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  For the advocates, the activists, the European teams and especially the seven captains who had intended to wear the One Love armband, this is an LGBT and human rights issue they want to remain vocal about. For hosts Qatar and those spectators who've come here or who are watching around the Arab world, which has a vast Muslim majority, this is about religion, culture, the norms of the region and mostly about respect which they don't feel they're getting. The tension seems to be the perpetual undercurrent of the tournament so far and it's all playing out here on the world's biggest of stages. On Wednesday, Germany  players covered their mouths  during the team photograph before their World Cup opener against Japan, with manager Hansi Flick saying it was "to convey the message that Fifa is silencing" teams. However, the reaction to Germany's stance has had fierce and almost unanimously negative reactions around the Arab world. The hashtag Germany-Japan...

  Israel’s outgoing coalition has been the most diverse in the country’s history, bringing a slew of progressive policies on the environment, LGBTQ issues and funding for the country’s Arab minority.  But now, even before it takes office, Israel’s expected new coalition government — overwhelmingly male, religious and right-wing — is promising to roll back many of the achievements of its predecessor, prompting concern from activists and liberals over where their country is headed. If its promises materialize, a tax on environmentally destructive single-use plastics could be abolished. New protections for gay Israelis could be reversed, and generous budgets for the long underserved Arab sector could be slashed. The outgoing coalition lasted for just over a year and collapsed over disagreements on the Palestinians — although on that subject, its policies were largely unchanged from previous, hard-line governments.  But after Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year reign, activists say...