MIDDLE EAST

E-commerce and video game markets are growing “exponentially” across North Africa and the Middle East, driven by new youth-produced content and the mobile revolution, a new study suggested. The gaming market in the region is expected to almost triple its size, and expected to hit $4.4 billion in 2022 from $1.6 billion in 2014, a study conducted by Abu Dhabi …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his frustration at the US and its fellow member nations in the coalition fighting against extremist group Islamic State (IS), lamenting on Wednesday that they didn’t respond to conditions set for by Turkey that allows it to play a larger role in coalition. The timing of his complaint seems especially curious, since US special …

The UAE on Wednesday said that it was dedicated to improving the protection of human rights, and criticized Amnesty International for its “one sided and inaccurate” accusations. “The UAE will continue its work to strengthen the protection of human rights. There is no freedom here: Silencing dissent in the UAE”, the foreign ministry said, referring to the rights watchdog’s report …

On Wednesday, Egypt hailed a “new era” in Arab solidarity after the Gulf nations agreed to welcome Qatar back into the fold following a dispute over it support of Islamists. Egypt said that it had offered its full support to the move, which it called as “huge step towards Arab solidarity”. “We look forward to a new era that would …

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday warned that 2-3 million more Syrian refugees could enter the country if the Syrian city of Aleppo is overrun by either regime or extremist forces. Turkey already hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees and has repeatedly stated that it can barely support the overwhelming number of refugees. Cavusoglu also said that supporting the rebel …

Syrian Kurds battling extremist group Islamic State (IS) in border town Kobane made new gains on Friday, expelling the extremists from many central buildings and capturing their weapons, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. According to the monitor, the advance came only hours after the international coalition launched four strikes against extremist positions in Kobane. The Kurdish People’s Protection …

Israel has blocked prominent Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert from entering the state and thereby accessing Gaza, but denied on Monday that it has imposed a lifelong ban on the medic. Gilbert works at the University Hospital of North Norway’s Clinic of Emergency Medicine, and had volunteered Gaza City’s Shifa hospital during 2009’s 22-day war in which over 1,440 Palestinians were …

The EU on Monday said that it deplored Israel’s plans to build new settlement blocs on occupied Palestinian territory but denied that it planned to impose sanctions on Israel. There was “no plan of this type”, EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said when asked about the issue. “I saw an article in Haaretz which apparently referred to an internal …

UN Assistant-Secretary General Jens Toyberg-Frandzen on Monday warned the UN Security Council that violence in the Palestinian territories and in Israel will likely worsen if the peace process does not get back on track soon. “Returning to negotiations has never been more important. Without a genuine commitment from the parties and an overall improvement in the lives of Palestinians, we …

On Monday, a Jordanian court sentenced five people to prison for being members of extremist group Islamic State (IS) and promoting the group on the internet. Two more trials of suspected extremist supporters, including a man who is accused of working as a cook for the al-Nusra Front, were also set in motion as part of a crackdown on militants …