Middle East & North Africa

AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) — Qatar prepared Sunday to open the Middle East’s first FIFA World Cup before global leaders and soccer fans now pouring into this energy-rich nation after being battered by a regional boycott and international criticism.

Regardless of the outcome of Qatar versus Ecuador on the pitch, Doha already has drawn Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the opening ceremony and inaugural match of the tournament.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — For the first time, the nations of the world decided to help pay for the damage an overheating world is inflicting on poor countries, but they finished marathon climate talks on Sunday without further addressing the root cause of those disasters — the burning of fossil fuels.

The deal, gaveled around dawn in this Egyptian Red Sea resort city, establishes a fund for what negotiators call loss and damage.

19 Nov 2022; MEMO: President of the Republic of Liberia George Weah arrived on Friday in Doha to attend the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament, set to start on Sunday, at the invitation of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani, Qatar News Agency reported.

Weah and the accompanying delegation were welcomed upon arrival at Hamad International Airport by Minister of Sports and Youth Salah Bin Ghanim Al-Ali and Charges D'affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Liberia to the State Ali Sylla.

20 Nov 2022; MEMO: Illegal Jewish settlers today stole six cows owned by Palestinians in the north of Jordan Valley region, as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and violence by settlers continue.

According to the Palestine News Agency (WAFA), local Palestinian rights activist Aref Daraghmeh reported that settlers under the protection of Israeli occupation forces stole six cows owned by Palestinian farmers, sedating some of the cows with anesthesia in the process.

19 Nov 2022; MEMO: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is expected to attend the official opening ceremony of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which commences on Sunday in Qatar.

Informed sources have confirmed to the German Press Agency (DPA) that the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has sent an official invitation to Tebboune to attend the opening ceremony and the first World Cup match between Qatar and Ecuador.

19 Nov 2022; MEMO: Haq Association for Turkish Humanitarian Aid has completed the fifth stage of the Life Homes project for Syrian refugees in Idlib as it handed over 359 homes to Syrian refugees in Idlib, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

In a statement, the charity said that its project supported the campaign launched by the Turkish Interior Ministry in cooperation with the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) to build homes for Syrian refugees in Idlib.

19 Nov 2022; MEMO: Political Arab factions in Israel on Friday staged a protest in the Arab city of Yafa against the Israeli plan to ethnically cleanse 1,400 Arabs from the city.

According to Wafa News Agency, the protesters held placards with slogans expressing rejection of the Israeli eviction plans under the Absentees' Property Law of 1950.

CAIRO, November 19. /TASS/: The ceremony of pouring concrete at the second power unit of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) in Egypt took place on Saturday, Alexander Korchagin, senior vice-president of Atomstroyexport engineering division of Russia’s civilian nuclear power corporation Rosatom, told TASS on Saturday.

ALGIERS, Nov 19 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Cuba and Algeria promoted the beginning of scientific exchanges between the Algiers-based Pasteur Institute (IPA) and other similar institutions in Cuba, including the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute.    

Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal noted that, as part of the events held in Algeria on Wednesday, the delegation he is heading visited the IPA facilities and appreciated the development achieved by that renowned scientific institution.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Leaders of French-speaking countries gathered Saturday on a Tunisian island to discuss debt relief, migration, food and energy shortages, with a soaring cost of living across Africa, Europe and the Middle East due to war in Ukraine as the backdrop.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the presidents of six African nations were attending the 18th annual meeting of the 88-member International Organization of Francophonie, which promotes relations among nations that use French as their primary language.