Middle East

Muscat, Jan 29: Four people, including two Malayali children, were killed when a bus carrying school children met with an accident at Nizwa in Oman. The dead malayali children have been identified as Mohammed Shammas, a native of Pattannor in Kannur and Rooya Aman, a native of Kottayam. The deceased malayali children were studying in second standard at the Nizwa Indian school. Deepali Satheyi, a

Jeddah, Jan 28: Ten gallons of human urine kept in several containers shocked a municipality team when it raided a warehouse on Wednesday. The Hail municipality team also found wood covered with perfumed oil with the intention of selling them as Oud, said a media report. The team also seized unknown raw material, oils and perfume bottles. The team immediately informed the Ministry of Commerce and

Riyadh, Jan 27: Saudi Arabia’s oil giant expects oil prices to climb toward the end of the year, saying the current price of around $30 a barrel is not sustainable. Saudi Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser, speaking Tuesday at the 9th Global Competitiveness Forum, said there are indications that demand for oil picked up last year and that the gap between supply and demand has been shrinking, which could

Riyadh, Jan 25: Customs officials at the King Fahd Causeway have foiled a man’s attempt to smuggle 14 bottles of liquor into the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday. The report said the contraband items were attached with adhesive tapes to the suspect’s upper and lower legs and hidden by the man's thobe. Despite the unusual way of smuggling, customs inspectors managed to detect the

Makkah, Jan 23: The food wasted in Makkah could feed 17 percent of hungry children in 18 developing countries, said a press report Friday. There are an estimated 4.8 million starving children in Africa, Asia and Latin American countries, said Ahmad Al-Matrafi, director general of a charity food project in Makkah. Al-Matrafi said that food wasted at an average wedding was sufficient to feed at

Hyderabad, Jan 11: Two sisters from Dubai made an unusual request on Saturday when they called on V Satyanarayana, deputy commissioner of Hyderabad Police’s south zone. Could the police help them find their mother, whom they hadn’t met for 27 years? The only lead they could provide the officer was a faded photograph and an Indian passport, issued in 1981 and barely legible. Ayesha and Fatima, 33

Jeddah, Jan 10: Saudi Arabia has come third in a poll for the world’s happiest countries – in a list which features almost no European. The research was carried out by WIN/Gallup International, a polling association which interviewed 66,040 people from 68 countries. The kingdom has only been pipped to top position by Fiji and Colombia. At an average temperature of about 26C in January, the

Dubai, Jan 8: At least 23 Indians affected in the New Year's Eve fire at the Address Downtown Hotel have left the country on emergency exit papers issued by the Indian Consulate in Dubai after they lost their passports in the blaze. The belongings of hundreds of hotel guests and residents (including owners and tenants residing in the hotel apartments) in the 63-storey hotel were affected in the

Riyadh, Dec 26: Two Saudi millionaires have reportedly paid SR225,000 in blood money to free a Filipino man who had killed an Indian national in a car accident. The men donated the blood money requested by the victim’s relatives. The Filipino man was working for the firm of the Saudi citizens. A local court has sent a letter to the prison to release the Filipino and consider the case closed

Riyadh, Dec 19: Expatriate workers and their dependants with expired re-entry visas seeking to return to the Kingdom can now renew them in their home countries, according to a directive issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry. “A re-entry visa for all workers and their family members (wives and children) in both the government and private sectors can be renewed through Saudi consular departments at