LONDON: The first session of strategic dialogues between Kuwait and the UK were held in London on Monday with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in several fields, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

The Kuwaiti side was led by Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah while the British side was chaired by James Cleverly, secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs. 

AL-MUKALLA: A Houthi-controlled court in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, sentenced four Yemeni YouTubers to different prison sentences on Tuesday and shut down their internet channels after accusing them of inciting the public against the militia, rekindling indignation against the Yemeni militia and their habit of punishing dissidents through courts.

IRBIL, KURDISTAN: Having once controlled roughly a third of the country at the height of its power, including several major cities and oilfields, there are now growing signs that what remains of the Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq is in terminal decline.

Unable to attract new recruits to shore up its dwindling numbers, nor able to mount significant offensive operations, the group that had in 2014 proclaimed its own “caliphate” today looks like a spent force — in Iraq at least.

CAIRO: Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa hopes the promising rise in tourists this year will translate into a 30 percent increase by the year-end, bringing the total to 15 million.

Issa said there was an increase of 34 percent in the number of tourists over the past two months compared to the same period last year.

He made the remarks during a symposium organized by the Egyptian-Lebanese Businessmen Association titled “Tourism and Industry: Promising Opportunities for Economic Development.”

DUBAI: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has launched its annual Islamic Philanthropy Report for the first time in partnership with the Abdulaziz Al-Ghurair Refugee Education Fund at a joint event in Dubai.

The report details the importance of engaging Islamic philanthropy tools and their increased role in attending to the needs of displaced people globally.

There are now more than 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to the UN. The number is likely to reach 117 million by the end of the year.