They may have fallen just short of reaching the World Cup final, but Moroccans on Wednesday hailed their team's historic run as it ended with a 2-0 defeat to reigning champions France.

"They played a great game but luck wasn't on our side," said supporter Oussama Abdouh in Casablanca.

"Still, we stood up to the title-holders, that was great.

"Beyond the World Cup, this team made us dream until the end, and just for that, I raise my hat to them."

But for Hakim Salama, the 2-0 defeat to France was too much.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has already earned more than £1 million ($1.2 million) for giving paid speeches since leaving office in September, according to an official register of UK parliamentarians' interests.

Famous for his rhetorical flourishes, Johnson has in recent months delivered speeches to bankers in New York, insurers in the United States, a summit organised by broadcaster CNN in Portugal and another talk in India.

The family of Palestinian activist Nizar Banat submitted a case Thursday to the International Criminal Court accusing top Palestinian officials over his death in custody, relatives told AFP.

Banat, a leading critic of the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmud Abbas, died in June 2021 after being dragged from his home in the occupied West Bank by security forces.

A post-mortem found he had been beaten on the head, chest, neck, legs and hands, with less than an hour elapsing between his arrest and his death.

The UN on Wednesday voted to remove Iran from a women's rights body, following a concerted campaign by the United States, over Tehran's brutal crackdown of women-led protests.

Iranian pro-democracy activists hailed the expulsion of the Islamic republic from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.

A simple majority was needed to adopt the move, which was proposed by the United States, opposed by Iran allies Russia and China, and marks a diplomatic victory for Washington.

Hamas will end talks on securing a prisoner exchange with Israel unless there is progress soon, the militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip said Wednesday.

"In the face of the occupation's (Israel's) stalling on this issue, we announce that we give them a limited time to finalise this deal," Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in Gaza, said during a rare public appearance.

"Otherwise, we will close the case of the four enemy prisoners from the side of the resistance forever," he added, at a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's establishment.

World Cup organisers said Wednesday that an urgent investigation had been launched into the death of a Kenyan security guard who fell from an upper floor at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.

John Njau Kibue, 24, suffered critical injuries in the early hours of Saturday, hours after Argentina beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

"Stadium medical teams immediately attended the scene and provided emergency treatment before he was transferred to Hamad Medical Hospital's intensive care unit," said an organising committee spokesperson.

Morocco's national carrier announced Wednesday that some special flights operated by its Qatari counterpart to Doha had been cancelled for fans seeking to watch the World Cup semi-final.

Morocco are the first African or Arab national team to reach this stage of a World Cup, beating giants Spain and Portugal on the way, and play France in Doha on Wednesday night.

The Greek MEP who has become the face of the European Parliament's widening graft scandal will spend at least another week in custody before attending a postponed pre-trial hearing, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Eva Kaili, a 44-year-old former newsreader and until this week one of the vice presidents of the Strasbourg parliament, is one of four suspects charged with receiving bribes from World Cup host Qatar to influence EU policy.

The Qatar government has rejected any claims of wrongdoing as "gravely misinformed".

Morocco's support for the Palestinians during the Atlas Lions' historic World Cup run shows the cause has not been "buried", says Palestinian Football Association chief Jibril Rajoub.

Like several other Arab nations, Morocco has agreed full diplomatic ties with Israel -- but this has not stopped its players from making clear their loyalties regarding the decades-old conflict.

They unfurled a Palestinian flag on the pitch after their stunning December 6 upset victory against Spain, and also after beating Canada during the group stage.

A doctor, rap artists and a footballer are among around two dozen Iranians who risk being hanged as Tehran uses capital punishment as an intimidation tactic to quell protests, rights groups say.

The executions in the past week of Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, both 23 and the first people put to death over the protests, sparked an outcry, especially as Rahnavard was hanged from a crane in public rather than in prison.