Briefly

MIDDLE EAST

Gulf Arab states' row with Lebanon deepens

Bahrain on Tuesday urged its citizens in Lebanon to immediately leave, after the United Arab Emirates made a similar call in an escalating row over a minister's Yemen war remarks. Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi triggered the dispute with an interview recorded in August and was aired last week. In it, he said that Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels were "defending themselves... against an external aggression".Also on Tuesday, Yemen's internationally recognized government said it summoned its ambassador from Lebanon to address Kordahi's statements, according to the official Saba news agency. Saudi Arabia on Friday gave Lebanon's ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, recalled its envoy from Beirut and suspended all imports from Lebanon.

FRANCE

Macron text leaks 'new low' for Australia

Australia leaking French President Emmanuel Macron's text messages to the media was a "new low" and a warning to other world leaders that their private communications with the Australian government could be weaponized and used against them, the French ambassador said on Wednesday. French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault used an address to Australia's National Press Club to make a withering attack on Canberra's surprise decision to scrap a $66 billion contract with France to build a fleet of 12 diesel-electric submarines. France has condemned the leak as a further breach of trust.

TANZANIA

500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses arrive

Tanzania on Monday received the second batch of 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China, boosting the East African nation's drive to vaccinate its people against COVID-19. In early October, Tanzania received 1,065,600 doses of the Sinopharm jab donated by the Chinese government via the COVAX facility. "The second consignment of the vaccines donated by the Chinese government will go a long way in helping Tanzania to fight the virus pandemic," said Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima.

IRAN

US guarantees urged for nuclear pact revival

Negotiations to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers will fail unless US President Joe Biden can guarantee that Washington will not again abandon the pact, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said on Wednesday. "The US president, lacking authority, is not ready to give guarantees. If the current status quo continues, the result of negotiations is clear," Ali Shamkhani said in a tweet. Iran is expected to give an exact date this week for the resumption of talks with the powers, scheduled for the end of November according to Iranian top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani.

NIGERIA

Death toll climbs to 22 in high-rise collapse

Two more bodies were pulled out early on Wednesday from the debris of a collapsed Lagos high-rise building, bringing the death toll to 22 people, the emergency services said. The 21-story building was still under construction when it crumbled on Monday in the upscale Ikoyi neighborhood of Nigeria's commercial capital. Rescuers said on Wednesday they had recovered 22 bodies so far and rescued nine people, but construction workers feared that dozens of their colleagues were still trapped inside.

Agencies - Xinhua