Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian territories in West Bank, Gaza Strip and Palestinian towns inside Israel witnessed Monday a general strike in protest of the recently passed Jewish nation state law in Israel.

The strike was called for by Palestinian national and Islamic factions in coordination with the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel.

The strike aimed at highlighting the consequences of the new basic law endorsed by Israeli parliament on the rights of the Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories, according to the organizers.

Tehran, Oct 1 (AP) Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Monday that it launched ballistic missiles into eastern Syria, targeting militants the force blames for a recent attack on a military parade.

The launch was the Islamic Republic's second such missile attack on Syria in over a year.

Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency said the attacks "killed and wounded" militants in Syria, without elaborating. Syrian state media did not immediately acknowledge the strike.

Gaza; GANASHAKTI: Samer Tamimi, the 11-year-old cousin of famed teen Palestinian activist Ahed, was arrested on Friday by Israeli occupation forces, as reported by journalist Dena Takruri.

The child's father said the army arrested Samer and other two boys his age after they failed to capture other men they were looking for. Nothing is known about his current whereabouts or when he could be released.

Samer has a scar above his right eye, the product of a bullet from the Israeli army who shot him while he was playing.

GAZA CITY; 29 Sep 2018; Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds have attended the funeral of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy, apparently the youngest killed by Israeli fire in six months of protests along Gaza’s perimeter fence.

Nasser Musabeh was among seven protesters who Gaza health officials say were killed by Israeli troops near the fence Friday.

BAGHDAD, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Saturday regretted that United States has decided to pull out its diplomats from Iraq's southern city of Basra and warned U.S. citizens against travelling to the country.

The Iraqi government "confirms that Iraq is committed to protecting foreign diplomatic missions on its territory and securing them," the ministry said in a statement.

"Their security is part of the security of Iraq, and a legal and moral obligation," it added.

CAIRO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian governor has decreed that images of Disney figures on the walls of kindergartens be removed, local media reported.

Alaa Abdul-Halim Mohammed Marzouk, governor of Egypt's Qalyubia, north of Cairo, said pictures of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck need to be replaced by images of famous Egyptians and military martyrs whom children will look up to as role models.

"These characters are U.S.-made, whereas we have our own noble figures who can deepen children's patriotism and love of country," he told local media.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allegations against Tehran at the U.N. General Assembly as an “obscene charge,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday.

The response came after Netanyahu on Thursday claimed at the General Assembly that Iran has a “secret atomic warehouse” on Tehran’s outskirts and challenged U.N. inspectors to examine it.

TEHRAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) - Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday dismissed recent allegations by the Israeli prime minister over Tehran's nuclear program as "false and fabricated," according to the ministry's website.

"After the United States and Israel's failure to play out anti-Iran scenarios, these farcical claims and shows by the prime minister of the occupying regime (of Israel) were not unexpected," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

CAIRO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting in New York for a comprehensive settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as key to security and stability in the Middle East region, the Egyptian presidential spokesman said in a statement on Thursday.

By Amanpreet Singh

Doha, Sept 27 (PTI) Leading Qatari woman athlete Mariam Farid, who competes wearing a hijab, says she would never compromise on her identity but would not mind blending a bit of fashion with religion.

At a young age of 15, Mariam had played a significant role in Qatar winning the bid in November 2014 to host its first ever IAAF World Championships.