Middle East

Jeddah, Jul 27: Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen were accused on Thursday of threatening the world’s electricity supplies after they attacked two oil tankers in a crucial Red Sea shipping lane. Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments through the Bab Al-Mandeb strait after the missile attacks, in which one tanker — the Arsan, operated by the Saudi shipping company Bahri — suffered minor damage

Beirut, Jul 26: A string of suicide blasts and raids claimed by the Daesh group killed more than 220 people in southern Syria on Wednesday, in one of the militants’ deadliest ever assaults in the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks hit several areas of the largely government-held southern province of Sweida, where Daesh retains a presence in a northeastern desert

Riyadh, Jul 24: The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has banned a series of practices under new animal cruelty laws. The ban is based on the GCC Animal Welfare Act endorsed by Saudi Arabia, and was approved in Royal Decree No. (M / 44). It includes a list of restricted practices that are prohibited except for justified medical reasons. And another list of practices that

Abu Dhabi, Jul 23: The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship has launched a media campaign for the "Protect Yourself by Modifying Your Status" initiative that grants a three-month grace period for illegal residents to rectify their status or leave the country without facing fines or legal issues. Amnesty seekers will be registered at nine immigration centres across the UAE. In Abu Dhabi

Tehran, Jul 22: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani today warned the United States not to "play with the lion's tail", saying that conflict with Iran would be the "mother of all wars". Addressing his US counterpart Donald Trump, Rouhani said: "You declare war and then you speak of wanting to support the Iranian people. "You cannot provoke the Iranian people against their own security and interests,"

Gaza City, Jul 22: A day after a truce deal was reached between Israel and Hamas to stop continuous shelling, Israeli military forces on Saturday fired a tank shell at Hamas post in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the forces said that the shelling was carried out after suspected Palestinian militants infiltrated a security fence at the Gaza border, Anadolu News Agency reported. The shelling also

Riyadh, Jul 21: The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has allocated a new website link to receive the requests of Qataris who wish to perform Hajj after the Qatari authorities blocked the old one. Qataris wishing to perform Hajj can use the following link: https://qh1.Hajj.gov.sa instead of the old one (https://qh.Hajj.gov.sa), the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The new link was made available

Riyadh, Jul 20: Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Al-Sawah stressed the Kingdom's need to discover and support local talent. He said that the ministry has paid increasing attention to technical talents, which has been represented through the organization of several events, the latest of which was the "Hackathon Digital Machines." The event was aimed at creating

Jerusalem, Jul 20: Israel's parliament on Thursday adopted a law defining the country as the nation state of the Jewish people, provoking fears it could lead to blatant discrimination against Arab citizens. Arab lawmakers and Palestinians called the law "racist" and said it legalised "apartheid" following a tumultuous debate in parliament. Others said it neglects to specify equality and Israel's

Istanbul, Jul 17: Turkey’s state of emergency which was imposed after the failed 2016 coup is to end Wednesday but the opposition fears it will be replaced by even more repressive legislative measures. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the state of emergency on July 20, 2016, five days after warplanes bombed Ankara and bloody clashes broke out in Istanbul in a doomed putsch bid that claimed