Middle East

Dubai, Aug 1: With the construction and opening of a number of mega-projects across the UAE, expectations are running high that the Emirates will continue to be a top tourist destination well beyond 2020. From the recently opened Dubai Opera, Warner Bros. World and Louvre Abu Dhabi to the upcoming completion of Dubai Creek Tower and Dubai Square, the Emirates is taking the lead in global tourism

Dubai, Jul 30: Hundreds of relatives of Yemeni and Sudanese soldiers killed in the war in Yemen are to be hosted in Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi press agency reported. The announcement was made on Monday by King Salman, who said that 1,500 relatives would be traveling to the Kingdom to perform the Islamic pilgrimage in Islam’s holiest city. The Minister of Islamic Affairs

Dubai, Jul 29: In a relief for expats whose visas have expired and who are illegally staying back in the UAE, a three-month general visa amnesty by the government from August 1 will help them sort out their status and put their lives together. Under the scheme called 'Protect Yourself via Rectifying Your Status,' foreigners violating the residency law will be granted a three-month grace period to

Nabi Saleh, Jul 29: West Bank: Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi returned home to a hero's welcome in her West Bank village on Sunday after Israel released the 17-year-old from prison at the end of her eight-month sentence for slapping and kicking Israeli soldiers. Ahed and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, were greeted with banners, cheers and Palestinian flags as they entered the home village of

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