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  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...

    Egypt’s imprisoned hunger-striking activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has started drinking water again, his family said Monday, in the first communication from the prominent dissident in over a week amid fears for his life. The announcement came in a letter the family received from Abdel-Fattah through the prison authorities, dated on Saturday. Last Thursday, the authorities said they had “medically intervened” in Abdel-Fattah’s case, without providing details and raising concerns that he was being force-fed. Abdel-Fattah’s Lawyer, Khaled Ali, was twice blocked from visiting him in prison since news of the medical intervention was announced, despite being granted permission from Egypt’s state prosecutor. One of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigners, Abdel-Fattah had intensified his hunger strike on Nov. 6, at the start of the U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, to draw attention to his case and those of other poli...

  The German chancellor,   Olaf Scholz , has strongly criticised the Iranian government for its brutal crackdown on protests and said Germany stood “shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people”. Scholz said the protests sparked by the death on 16 September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her detention by Iran’s morality police were no longer “merely a question of dress codes” but had evolved into a fight for freedom and justice. The protests have grown into one of the largest sustained challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the chaotic months after the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.  We can barely begin to imagine how much courage this takes,” Scholz said in his weekly video address on Saturday. “More than 300 killed, dozens of death sentences and more than 14,000 arrests. So far. Those who demonstrate against oppression in Iran risk their lives, and often also the lives of their loved ones – and face the prospect of torture and decades in prison.” Hundreds of thousan...

  According to Guinness World Records, George Scholey, a 20-year-old from the United Kingdom, set the record for the most rotating puzzle cubes solved in a 24-hour period with an astounding 6,931. According to GWR, Mr. Scholey broadcast his attempt live from a London hotel room. Between November 9 at 8 a.m. and November 10 at 8 a.m., he locked himself in that room. He broadcast his performance live so devoted Rubik's cube fans could watch him perform. He surpassed the mark of 5,800, which was established by Canadian Eric Limeback in 2013. The typical time for Mr. Limeback was 14.89 seconds. Mr. Scholey accomplished 327 rotating puzzles in the first hour by himself. By the seventh hour of the activity, he had already completed more than 3,500 puzzles. Speaking with GWR, Mr. Scholey stated "Reaching the 12-hour milestone was the record's most challenging challenge. While everyone else was so excited, I was feeling really exhausted. They said in joy, "You're...

 The family of jailed British-Egyptian pro- democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been on hunger strike, say they have been informed he has "undergone a medical intervention". They said officials at Egypt's Wadi al-Natroun prison had told his mother, Laila Soueif, that it took place "with the knowledge of a judicial authority". Later, his lawyer said his request to visit the prison had been granted. Abdel Fattah, 40, escalated his hunger strike on Sunday by refusing water. He began a partial strike seven months ago, consuming a maximum of 100 calories a day, in a bid to pressure Egyptian authorities to allow British diplomats to visit him. With authorities continuing to refuse consular access and even acknowledge his British citizenship, he told his family in a letter that he would only drink water until the COP27 climate conference opened in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, and then stop even that. On Wednesday, after three day...

  The world’s richest person Elon Musk has sold 19.5 million of his shares in Tesla in a transaction worth $3.95bn, according to filings published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Tesla CEO has sold nearly $20bn worth of his stock in the electric car company. Musk now holds around 135 million Tesla shares. The latest move came after Musk purchased Twitter for $44bn. Reportedly, Musk has sold nearly $20bn-worth of his stock in Tesla since he initially invested in Twitter in April. Earlier in August, Musk reportedly said that he sold Tesla stock. Tesla also reported $3.3bn in profit and $21.45bn in revenue for the third quarter – falling short of Wall Street expectations. According to The Guardian, Tesla’s value has dropped about 46% this year. Reportedly, a consortium of banks loaned $13bn to Musk to finance the deal. He purchased Twitter for $44bn last week. He also received support in the form of $7bn from investors. After purchasing Twitter, Mus...

   Parent company Volant Media said the Metropolitan Police had notified the pair of a recent increase in "credible" threats from Iranian security forces. It denounced the "escalation of a state-sponsored campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad". Iranian authorities have not commented. However, they announced sanctions against Iran International and BBC News Persian last month, accusing them of "incitement of riots" and "support of terrorism" over their coverage of the anti-government protests that have engulfed the country over the past two months. The two UK-based channels are already banned from Iran, but a press freedom watchdog says they are among the main sources of news and information in a country where independent media and journalists are constantly persecuted.  Volant Media said in a statement that it was "shocked and deeply concerned" by the threats its journalists had received , which it attributed to Ir...