Middle East & North Africa

29 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Shura (Consultative) Council in Qatar yesterday expressed its rejection of a recent resolution by the European Parliament regarding human rights in the Gulf country.

The parliament adopted a resolution last Thursday calling on Doha and FIFA "to extend compensation for families of workers who suffered while building World Cup 2022 infrastructure." It said that there were human rights "abuses" that were believed to have caused the deaths of migrant workers.

28 Nov 2022; MEMO: Prime Minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, will do everything to avoid imprisonment, outgoing Israeli Premier, Yair Lapid, said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Addressing a conference in Jerusalem, Lapid said Netanyahu will seek to carry out judicial reforms to appoint judges to look into his corruption cases.

"The bottom line is he will become the second Prime Minister in the country's history to go to prison," Lapid said.

by Dr Ramzy Baroud

As western countries are floating the theory that Russia could escalate its conflict with Ukraine to a nuclear war, many western governments continue to turn a blind eye to Israel's own nuclear weapons capabilities. Luckily, many countries around the world do not subscribe to this endemic western hypocrisy.

29 Nov 2022; MEMO: After years of tension, a handshake between Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, and Egypt's President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, last week opened the door to a flurry of back-door diplomacy between intelligence officials, two sources told Reuters.

Intelligence delegations from the two sides met in Egypt at the weekend, said a regional source with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, Reuters reports.

ANKARA, November 28. /TASS/: Turkish army units near the Syrian border have wrapped up preparations for a ground operation across the border and are awaiting an order for a start, the TRT television channel said on Monday.

The Turkish cabinet is planning to discuss later on Monday an operation in northern Syria against the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its Syrian branch, the People’s Protection Units. Source say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could decide to start the operation at the cabinet meeting.

DOHA, Nov 28 (NNN-ACN) — Cuban Health Minister Jose Angel Portal met in Qatar with his counterpart Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari on ways to boost cooperation between the two countries.

The two officials toured a hospital recently opened in Qatar, according to the Cuban embassy in that country, which stressed the historic links of friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

The Cuban Health Minister also met with health workers from Cuba in that nation. He said that the Cuban medical mission in Qatar is an example of South-South Cooperation.

ONCUPINAR, Turkey, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Turkey's army needs just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria and such a decision may come at a cabinet meeting on Monday, Turkish officials said, as Turkish forces bombarded a Kurdish militia across the border.

Howitzers fired daily from Turkey have struck Kurdish YPG targets for a week, while warplanes have carried out airstrikes.

RIYADH, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Monday plans to transform Riyadh airport into a massive aviation hub with six parallel runways and designed to accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030, state news agency SPA reported.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), will build King Salman International Airport, which should stretch over 57 square kilometres (22.01 square miles) and include current King Khaled airport, SPA said.

RABAT, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The 17th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage started on Monday in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

Delegates from 180 countries attended the session, which will be held from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3.

During the session, the committee will evaluate over 50 nominations submitted by States Parties for inscription on the Lists of the Convention, including traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China.

TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that Tehran will not cooperate with the "political" fact-finding mission proposed by a recent United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Nasser Kanaani made the remarks at a weekly press conference, in response to the anti-Tehran resolution adopted in the Thursday UNHRC meeting, which was held at the request of Germany and Iceland to discuss the recent events in Iran.