Middle East

Erbil, Aug 15: Iraq has begun an aerial bombardment of Tal Afar, a town under Daesh control west of Mosul, Baghdad-based Al-Sumariya TV said on Tuesday, citing an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman. The ground attack to try to take the city should start when the air campaign is over, the spokesman, Mohammed Al-Khodari, said, according to the TV channel. Iraqi authorities had said Tal Afar, 80 km (50

Riyadh, Aug 14: Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution has issued an order to summon a group of Twitter users and others who have been charged with criminal offenses of harming public order "by influencing the integrity and moderation of the intellectual curriculum of the society with harmful participation that took the seriousness of extremism leading to the misguided campaign of thought." Judicial

Iran's parliament has overwhelmingly voted to increase spending on Tehran's ballistic missile programme and the elite Revolutionary Guards in retaliation for new sanctions imposed by the United States. In a session on Sunday, a total of 240 politicians out of 244 present voted to allocate $520m to develop the country's missile programme and boost foreign operations of the paramilitary troops, with

Riyadh, Aug 12: A 58-year-old Saudi man and a 50-year-old male expatriate died Thursday of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) in Hail and Khamis Mushayt, respectively, the Health Ministry said Friday. Two new cases, female expatriates aged 38 and 42, were diagnosed with the virus in Dawmat Al-Jandal in Al-Jouf province Earlier this week, the ministry reported nine new cases: Seven

Riyadh, Aug 10: Madinah police have arrested 6,944 expatriates in the past two months for residency and labor violations. They were arrested during routine inspections carried out by security authorities, said Madinah police spokesman Maj. Hussain Al-Qahtani. Those arrested were without residency certificates, had expired iqamas or overstayed their Hajj/Umrah visas. Others had abandoned their

Doha, Aug 9: Qatar announced on Wednesday a programme to allow visa-free entry for citizens of 80 countries to encourage air transport and tourism amid a two-month boycott imposed on the Gulf state by its neighbors. Nationals from dozens of countries in Europe and elsewhere including India, Lebanon, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States will now receive tourist visas on arrival to the

Jeddah, Aug 9: A huge improvement is witnessed in the Saudi-US relationship under the Trump administration, said the new Saudi ambassador to the US Prince Khaled bin Salman who recently presented his credentials to President Trump. “I think that President Trump is determined to work with his allies in the region to counter Iranian expansionism and terrorism,” the envoy said in an interview with

Jeddah, Aug 8: Saudi Arabia rejects all attempts to politicize and internationalize the Hajj, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, said on Monday. Prince Khaled, adviser to King Salman and governor of Makkah Region, was speaking at the inauguration of the “Hajj is Worship and Civilized Behavior” campaign. “Hajj is a message of peace,” he said. On the campaign by Qatar

Doha, Aug 7: Israel plans to revoke media credentials of Al Jazeera journalists and close the network's office in Jerusalem, the country's communication minister has announced. Ayoub Kara made the announcement on Sunday during a press conference in Jerusalem, where Al Jazeera was barred from attending. "We have based our decision on the move by Sunni Arab states to close the Al Jazeera offices and

Jeddah, Aug 7: An official source at the Saudi Foreign Ministry has said reports by several media outlets quoting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir regarding the Syrian crisis as “inaccurate.” Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the source as saying: “The firm position of the Kingdom on the Syrian crisis is based on the principles of the Geneva 1 Declaration and UN Security Council Resolution 2254