Middle East

Gaza, Dec 6: Protests have broken out in the Gaza Strip in response to US President Donald Trump's expected decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, as Palestinian leaders called for three days of rage against the move. Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza City on Wednesday, carrying banners denouncing Trump, hours ahead of his impending declaration that would also see

Dubai, Dec 6: Tourists to the UAE will be able to claim back the VAT on purchases they make whilst visiting the country, according to the official executive regulations released by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) last week. The regulations do not, however, go into details on how this process would work. It does state that the refund system would only be eligible to those travelling to the UAE from

Beirut, Dec 5: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has formally rescinded his resignation following a consensus deal reached with rival political parties. The announcement came at the end of the first Cabinet meeting to be held since Lebanon was thrown into a political crisis following Hariri’s stunning Nov. 4 move. Hariri shocked the nation with his bizarre resignation in a televised broadcast

Dec 5: The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have formed a new military and trade partnership separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to a statement issued by the UAE. The development on Tuesday comes amid heightened tensions within the GCC, a political and economic alliance of six countries that includes Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman. According to

Doha, Dec 4: The Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is expected to attend the annual summit of Gulf Arab heads of state in Kuwait on December 5 and 6, Qatar's foreign minister said on Sunday, despite a deep dispute within the group. "The ministerial meeting will be attended tomorrow, and (for) the summit, God willing, the Amir," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a

Dubai: The central bank in United Arab Emirates has asked financial institutions to cancel the credit cards of those customers whose detains have been reportedly stolen. "Please note that these details have been compromised and thus, contact the persons mentioned in the enclosed list if they are your customers, and take the required action to cancel the relevant credit cards," said a circular sent

Riyadh, Dec 3: Nine museum and heritage projects will be awarded across the Kingdom at costs totaling more than SR433 million ($155 million), the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has announced. The SCTH said another five projects will also be awarded within the SCTH cultural heritage projects whose costs are more than SR1.4 billion. SCTH President Prince Sultan bin Salman

Abu Dhabi, Dec 1: The General Entertainment Authority celebrated the 46th National Day of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by organizing the first female concert in Saudi Arabia hosting renowned GCC artist, Balqees. The concert, held Wednesday at the Hilton in Jeddah, was attended by about 2,000 of Balqees’s female fans who enjoyed her spectacular performance. Balqees belted out a wide range of her

Jeddah, Nov 30: Prince Khaled A-Faisal, the emir of Makkah and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, launched Wednesday evening the 4th and 5th stages of the Jeddah Waterfront project, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Prince Khaled thanked King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for realizing this project and other mega projects to be carried out in Jeddah. He added that it

Dubai, Nov 28: Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan, President of the Saudi Federation for Community Sports, has won the Arab Sports Personality Award at the 9th edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award. The award was given to her for her role played in the empowerment of women in the region through her spirit of entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Sheikh Nahyan Bin