CAIRO: The first Arab exhibition for productive families, Bait Al-Arab (House of the Arabs) opened in Cairo in the presence of Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Arab League secretary-general, and several Egyptian and Arab officials, including a high-ranking Saudi delegation.

The products at the exhibition reflect the identity of the 12 participating Arab countries.

It offers an important opportunity to learn about the richness of the cultures of these countries in craftwork and handicrafts in order to protect these industries from extinction.

LONDON: The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the approval of a set of punitive measures by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people and its leadership, following its decision to go to the International Court of Justice.

QAMISHLI, Syria: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Friday they had arrested more than 100 “terrorists” in an eight-day operation against Daesh militants.
Kurdish-led forces launched the sweep dubbed Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt last week, after thwarting an Daesh attempt to free fellow militants from prison in Raqqa, the extremist group’s former Syrian stronghold.

JERUSALEM: Khaled Shurrab had been waiting more than half his life to get out of Gaza.
The 27-year-old had never left the coastal enclave, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
He could not find a job — the territory’s youth unemployment rate is over 60 percent.
Like a growing number of Gazans, he packed his life into a suitcase and eventually made it to Turkey, where he set out on a treacherous sea voyage to Greece last October. When his rickety boat went down, his body disappeared into the sea.

AMMAN: Jordan has said that it never occupied the West Bank, as claimed by Israel, insisting its presence in the disputed territory was part of an administrative arrangement with the Palestinians.

During the UN Security Council’s special session on Jerusalem on Thursday, the Tel Aviv ambassador claimed that Jordan occupied the West Bank in 1950, a suggestion described by his Jordanian counterpart as “lies and misleading information.”