Feature: The abduction of women and girls as sex slaves is a disturbing new feature of South Sudan's 21-month conflict, already characterised by well-documented human rights abuses.
The country's education minister has called for Modern Standard Arabic to be introduced gradually to primary school children, but there has been a backlash from some.
Ahmad al-Basheer, compared by many to US satirist Jon Stewart, hosts a programme on Iraqi TV that ridicules Islamic State group, portraying its members as absurd, murderous hypocrites.
An Israeli cabinet minister said Tuesday that he had barred a local NGO cited in a critical UN report on the 2014 Gaza war from the country's national service programme.
Qatar has enough gas reserves to last 138 years and is expected to maintain its dominant role in the hydrocarbon sector, says a report by the Qatar National Bank.
