protesters, according to an internal statement issued Saturday and seen by The Associated Press. Those who disobeyed the order would be fired, Fayadh said in the statement. Protesters said the government s failure to protect them at the height of the hostilities on Friday forced them to rely on a militia linked to influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, also the leader of the Sairoon bloc, which holds the most seats in Parliament. Al-Sadr has supported the protests by sending Saraya Salam (Peace Brigades), a militia group under his control, to block roads and prevent anti-protest gunmen from entering during Friday s clashes. Iraqi officials said they believed al-Sadr would use his popularity on the street as political leverage in talks over the selection of a new premier. Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi resigned last week in response to the protests. Abdul-Mahdi s ascension to prime minister was the result of an uneasy alliance between the Sairoon bloc and parliament s other main bloc, the Fatah, which includes leaders associated with the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Units headed by Hadi al-Amiri. Even protesters who are wary of al-Sadr s politics _ they consider him part of the establishment they are protesting _ said the presence of Saraya Salam members, who were unarmed, was key to their safety. ``I wish the ... army had come and fought for us so that other people don t feel that Sadr is protecting the protesters _ because they are also a militia at the end of the day, Noor said. For Iraqi officials inside the fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq s government, the presence of al-Sadr s militia on the street serves only to reinforce perceptions that the majority of anti-government protesters are in fact supporters of al-Sadr. Al-Sadr, meanwhile, said his home in the holy city of Najaf was hit by a drone strike on Saturday. He did not elaborate. Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Sairoon s political committee, decried the attack in televised remarks and called for an emergency parliamentary session to discuss the violence in Khilani Square. Friday s attacks had many protesters on edge. Mohamed, a protester who only provided his first name for fear of reprisal, said when he arrived at the square Friday night after receiving a call from distressed protesters, he saw groups of masked men wielding knives near the protesters command post at the parking garage. Twenty minutes later, he said, four white pickup trucks arrived from the direction of Abdul-Qadir Gilani mosque, adjacent to Khilani square, without license plates and car rying armed men wearing ski masks. ``They fired at us, and we ran,`` he said, noting that the electricity went off moments before. The armed men positioned themselves on the top floor of the parking garage and started shooting at the demonstrators below, said Mohamed, whose version of events was corroborated by a half-dozen other protesters. The shooting lasted for at least three hours, he said. The attacks claimed the lives of 22 protesters and three policemen, officials said. Iraqi security forces were deployed to streets leading to the square early Saturday. Some protesters accused the government of colluding with the masked gunmen, pointing to the power outage that happened around the same time as the attacks. But a senior Electricity Ministry official, who requested anonymity in line with regulations, denied the allegation. The official said it would have been easy for anyone to cut the power lines.

The United States has completed its military pullback in northeastern Syria, settling into a more stable posture of about 600 troops in the rest of the country after repositioning and reducing forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Esper s remarks in an interview with Reuters could signal the end of a period of turbulence and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. military presence in Syria after President Donald Trump s initial withdrawal order in October. Since then, troop levels in Syria have fallen about 40 percent from around 1,000. Esper stressed he retained the ability to move in and out smaller numbers of forces as needed into Syria. But he suggested the number of troops will fluctuate around the 600-level for the foreseeable future. "It will be relatively static around that number. But if we see things happen ... I can dial up a little bit," Esper said late on Wednesday during a flight back from the NATO summit on the outskirts of London. Esper also didn t rule out being able to reduce U.S. troop levels in Syria further if European allies contributed to the Syria mission. "The coalition is talking a lot again. We could see some allies want to volunteer troops," Esper said, without suggesting any new contribution was imminent. "If an allied country, a NATO country, decided to give us 50 people, I might be able to turn off 50 people." The U.S. military says it is focused on preventing a resurgence of Islamic State in Syria and carried out a raid last month that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump, in London, said he wanted remaining U.S. forces to ensure Syria s oil reserves don t fall back into the militant group s hands. "We kept the oil. And the oil is what fueled ISIS," Trump said, using an acronym for Islamic State. NO MOVEMENT ON TURKEY S-400S Trump softened his pullout plans for Syria after backlash from Congress, including among key Republicans, who say he cleared the way for a long-threatened Turkish incursion against Kurdish forces in Syria who had been America s top allies in the battle against Islamic State. NATO diplomats worry that Turkey, a NATO member since 1952 and a critical ally in the Middle East, has increasingly acted unilaterally, launching its incursion in Syria against U.S.-backed forces and buying advanced Russian S-400 air defenses. Washington says the S-400 system is incompatible with NATO air defenses, poses a threat to Lockheed Martin Corp s F-35 stealth fighter jets and announced in July it was removing Turkey from the F-35 program. It has also warned of possible U.S. sanctions. After summit talks between Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Esper suggested Ankara had not budged yet on the S-400 issue. "There s no movement at this point," Esper said. Still, after lobbying by NATO allies, including the United States, Erdogan backed off from a threat to block defense plans for the Baltic states and Poland unless allies declared Kurdish fighters in Syria terrorists. "I think it was a positive move forward," Esper said, of the change in position by Turkey. "They ve been a valuable part of NATO for decades, from the earliest days. So we got to keep them in the fold."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Portugal for a meeting with his close ally, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It will be their first encounter since Pompeo announced last month that the U.S. does not consider Israeli West Bank settlements illegal under international law. It also the latest in a string of diplomatic gifts to Netanyahu by the Trump administration as the Israeli leader fights for his political survival in the wake of two inconclusive elections and a damning corruption indictment. Netanyahu s back is against the wall in Israel but abroad, he will be seeking to project a stately image of business as usual and secure further American commitments for whatever time he has left in office. Netanyahu was to leave Israel around midday on Wednesday.

Iranian state television on Tuesday acknowledged security forces shot and killed what it described as ``rioters in multiple cities amid recent protests over the spike in government-set gasoline prices _ the first time that authorities have offered any sort of accounting for the violence they used to put down the demonstrations. The acknowledgment came in a television package that criticized international Farsi-language channels for their reporting on the crisis, which began on Nov. 15. Amnesty International said Monday it believes at least 208 people were killed in the protests and the crackdown that followed. Iran s mission to the United Nations disputed Amnesty s findings early Tuesday, though it offered no evidence to support its claim. Iran has yet to release any nationwide statistics over the unrest that gripped the Islamic Republic with minimum prices for government-subsidized gasoline rising by 50%. Iran shut down internet access amid the unrest, blocking those inside the country from sharing their videos and information, as well as limiting the outside world from knowing the scale of the protests and violence. The restoration of the internet in recent days across much of the country has seen other videos surface. ``We ve seen over 200 people killed in a very swift time, in under a week, said Mansoureh Mills, an Iran researcher at Amnesty. ``It s something pretty unprecedented event in the history of the human rights violations in the Islamic Republic. While not drawing as many Iranians into the streets as those protesting the disputed 2009 presidential election, the gasoline price demonstrations rapidly turned violent faster than any previous rallies. That shows the widespread economic discontent gripping the country since May 2018, when President Donald Trump imposed crushing sanctions after unilaterally withdrawing from Tehran s nuclear deal with world powers. The state TV report sought to describe killings in four categories, alleging some of those killed were ``rioters who have attacked sensitive or military centers with firearms or knives, or have taken hostages in some areas. The report described others killed as passers-by, security forces and peaceful protesters, without assigning blame for their deaths. In one case, the report said security forces confronted a separatist group in the city of Mahshahr armed with ``semi-heavy weapons. ``For hours, armed rioters had waged an armed struggle, the report alleged. ``In such circumstances, security forces took action to save the lives of Mahshahr s people. Mahshahr in Iran s southwestern Khuzestan province was believed to be hard-hit in the crackdown. The surrounding oil-rich province s Arab population long has complained of discrimination by Iran s central government and insurgent groups have attacked area oil pipelines in the past there. Online videos purportedly from the area showed peaceful protests, as well as clashes between demonstrators and security forces. State TV separately acknowledged confronting ``rioters in Tehran, as well as in the cities of Shiraz and Sirjan. It also mentioned Shahriar, a suburb of Tehran where Amnesty on Monday said there had been ``dozens of deaths. It described the suburb as likely one of the areas with the highest toll of those killed in the unrest. Shahriar has seen heavy protests. Amnesty offered no breakdown for the deaths elsewhere in the country, though it said ``the real figure is likely to be higher. Mills said there was a ``general environment of fear inside of Iran at the moment. ``The authorities have been threatening families, some have been forced to sign undertakings that they won t speak to the media, she said. ``Families have been forced to bury their loved ones at night under heavy security presence. Authorities also have been visiting hospitals, looking for patients with gunshot wounds or other injuries from the unrest, Mills said. She alleged that authorities then immediately detain those with the suspicious wounds. Iran s U.N. mission in New York called Amnesty s findings ``unsubstantiated, without elaborating. ``A number of exile groups (and media networks) have either taken credit for instigating both ordinary people to protest and riots, or have encouraged lawlessness and vandalism, or both, said Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman at the mission. The demonstrations began after authorities raised minimum gasoline prices by 50% to 15,000 Iranian rials per liter. That s 12 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. After a monthly 60-liter quota, it costs 30,000 rials a liter. That s nearly 24 cents a liter or 90 cents a gallon. An average gallon of regular gas in the U.S. costs $2.58 by comparison, according to AAA. Cheap gasoline is practically considered a birthright in Iran, home to the world s fourth-largest crude oil reserves despite decades of economic woes since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Gasoline there remains among the cheapest in the world, in part to help keep costs low for its underemployed, who often drive taxis to make ends meet. Iran s per capita gross domestic product, often used as a rough sense of a nation s standard of living, is just over $6,000, compared with over $62,000 in the U.S., according to the World Bank. That disparity, especially given Iran s oil wealth, fueled the anger felt by demonstrators. Already, Iranians have seen their savings chewed away by the rial s collapse from 32,000 to $1 at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord to 126,000 to $1 today. Daily staples also have risen in price. The scale of the demonstrations also remains unclear. One Iranian lawmaker said he thought that over 7,000 people had been arrested, although Iran s top prosecutor disputed the figure without offering his own. Meanwhile, Mir Hossein Mousavi, a long-detained opposition leader in Iran, compared the recent crackdown by security forces on protesters to soldiers who in the time of Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi gunned down demonstrators in an event that led to the Islamic Revolution. His comparison raised the rhetorical stakes surrounding the latest unrest.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries Monday not to give up in the fight against climate change, as representatives from nearly 200 countries gathered in Madrid for a two-week meeting on tackling global warming. In his opening speech to delegates, Guterres cited recent scientific data showing that levels of heat-trapping gases have hit a record high, reaching levels not seen for at least 3 million years when sea levels were 10-20 meters (33-66 feet) higher than today. Unless emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are sharply cut, temperatures could rise to twice the threshold set in the 2015 Paris accord by the end of the century, he warned. "Do we really want to be remembered as the generation that buried its head in the sand, that fiddled while the planet burned? Guterres asked. His appeal came after Chile s environment minister, Carolina Schmidt, said the Dec. 2-13 meeting needs to lay the groundwork for moving toward carbon-neutral economies while being sensitive to the poorest and those most vulnerable to rising temperatures - something that policymakers have termed "just transition. "Those who don t want to see it will be on the wrong side of history, said Schmidt, who is chairing the meeting. She called on governments to make more ambitious pledges to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases ahead of a deadline to do so next year. The summit, which moved to the Spanish capital after Chile had to pull out amid anti-government protests, aims to put the finishing touches to the rules governing the 2015 Paris accord. That involves creating a functioning international emissions-trading system and compensating poor countries for losses they suffer from rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change. "We have a common challenge but with differentiated needs and urgencies, which we can only overcome if we work together, said Schmidt. Countries agreed in Paris four years ago to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5C (2.7F) by the end of the century compared with pre-industrial times. Already, average temperatures have increased by about 1C, leaving little room for the more ambitious target to be met. Guterres called out big greenhouse gas emitters that are still building coal-fired power plants, saying that unless the world stops burning coal "all our efforts to tackle climate change will be doomed." He noted that had countries started cutting their emissions drastically a decade ago, reaching the Paris goal would have been much easier. "Ten years ago, if countries had acted on the science, they would have needed to reduce emissions by 3.3% each year, he said. "Today, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% each year. "The impact on all life on the planet - including ours - would be catastrophic, he added. "The only solution is rapid, ambitious, transformative action by all - governments, regions, cities, businesses and civil society, all working toward a common goal. Organizers expect around 29,000 visitors at the meeting, including around 50 heads of state and government for Monday s opening session. Except for the European Union s newly sworn-in leadership, which was due to begin a five-year term by paying a visit to the summit, the rest of the world s largest carbon emitters - the United States, China and India - are sending ministerial or lower-level officials to the meeting. The U.S. delegation is led by Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, a senior Department official. That s because the procedures to quit the Paris accord initiated last month by the administration of President Donald Trump won t be technically completed until Nov. 4, 2020. But Democratic members of Congress led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the nation remains committed to the 2015 agreement s goals. "We re still in it, said Pelosi, adding that climate change poses a threat to public health, the economy and national security.

Iraqis across the country marched Sunday to mourn protesters killed in anti-government rallies, even turning out in Sunni areas where people were previously too afraid to join in. Demonstrators have hit the streets since early October in Baghdad and the Shia-majority south to demand the ouster of a government they accuse of being corrupt, inefficient and beholden to foreign powers. After a spike in deaths this week raised the toll to more than 420 killed, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said Friday he would submit his resignation to parliament. The chamber was due to convene later Sunday, but no agenda had yet been published. In recent weeks, most Sunni-majority areas refrained from protesting, fearing that opposing the central government would earn them the labels of being "terrorists" or supporters of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein. But after a spike in violence days ago left nearly 70 people dead across three cities, Iraqis in nearly all provinces turned out in solidarity. In Sunday s marches, hundreds of students dressed in black organised a mourning march in the northern city of Mosul, on the city s university campus. "It s the least Mosul can give to the martyrs of Dhi Qar and Najaf," said Zahraa Ahmed, a dentistry student, naming the two provinces where most recent victims were from. "The protesters are asking for their basic rights so the government should have answered from the beginning." Another student, Hussein Kheder, carrying an Iraqi flag, said the whole country was now on the same page politically. "Now the government needs to answer to the protesters demands," he told AFP. For three years, Mosul was the heart of the Islamic State group s ultra-conservative "caliphate", and much of it still lies in ruins today. In Salahaddin, another northern Sunni province where no rallies had taken place so far, authorities had already declared on Friday three days of mourning for the victims. And eight other Shia-majority provinces have announced on Sunday a mourning day during which government offices would remain shut. More than 20 people were killed in the shrine city of Najaf, 40 people in the hotspot of Nasiriyah and three in the capital Baghdad. AFP s correspondent reported calm in Nasiriyah on Sunday after three consecutive days of violence. The protest hotspot is the birthplace of Abdel Mahdi, the embattled premier, who came to power just a year ago based on a shaky alliance between rival parties. He had resisted protesters calls for him to step down over the past two months. But the crackdown turned the tide this week, as it prompted Iraq s top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani to call on parliament to drop its support for Abdel Mahdi. In quick succession, political factions indicated they would support a no-confidence vote. It was however not certain whether that vote would take place Sunday afternoon as no agenda had yet been published.

Iraqi security forces shot dead 16 protesters in the southern city of Nassiriya on Thursday, medical sources said, and authorities imposed a curfew in Najaf after demonstrators burned its Iranian consulate. Authorities set up joint military-civilian "crisis cells" to try to stem unrest and a paramilitary commander vowed to use force to stop any attack against Shi ite Muslim religious authorities. The torching of the consulate in Najaf, the southern holy city, escalated violence in Iraq after weeks of mass demonstrations that aim to bring down a government seen as corrupt and backed by Tehran. It was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment of Iraqi demonstrators as the gulf widens between a largely Iran-aligned ruling elite and an increasingly desperate Iraqi majority with few opportunities and minimal state support. The inability of Iraq s government and political class to deal with the unrest and answer protesters demands has fuelled public anger. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has promised electoral and anti-corruption reform but barely begun delivering while security forces have shot dead hundreds of mostly peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Baghdad and southern cities. The protests, which began in Baghdad on Oct. 1 and have spread through southern cities, are the most complex challenge facing the Shi ite-dominated ruling class that has controlled state institutions and patronage networks since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled long-time Sunni ruler Saddam Hussein. Young, mostly Shi ite protesters say politicians are corrupt, beholden to foreign powers - especially Iran - and they blame them for a failure to recover from years of conflict despite relative calm since the defeat of Islamic State in 2017. Security forces opened fire on protesters who had gathered on a bridge in Nassiriya before dawn, medical sources said. Sixteen were killed and dozens wounded, they said. A curfew was imposed in Najaf after protesters stormed and set fire to the Iranian consulate late on Wednesday. Businesses and government offices remained closed in the city, state media reported. "The burning of the consulate last night was a brave act and a reaction from the Iraqi people - we don t want the Iranians," said Ali, a protester in Najaf. "There will be revenge from Iran I m sure, they re still here and the security forces are going to keep shooting us." A protester who witnessed the burning of the consulate said security forces had opened fire to try to stop it. "All the riot police in Najaf and the security forces started shooting at us, as if we were burning Iraq as a whole," he said, declining to give his name. Infiltrators and saboteurs The military commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella grouping of paramilitary groups whose most powerful factions are close to Tehran, said the groups would use full force against anyone trying to attack Iraq s most powerful Shi ite cleric, who is based in Najaf. "We will cut the hand of anyone trying to get near (Grand Ayatollah Ali) al-Sistani," commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis said in a statement on the PMF website. Observers said the events in Najaf would likely bring a tough response, rather than pushing the government into enacting reforms. "Apart from casual statements ... the government has not announced any plan (or) given any clear account of what measures it will take," said Dhiaa al-Asadi, advisor to powerful populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "Initiatives are going to be scarce." Fanar Haddad, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, said the government might use the burning of the Iranian consulate as a pretext for an even more heavy-handed crackdown. "The downside from the protesters point of view is this might reinforce the government s narrative that protesters are infiltrators, saboteurs and up to no good," he said. "It sends a message to Iran but also works to the advantage of people like Muhandis ... (giving) a pretext to clamp down and framing what happened as a threat against Sistani." Sistani rarely speaks on political issues but traditionally wields enormous influence over public opinion, especially in Iraq s southern Shi ite heartland. He has used Friday sermons in recent weeks to urge the government to enact real reform and stop killing demonstrators. Security forces have used live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades against mostly unarmed protesters. Some demonstrators have lobbed petrol bombs, bricks and fired slingshots at police. Authorities set up "crisis cells" in several provinces to try to restore order, a military statement said on Thursday. They would be led by provincial governors but include military leaders who would take charge of local security forces. The violence has killed more than 350 people, according to police and medics.

Approximately 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in recent unrest in Iran, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday. More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, without specifying where the attacks took place. According to IRNA, Rahmani Fazli also said up to 200,000 people took part nationwide in the unrest that began on Nov. 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes. London-based Amnesty International said on Monday it had recorded at least 143 protesters killed in the protests, the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down the "Green Revolution" demonstrations against election fraud in 2009. Iran has rejected Amnesty s death toll. It says several people, including members of the security forces, were killed and more than 1,000 people arrested. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said the number of arrests was probably closer to 4,000. The protests quickly turned political, with protesters calling on top leaders to step down. The government has blamed "thugs" linked to exiles and the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest. The protests came as new U.S. sanctions imposed this year cut off nearly all of Iran s oil exports, and as similar protest movements erupted in Iraq and Lebanon against governments that include heavily armed pro-Iran factions.

Clashes between supporters of Lebanon s caretaker prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, and Shia groups Hezbollah and Amal erupted into gunfire in Beirut late on Monday, state news agency NNA reported. The clashes marked the second consecutive night of violence linked to Lebanon s political crisis, threatening to tip largely peaceful demonstrations directed at the country s ruling elite in a more bloody direction. A video posted by Lebanese broadcaster LBCI showed heavy gunfire around Cola bridge in Beirut. The source of the gunfire was not immediately clear. No injuries were reported. In the southern town of Tyre, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal tore up protest tents and set them on fire, prompting security forces to intervene and fire into the air, according to Lebanese media. The protests that have swept Lebanon since Oct. 17 are fuelled by deep resentment for a ruling class seen as mired in corruption and having driven the economy into crisis. Supporters of Amal and the heavily armed Hezbollah have occasionally sought to break up the demonstrations and clear roads cut off by protesters. They destroyed a main protest camp in central Beirut last month. The groups were influential in the coalition government led by Hariri, who quit on Oct. 29 after the protests began. They had opposed Hariri s resignation. In a statement, Hariri s Future Movement warned its supporters to refrain from protesting and stay away from large gatherings to "avoid being dragged into any provocation intended to ignite strife." Groups of men on motorcycles, some waving Amal and Hezbollah flags, were seen roving streets in Beirut and Tyre, according to witnesses and videos broadcasted on Lebanese media. Adding to tensions, two people were killed when their car slammed into a traffic barrier on a coastal road on Monday, sparking criticism from Hezbollah and others of protesters that have cut roads as a primary tactic to keep up pressure. Lebanon is facing the worst economic strains since its 1975-1990 civil war.

Thirteen anti-government protesters were killed Sunday by Iraqi security forces in one of the "worst days of clashes in the country s south, as protests swept through the oil-rich area, officials said. Demonstrators outraged by rampant government corruption and poor services burned tires and blocked main road arteries. Security and hospital officials, who requested anonymity in line with regulations, said seven protesters were killed in the southern province of Basra, near the Umm Qasr port. Security forces used live fire and tear gas to disperse the protesters. Earlier in Basra, which accounts for nearly 85% of the country s crude oil production, protesters burned tires in the city center cutting main roads. Officials said four protesters were killed in Nassiriya province, and one killed in both Najaf and Diwanieh provinces. One security official in Basra said it was "one of the worst days since the start of the protest movement. At least 150 protesters were wounded. At least 342 people have died since demonstrations began Oct. 1, when thousands of Iraqis, mostly youth, took to the streets to decry corruption and poor services. The leaderless uprising seeks to overthrow the political establishment. Security forces appeared to have fired live rounds at protesters near the Umm Qasr port, killing three according to an official from the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, who requested anonymity in line with regulations. Protesters had cut roads leading to Umm Qasr, the country s main commodities port, halting all trade activity. Security forces cleared the area of protesters on Thursday.

The United States and France are boosting Saudi Arabia s radar systems following crippling drone and cruise missile attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure in September, which Washington blames on Iran. The chief of the U.S. Central Command and France s defence minister, whose countries have taken divergent approaches to Iran, also touted rival versions of maritime missions to protect Gulf waters at a Bahrain security forum on Saturday. More than two months after the biggest assault on Saudi oil facilities, Riyadh and Washington have yet to provide concrete proof linking Iran to the attack while Saudi Arabia has provided few details about how it is addressing gaps in its air defences. Tehran denies involvement in the strikes that initially halved the crude output of the world s top oil exporter and led the United States to send thousands of troops and military hardware to the kingdom. "We continue to refine information on the attack against (Saudi state oil firm) Aramco and that will be released principally through the Saudis," said General Kenneth McKenzie, who oversees operations in the Middle East and South Asia. "We are working with the Saudis to increase the networking of their systems. That will make them better able to defend against this type of threats," he told reporters. McKenzie said boosting the U.S. military presence at Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh, in addition to large bases in Qatar and Bahrain, would "complicate an adversary s ability to target you". French Defence Minister Florence Parly said Paris was separately sending Riyadh "a robust package of advanced warning", including radars, to confront low-altitude attacks. "It will be in Saudi Arabia in the coming days so it will be operational very, very rapidly. But there is an analysis to be done in order to better identify how to fill the gap," she later told reporters. "COOLING TEMPERS" The Sept. 14 strikes heightened regional tensions following attacks on tankers in Gulf waters and other Saudi energy assets in the summer that Washington also blamed on Iran, a charge Tehran denies. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told the IISS Manama Dialogue that Riyadh was consulting with its allies about what measures would be taken against Iran after the investigation concluded. He gave no timeframe. The event focused mostly on the Iranian threat but included no representatives from Tehran. It underscored differences between Western allies over how to deal with Iran since the United States quit a 2015 international nuclear pact. France wants to salvage the agreement, which Saudi Arabia and other U.S.-allied Gulf states oppose for failing to address Iran s ballistic missiles programme and regional interference. "We have seen a deliberate, gradual U.S. disengagement," Parly said, citing also U.S. inaction over a 2013 chemical attack in Syria and this year s downing of an American drone by Iran. She said it was time to "reinvent deterrence", mentioning France s efforts to form a European-led maritime mission, unassociated with the U.S. maximum pressure campaign on Iran, to help "cool down tempers". Parly told reporters the initiative could start early next year and around 10 European and non-European governments would join pending parliamentary approval. Only Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom have so far joined the U.S.-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), which McKenzie said would "shine a spotlight on nefarious activity".

Renewed clashes overnight in Baghdad between anti-government demonstrators and security forces killed four protesters, Iraqi security and hospital officials said Thursday. The altercations on two key bridges in the Iraqi capital also left at least 44 people wounded, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Both bridges appeared to be calm by morning hours. Initial reports had two killed but the death toll later rose after two of the wounded protesters died of their wounds. Fighting also resumed overnight in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, between protesters and security forces. In Baghdad, one protester was killed when security forces used live rounds to repel demonstrators on Ahrar Bridge. The other protester was killed when a tear gas cannister was fired on Sinak Bridge, hitting him in the head. Two protester later succumbed to their injuries. Protesters have been occupying parts of Baghdad s three main bridges _ Sinak and Ahrar and Jumurhiya _ leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq s government. Tents have been set up under the bridges and also on central Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement, where first-aid volunteers treat those wounded by pieces of exploded tear gas cannisters and live fire. ``Around 1:30 a.m., the shooting started with live ammunition, tear gas, and sound grenades, said one volunteer, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal. ``There were martyrs and we received several injured, people with breathing difficulties and bullet wounds. In Karbala, the protesters threw crudely made fire bombs, also known as Molotov cocktails, at security forces while anti-riot police responded by throwing stones at the protesters. Dozens of protesters had attacked the Iranian Consulate in this city earlier in November, scaling concrete barriers and saying they rejected the influence of the neighboring country in Iraqi affairs. At least 320 protesters have been killed and thousands have been wounded since the unrest began on Oct. 1, when demonstrators took to the streets in Baghdad and across Iraq s mainly Shiite south to decry rampant government corruption and lack of basic services despite Iraq s oil wealth. The leaderless movement seeks to dismantle the sectarian system and unseat the government, including Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday, carrying out a ``wide-scale strike in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before. A Britain-based war monitoring group said the Israeli airstrikes killed 11 people, including seven non-Syrians who are most likely Iranians. Syrian state media only reported that two civilians were killed. The Israeli military said its fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to Iran s elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the Israeli military said a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed. The death toll of 11 was reported by Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group with a network of activists across Syria. The Observatory said the airstrikes targeted arms depots belonging to the Quds Force in the Damascus suburbs of Kisweh and Qudsaya. Abdurrahman added that several other areas were targeted in Wednesday s strikes, including the Mazzeh airbase in western Damascus where air defense units are stationed. Syria s state SANA news agency said the two civilians were killed by shrapnel when an Israeli missile hit a house in the town of Saasaa, southwest of Damascus. It said several others were wounded, including a girl in a residential building in the suburb of Qudsaya, also west of the Syrian capital. It claimed that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets. The strikes further burst into the open what s been a long shadow war between Israel and its archenemy Iran. The two foes have increasingly clashed over what Israel says is Iran s deeper presence along its borders. ``Yesterday s Iranian attack towards Israel is further clear proof of the purpose of the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, which threatens Israeli security, regional stability and the Syrian regime, the military said in a statement, adding that it would ``continue operating firmly and resolutely against Iran in Syria. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the significance of the operation was the ``multitude of targets hit. Several important targets were struck, he said, including what he described as the Iranian headquarters at Damascus airport where senior Iranian officials are based and which is used to coordinate shipments from Iran to its allies in Syria and beyond. He added that Israel also holds Syria responsible for hosting the Iranians. Tuesday s rocket fire on the Golan was the sixth attempt by Iran to attack Israeli targets since February 2018, and all have been thwarted, Conricus said. While Israel faces tensions with Iranian proxies along its borders, Iran s regional influence is also being challenged by unprecedented, economically-driven mass protests in Iraq and Lebanon _ two countries where Tehran wields major influence. The protests are creating unrest that Tehran fears would spark a backlash against Iran-backed proxy militias in those countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a series of warnings recently about Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East and has vowed to respond firmly. ``I made it clear: whoever harms us, we will harm them. That s what we did tonight, he said early Wednesday. ``We will continue to aggressively protect Israel s security. Israel s new hard-line defense minister, Naftali Bennett, issued an equally firm statement. ``The rules have changed: whoever fires on Israel during the day will not sleep at night, he said. ``Our message to the leaders of Iran is simple: you are no longer immune. Any place you dispatch your tentacles, we will chop them off. The rare rocket fire came a week aftaer an Israeli airstrike against a top Palestinian militant based in Syria. Akram al-Ajouri, a member of the leadership of the militant Islamic Jihad group who is living in exile, survived the attack but his son and granddaughter were killed. Israel frequently strikes Iranian interests in Syria. But last week s airstrike appeared to be a rare assassination attempt of a Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. It came the same day as another Israeli airstrike killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, settling off the fiercest round of fighting there in years. Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and expertise. Netanyahu also has claimed Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen, where Tehran supports Shiite Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel. Hamas also receives some support from Iran.

Lebanon s parliament was blocked from holding its first session for two months on Tuesday after protesters prevented lawmakers from reaching the building, escalating a wave of demonstrations against rulers blamed for steering towards economic collapse. Queues built at banks that reopened after a one-week closure, with police deployed at branches and banks imposing tight restrictions on hard currency withdrawals and transfers abroad. Lebanon has slid further into economic crisis since the protests erupted on Oct. 17. The political situation has been deadlocked since Saad al-Hariri resigned as prime minister on Oct. 29, with no progress towards a deal on a new government. Gunfire was heard as a group of several dozen protesters forced two SUVs with official number plates and tinted windows to turn back as they approached the parliament, footage broadcast by Lebanese broadcasters showed. The vehicles sped away after they were struck by demonstrators chanting "Out, out, out!" Authorities later announced that the session had been postponed indefinitely. The agenda of the parliamentary session had included reelecting members of parliamentary committees and discussion of a controversial amnesty law that is expected to lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had already postponed the session last week due to security concerns. The security forces had fanned out on Tuesday before dawn in central Beirut, shutting down roads around parliament with barbed wire in what proved to be a failed attempt to prevent the protesters from blocking the session. Police scuffled with a group of protesters who were trying to use a cable to remove a barbed wire barricade. "How are they holding a session and not responding to the people? Those that are in the session have nothing to do with us, and it s not what we asked for," said a protester who gave her name as Maria. The protests have been fuelled by perceptions of corruption among the sectarian politicians who have governed Lebanon for decades and are blamed for leading the country into its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Kuwait s ruling emir on Monday reappointed Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah as prime minister but removed the defence and interior ministers, both senior members of the ruling family, from their posts after the government s resignation last week. Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah asked Sheikh Jaber to form a new cabinet, state news agency KUNA said. Sheikh Jaber last week submitted the government s resignation when lawmakers sought a no-confidence vote against the interior minister. KUNA said in a separate statement that the emir ordered the removal of his son, Defence Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, and Interior Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah from their posts in the current caretaker cabinet.

Iraqis flooded the streets of the capital and southern cities on Sunday in a general strike that bolstered the weeks-long movement demanding a government overhaul. Sit-ins have become the go-to tactic for the rallies that erupted in early October in rage over corruption, a lack of jobs and an out-of-touch political class. They have resisted efforts by security forces to snuff them out and on Sunday, thousands came out across the country after activists called for a general strike.

With historic impeachment hearings underway, Democrats and Republicans are hardening their arguments over the actions of President Donald Trump as they set out to win over a deeply polarized American public. Democrats say Wednesday s extraordinary public session in the House revealed a striking account of Trump abusing his office by pressing the newly elected president of Ukraine for political investigations of rival Democrats, all while holding up needed military aid. "Bribery, they said, and "extortion. Republicans counter that the hearing showed none of that. They say the two seasoned diplomats at the witness table had, at best, second-hand accounts of Trump s July 25 call that s central to the impeachment inquiry. There was no pressure on the young Ukraine leader, they argue, and eventually the aid flowed, though only after Congress intervened. Day One of the rare public hearings in the House _ part of only the fourth formal impeachment effort in U.S. history _ set the contours for a once-in-a-generation political struggle. Images and audio from the hearing popping up on television, in earbuds and on the partisan silos of social media, providing the first close-up look at the investigation. "The president sought to advance his political and personal interests at the expense of U.S. national security, said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee leading the probe. "Is this now going to be the new normal? Schiff asked. Hosting the president of Turkey at the White House, Trump insisted he was too busy to watch the hearings being broadcast live across the country and the world. He denied a fresh detail from one of the witnesses about a phone call in which he was overheard asking about "the investigations. "First I ve heard of it, Trump told reporters during a news conference. A different conversation sparked the impeachment investigation, Trump s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, heard by several government officials and detailed in a partial transcript released to the public weeks ago. The core moment came when Trump asked the newly elected leader for "a favor. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday that the Democrats first witness "wasn t on the phone call, never met with the president, never talked to the chief of staff. And he s their star witness? Trump wanted Ukraine s government to investigate Democrats activities in the 2016 election and his potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden _ all while the administration was withholding military aid for the Eastern European ally as it confronted an aggressive neighbor, Russia. All day, the two diplomats delivered a dramatic, though complicated, account. They testified about how an ambassador was fired, the new Ukraine government was confused and they discovered an "irregular channel _ a shadow U.S. foreign policy orchestrated by the president s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, that raised alarms in diplomatic and national security circles. Trump restated his aggressive defense with rapid-fire tweets, a video from the Rose Garden and a dismissive retort from the Oval Office: "It s a witch hunt. It s a hoax. Career diplomat William Taylor, the charge d affaires in Kyiv, offered new testimony that a staff member recently told him of overhearing Trump when they were meeting with another diplomat, U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, at a restaurant the day after Trump s July 25 phone call. The staff member explained that Sondland had called the president and they could hear Trump on the phone asking about "the investigations, Taylor said. Sondland told the president the Ukrainians were ready to move forward, Taylor testified as he repeated the staff member s account. In the face of Trump s denial, Schiff expects the person to appear before investigators for a closed-door deposition. He is David Holmes, the political counselor at the embassy in Kyiv, according to an official unauthorized to discuss the matter and granted anonymity. Across the country, millions of Americans were tuning in _ or, in some cases, deliberately tuning out. Viewers on the right and left thought the day underscored their feelings. Anthony Harris, cutting hair in Savannah, Georgia, had the hearing on in his shop, but he said, "It s gotten to the point now where people are even tired of listening. The hours of partisan back-and-forth did not appear to leave a singular moment etched in the public consciousness the way the Watergate proceedings or Bill Clinton s impeachment did generations ago. "No real surprises, no bombshells, said committee member Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah. Still, the session unspooled at least partly the way Democrats wanted with the somber tones of career foreign service officers telling what they knew. They sounded credible. The witnesses, the graying Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent in his bow tie, defied White House instructions not to appear. Both had received subpoenas. They are among a dozen current and former officials who already testified behind closed doors. Days of public hearings will stretch into next week. Both Kent and Taylor, who was asked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to return to Ukraine as Trump was firing Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, defended their ousted colleague. She is set to testify Friday. A Trump ally on the panel, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, mockingly called Taylor the Democrats "star witness and said he d "seen church prayer chains that are easier to understand than this. Taylor, a West Point graduate and an Army infantry officer in Vietnam, responded: "I don t consider myself a star witness for anything.`` The top Republican on the panel, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, said Trump had a "perfectly good reason for wanting to investigate the role of Democrats in 2016 election interference, giving airtime to a theory that runs counter to mainstream U.S. intelligence which found that Russia intervened and favored Trump. Nunes accused the Democratic majority of conducting a "scorched earth effort to take down the president after the special counsel s Russia investigation into the 2016 election failed to spark impeachment proceedings. The veteran foreign service officers delivered heartfelt history lessons about Ukraine, a young and hopeful democracy, situated next to Russia but reaching out to the West. Republicans sought to hear from the anonymous whistleblower whose official complaint alerted officials to the July 25 call by subpoenaing him for a closed session. The panel voted down the request and Schiff repeatedly denied the GOP claim that he knows the person. "We will do everything necessary to protect the whistleblower s identity, Schiff declared. The Constitution sets a dramatic but vague bar for impeachment, There s no consensus yet that Trump s actions at the heart of the inquiry meet the threshold of "high crimes and misdemeanors. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was initially reluctant to launch a formal impeachment inquiry. But she pressed ahead after the whistleblower s complaint. She said Wednesday it was sad that the country has to undergo the inquiry with Trump, but "he will be held accountable."