Middle East startups raise $1.8 billion in first half of 2022

• The fintech sector remained the most capital attracting sector, raising nearly $1.7 billion and accounting for 34 percent of the total funding secured across all markets
• Transport and logistics and e-commerce came in second and third, each raising respectively $1 billion and $501 million

Digital health sector to cross $230bn in five years

• Increased adoption of digital-health technologies is expected to unlock an estimated US$230 billion globally - including US$10 billion in the Middle East - over the next five years
• Healthcare will play a significant role in building and empowering the new generation of govts, says Mohamed Yousef AlSharhan, Deputy Managing Director of WGS Organization

UN envoy cancels Western Sahara trip

• The Polisario Front that seeks independence for the desert territory said it deeply deplores that the occupying state of Morocco has once again resorted to obstructionism
• Morocco sees the region as part of its sovereign territory, but the Polisario and its main patron Algeria want a referendum on full independence

Emrill appoints new director

• Johnson will be responsible for building and developing the organization's strategic vision and accelerating growth across Emrill’s key services in the UAE and the wider GCC region
• With over 25 years of senior management experience, Johnson has held managerial roles in the UAE, UK, Europe, and Australia

Strong earthquake shakes southern Iran, killing five

• Situated on the edge of several tectonic plates and crossing various fault lines, Iran is an area of strong seismic activity
• Hormozgan governor said most of the damage occurred in the village of Sayeh Khost, close to the epicenter

Metaverse: Opportunities, challenges and laws in GCC

Yiwu Market of Dubai ready to welcome consumers

• Yiwu Market is the first phase of the Dubai Traders Market in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza)
• The market comprises 324 warehouses spread across two floors

G7 meet: World powers ban gold exports from Russia

• They will seek to close ranks in their backing for Ukraine against Russia's invasion while grappling with the intensifying global fallout of the war.
• From soaring inflation to a looming food crisis and energy shortages, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth month, has mired the world in a series of crises.

Oil prices and equities climb up as rate-hike worries taper off

• The broad-based S&P 500 added 3.1 percent to stand at 3,911.74 at the end of Friday's session, up almost 6.5 percent for the week
• The recoveries come after global markets have been thrown into turmoil for months owing to soaring inflation, interest-rate hikes, the Ukraine war and China lockdowns

Gazelles in Iraq die of hunger

• In little over one month, the slender-horned gazelle population at the Sawa reserve in southern Iraq has plunged from 148 to 87
• Iraq's finances are under pressure after decades of war in a poverty-stricken country needing agricultural and other infrastructure upgrades