Amazon purchased the Middle East's biggest online retailer Souq.com on Tuesday for an undisclosed amount, a day after a state-backed firm disclosed an $800 million counteroffer.

A joint statement described the purchase as expanding Amazon's influence into the Mideast as the chairman of the state-supported firm Emaar prepares to launch his own retail website in a country known more for its luxury malls than online shopping.

A senior Russian general has criticized the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants for allegedly targeting infrastructure — including a key dam — in territory held by the extremist group in Syria.

Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff on Tuesday accused the coalition of trying to "completely destroy critical infrastructure in Syria and complicate post-war reconstruction as much as possible."

The U.N. secretary-general has appealed to Arab nations to set aside differences and help end Syria's six-year-old civil war.

Antonio Guterres made the appeal while visiting the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan on Tuesday, a day ahead of attending a key annual Arab summit hosted this year by Jordan.

In a slick online video, 22-year-old Turkish student Ali Gul sits in front a drum kit and framed artwork while making tart remarks about Turkey's political leadership. He wraps up by musing that he'll probably get arrested if the video goes viral.

The video clocked tens of thousands of hits. This month, Gul was detained.

Jordan's state media say public and private sector officials from Saudi Arabia and Jordan have signed 15 economic agreements, including establishing a joint fund that will launch an estimated $3 billion worth of investments in Jordan.

The Petra news agency says the agreements were signed after a meeting late Monday between Saudi King Salman and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Iran's state TV says a significantly higher number of Iranians are seeking to run in the municipal elections next month.

Monday's report says 287,000 hopefuls — or 14 percent more than four years ago — submitted their candidacies, hoping to be approved to contest the vote for the nearly 110,000 members for city councils across Iran.

Syrian state TV says another group of rebels with their families are leaving the last opposition-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs under a Russia-brokered deal with the Damascus government.

The TV says Monday's round of evacuations from al-Waer neighborhood is the second one so far and involves 466 people — including 129 fighters.

Morocco's Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani succeeded in building a governing coalition Saturday, ending a damaging five-month political deadlock just eight days after taking office.

El Othmani, 61, of the Islamist Party for Justice and Development, or PJD, announced in a press conference in Rabat that an agreement had been reached with six political parties to form a coalition government.

A former Palestinian prisoner who Israel sent to Gaza after his release has been found shot dead at the entrance of his house in Gaza City.

Mazen Faqha belonged to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London says that the Westminster attacker was in the country three times and taught English there.

A statement released late Friday says Khalid Masood taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009.