JEDDAH: The Arab region is the most unequal worldwide, according to a new report from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which warned there was a risk of a “breakdown in social cohesion” if inequalities were not addressed.
The report, called “Inequality in the Arab Region: A ticking time bomb,” said the region had registered some of the highest levels of income inequality globally.

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi warned Saturday that the political crisis in the country is threatening security achievements made in past years.
Al-Kadhimi’s warning is a clear indication of the dangers of one of Iraq’s worst political crises since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. It is the result of disagreements between followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr and rival Iran-backed groups since last year’s parliamentary elections.

INSTANBUL: Turkey on Friday said Sweden and Finland renewed their commitment to fight “terror,” at the first meeting aimed at addressing Ankara’s conditions for accepting their NATO membership bids.
The talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki were the first since the three sides signed an agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in June paving the way for the Nordic countries’ drive to join the Western defense alliance.

KHARTOUM: After his family was massacred and home torched, Sudanese farmer Ayoub Haroun sought refuge in a school alongside some of the tens of thousands fleeing recent bitter ethnic conflict.
More than a week of bloodshed last month in Sudan’s Blue Nile state left at least 105 people dead and scores wounded, as rival groups fought in a complex conflict involving deep-seated grievances, control of land and battles for power.

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon: In the decade since Syria’s regime pronounced her jailed husband dead, Ramya Al-Sous was threatened by security forces, locked out of her spouse’s estate and forced to flee abroad.
The mother of three, now a refugee living in Lebanon, was never told how her husband died and is unable to sell or rent the properties confiscated by authorities.
“By virtue of me being a woman, everything becomes nearly impossible,” she said, echoing a plight shared by many wives and widows of Syrian prisoners.
But the 40-year-old wants to put up a fight.