Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with a small ultranationalist faction leader known for homophobic rhetoric and disparaging remarks about non-Orthodox Jews, a sign of the prospective government’s hardline makeup.

Netanyahu’s Likud party announced Sunday that the agreement names Noam faction leader Avi Maoz as a deputy minister whose portfolio includes an office bolstering Jewish identity among Israelis.

BAGHDAD (AP) — The niece of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling on people to pressure their governments to cut ties with Tehran over it’s violent suppression of anti-government protests.

In a video posted online by her France-based brother, Farideh Moradkhani, urged “conscientious people of the world” to support Iranian protesters. The video was shared online this week after Moradkhani’s reported arrest on Nov. 23, according to U.S.-based rights monitor HRANA.

AL WAKRAH, Qatar (AP) — Substitute Vincent Aboubakar scored one goal and created another as Cameroon rallied from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Serbia at the World Cup on Monday.

He lobbed goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the 64th minute and then set up striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting two minutes later.

The thrilling draw was the first game at the World Cup in Qatar in which both teams gave up a lead.

But the result suited neither side.

27 Nov 2022; MEMO: Various cultural and entertainment events are organized for 2022 FIFA World Cup fans in Msheireb, known as the heart of Qatar's capital Doha, Anadolu reports.

The events across Msheireb are offered for the fans during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, held on Nov. 20-Dec. 18.

In Msheireb, where activities on culture, entertainment, sports, and art are organized, visitors from different nationalities and cultures participate in comprehensive and interactive activities.

28 Nov 2022; MEMO: Qatar has launched a review of its investments in London after the city's transport authority this week banned the Gulf state's tourism advertisements on the capital's buses, taxis and Underground train system, Saturday's Financial Times reported, Reuters reports

The paper said the move by Transport for London (TfL) was triggered by concerns over the soccer World Cup host's stance on LGBT+ rights and its treatment of migrant workers.

28 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Israeli occupation authorities have banned Israeli car owners from having their vehicles repaired at workshops owned and run by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Arab48.com reported on Sunday. Those who ignore the ban face heavy fines and even prison sentences.

28 Nov 2022; MEMO: A Palestinian doctor has been sacked by an Israeli hospital after offering a flower to a Palestinian boy wounded during an Israeli raid in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, Quds Press revealed on Sunday.

28 Nov 2022; MEMO: For the sixth year, engineer Essam Kamal has been forcibly disappeared following his arrest in 2016 from 6th October City, 20 miles outside the Egyptian capital.

According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights one year after security forces arrested Essam, he was accused of being among a group of people who attempted to assassinate the public prosecutor.

In 2015, Egypt's public prosecutor died after a bomb hit his convoy in Cairo.

27 Nov 2022; MEMO: The coach of Iran's national football team, Carlos Queiroz has branded BBC pundit and former German international Jurgen Klinsmann a "disgrace to football" following his comments on the Iranian side's performance on the pitch against Wales in the FIFA World Cup hosted in Qatar, which they went onto winning 2-0.

27 Nov 2022; MEMO: A far-rightist on track to take a key post in Israel's incoming government has warned supporters not to try to move too quickly with his agenda, cautioning in a recording leaked on Sunday that some planned legislation could backfire against them, Reuters reports.

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu last week promised Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir a post as security minister with expanded powers over police in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.