Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Nov 21 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran is exporting 250 tonnes of foodstuffs and agricultural products per day to Qatar, during the FIFA World Cup, said Iran’s Trade Promotion Organisation (TPO) head, yesterday.

Iran already started some of the shipments to Qatar, according to the agreement between the two countries, Iran’s IRIB news agency quoted TPO President, Alireza Peymanpak, as saying.

Peymanpak stressed that, boosting trade with neighbours, including Qatar, is among the main approaches of the current Iranian government.

ISTANBUL, Nov 21 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's military operations in northern Syria and Iraq were not limited to just an air campaign and discussions would be held on the involvement of ground forces, Turkish media reported.

Speaking to reporters on his return from a trip to Qatar, Erdogan said that the Turkish general staff and defence ministry would decide together on the involvement of ground forces, broadcasters TRT and CNN Turk reported.

TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has decided to strengthen its ground forces in the northwest of the country against "separatist terrorists" there, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Sunday.

The "separatist terrorists" in the region have caused insecurity in some areas, a statement by the IRGC Ground Force's Hamzeh Seyyed Al-Shohada Base was quoted by Tasnim as saying.

The IRGC will also cooperate with local people in its decisive actions in the region, it added.

TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday slammed the United States, France and a number of other European countries for "flagrantly" supporting "terrorists and rioters" in Iran, warning that backing terrorism is definitely not going to be in their interests.

Making the remarks at a cabinet meeting, Raisi said "the enemy" attempted to disrupt Iran's advancements by dealing blows to the country's security and economy as well as education and production sectors, according to the website of the Iranian president's office.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Suspected Kurdish militants in Syria fired rockets across the border into Turkey on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding 10 others, officials said.

The rockets struck a high school and two houses in the town of Karkamis, in Gaziantep province, as well as a truck near a Turkish-Syria border gate, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli court ruled Monday that former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert defamed his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, and ordered him to pay damages to the former leader and his family.

The high-profile defamation suit that kicked off earlier this year pitted the only Israeli prime minister ever to go to prison against the ousted longest-serving leader of the country.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The fan zone set up in central Doha turned into a chaotic scene on Sunday on the opening day of the World Cup as tens of thousands of fans pushed and shoved against police lines to enter the venue.

Fans were trying to enter the enclosed area that contains a big-screen television for viewing matches, places to buy beer, and little else.

Riot police armed with batons and shields stood guard at the entrance. Some fans pleaded with officers to let them through the line.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — FIFA’s threat of on-field punishment for players forced World Cup teams to back down Monday and abandon an anti-discrimination campaign aimed at host nation Qatar.

21 Nov 2022; MEMO: Coalition talks for the next Israeli government are making little progress, with the far-right Otzma Yehudit party led by extremist MK Itamar Ben-Gvir saying yesterday that it was breaking off negotiations due to huge differences, not least over ministerial posts. According to local media, the party accused Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud of pulling away from an agreement to appoint a member of the far-right party as the head of the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee.

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: Tunisia and France have signed a 200-million-euro (about $206.9 million) deal to support the North African country's budget, Anadolu reports.

The agreement was signed by Tunisian Economy Minister Samer Saied and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Saturday on the sidelines of the 18th Francophonie summit held in Tunisia.

A statement by the Ministry of Economy quoted Saied as saying that the agreement aims to help Tunisia redress its financial balance and to implement reform plans.