Middle East & North Africa

14 Nov 2019; MEMO: Qatar’s cabinet yesterday approved a draft law regulating press, publications, media activities and arts and referred it to the Shura Council.

The draft law will replace Law No. 8 of 1979 on Publications, and Decree Law No. 16 of 1993 on the Regulation of advertising, public relations and artistic production and works.

In May, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani issued a law on the establishment of a Media City.

14 Nov 2019; MEMO: A well-known Islamic scholar died in a Saudi Arabian prison on Tuesday having been detained since 2016 after sending a “secret advice letter” to the Royal Court, reported Prisoners of Conscience. The group focuses on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.

14 Nov 2019; MEMO: Detained Egyptian activist Israa Abdelfattah is about to begin a thirst strike to force the prosecutor to open an investigation into complaints that she has been tortured in custody.

Israa was kidnapped by security forces from a street in Cairo on 12 October and taken away in a van to an undisclosed place of detention where she was banned from contacting lawyers or family members.

14 Nov 2019; MEMO: After two days of air strikes on the Gaza Strip which have killing 34 Palestinians and wounding 111 others, Israel and the Palestinian resistance this morning agreed to an Egyptian brokered ceasefire proposal.

Spokesman of the Islamic Jihad Mus’ab Al-Breem said that his movement set conditions to accept the ceasefire, which was mediated by Egypt and the UN, and Israel agreed to them.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates and Egypt have launched a $20 billion investment platform for economic and social projects, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said on Twitter on Thursday.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi began a visit to the UAE on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Waves of violent protests have engulfed Baghdad and Iraq’s southern provinces, with demonstrators chanting for the downfall of a political establishment that they say doesn’t prioritize them.

Fueling the unrest is anger over an economy flush with oil money that has failed to bring jobs or improvements to the lives of young people, who are the majority of those taking to the streets. They say they have had enough of blatant government corruption and subpar basic services.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group in Gaza appeared to have reached a cease-fire on Thursday to end two days of heavy fighting that killed at least 34 Palestinians and paralyzed parts of Israel.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al-Berim said the Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 5:30 a.m. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which rarely acknowledges deals with Gaza militant groups, but some restrictions were lifted on residents of the south, despite the continued fire of several rockets.

GAZA, Palestine, Nov 13 (NNN-WAFA) – At least ten Palestinians were killed and 40 others injured, in Israeli airstrikes targeting Palestinian militants.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike, on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

The ministry said, “two Palestinians, including a woman, were killed in an Israeli attack that hit a house in al-Shuja’eya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city.”

13 Nov 2019; MEMO: A court in Algeria yesterday sentenced 21 protesters to six months in jail for “undermining national unity”, local media reported.

The court’s verdict included a six-month suspended prison sentence for protesters arrested for raising a flag representing the country’s Berber minority, Algeria Press Service (APS) said.

13 Nov 2019; MEMO: The Israeli government slammed yesterday’s European court ruling on labelling settlement produce as a form of discrimination and vowed to thwart its implementation.

In a much-anticipated decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that European Union countries must identify products made in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.