Extremist group Islamic State (IS) on Thursday released a defiant audio clip of Chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after air strikes sparked rumors that he was killed or wounded. In the 17-minute clip, a man implied to be the IS leader vowed that the group will continue to expand in the region despite the international aerial campaign, and that it will …

Militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula shot and killed five Egyptian conscripts on Thursday, as the Egyptian army searched for eight missing servicemen, lost after an attack on a navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea. According to security officials, the military had carried out air strikes in the Sinai Peninsula, killing three members of militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. Additionally, 16 …

British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has published it annual list of QS World University Rankings, with no university from an Arab or Muslim country unsurprisingly making it to the top 100 universities in the world. The QS rankings are one of the three most widely observed and influential international university rankings, alongside the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the …

British company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has published it annual list of QS World University Rankings, which saw 24 Canadian Universities find a place among the top 700 universities in the world. The QS rankings are one of the three most widely observed and influential international university rankings, alongside the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World …

Syrian authorities on Thursday jailed veteran dissident Louay Hussein, arrested a day before as he tried to visit his family abroad, his lawyer said. The 54-year-old was detained at the Lebanese border, from where he planned to travel to Spain, his movement Building the Syrian State said on Wednesday. A judge later accused him of “weakening national sentiments” and spreading …

A new report by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee released on Wednesday suggested that the plight of Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war has reached “a new level of hopelessness” as overstretched neighboring countries make it a lot more difficult to escape and developed nations like the US only resettle a small number of refugees. According …

Arab leaders from Gulf countries may hold a special meeting to agree on differences among themselves ahead of an annual summit in Qatar in December. Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa reported that consultations are underway for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders to gather informally before the summit at Doha on December 9th-10th. The gathering will go ahead as scheduled after a “special …

Israel on Wednesday approved new settlement blocs in east Jerusalem despite mounting unrest over the issue, as US Secretary of State John Kerry gets ready to meet with Palestinian leaders over tensions in the occupied territory. The construction of the new settlement were announced only hours after Jewish extremists torched a mosque in West Bank, in a development that will …

Egyptian Internet startup ElWafeyat.com is part of a looming pan-Arab tech renaissance with incubators and start-up funders spanning from Abu Dhabi to Cairo. Cairo-based ElWafeyat.com, which roughly translates to “deaths” in Arabic, is an online alternative to traditional paid newspaper obituaries, is creating a social-network-type website with pictures, posts and pages for friends and family to memorialize their deceased loved …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to discuss the increase in violence in East Jerusalem. The meeting will occur in Jordanian capital Amman at 11:00 GMT, Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said. Kerry is set to arrive in Jordan on Wednesday to speak with King Abdullah II on tensions boiling over …