Middle East

Foreign ministers of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have strongly condemned Israel's plans to build new settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, urging international action to stop such plans. The foreign ministers voiced the condemnation during the body's 156th ministerial meeting in the Saudi Arabia's capital city of Riyadh on Sunday. The ministers rejected the regime's

Riyadh, June 9: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that Saudi Arabia is always open to have a dialogue with its friends but doesn’t respond to pressure. “When we do anything we do it on our own interest and I don’t think anybody believes that pressure is helpful,” he said in response to a question on how Saudi Arabia deals with human right talks with international partners

Israeli forces have carried out a raid against the city of Ramallah in the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank, wounding at least 10 Palestinians. The troops targeted the city, which serves as the seat of the Palestinian Authority, in early Thursday, attacking its residents with both live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets. Citing a witness, Reuters said "a large military convoy" arrived in downtown

Dubai, June 8: An earthquake of magnitude 2.1 was detected in the UAE's Al Fayy area late Wednesday night, according to an advisory released by the National Centre Meteorology (NCM). The minor tremor was recorded at 11.29pm in the UAE-Oman border, the authority added. Experts had earlier said that UAE residents have no reason to worry about earthquakes. "The UAE has low to moderate seismicity

Riyadh, June 7: Iran reopened it embassy in Saudi Arabia for the first time in seven years on Tuesday (June 6). The move has reaffirmed a Chinese-brokered rapprochement between two formerly antagonistic powers in West Asia. The rapprochement is likely to change the equations in the region greatly. The Iranian mission has opened in its former premises in Riyadh's diplomatic quarter. The location is

The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala is planning to launch a passenger ship service between the coast of the southern state and the Gulf countries to provide affordable travel for Malayali expatriates in the Middle East who are forced to pay exorbitant airline charges for their trips home. A high-level meeting held here on Wednesday, May 31, decided to devise a plan to start a passenger ship

Dubai: The rule of Dubai has announced a new plan for the Palm Jebel Ali, a man-made palm-shaped island that has been dormant since 2009 following a real estate crash, and is double the size of the functioning Palm Jumeirah. "Its visitors and tourists will enjoy more than 80 hotels and resorts that provide beautiful tourist experiences," Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also vice

Kuwait City, May 28: Indian expats were among 15 Asians injured in a hit-and-run accident in Kuwait's Al Khaleej Al Arabi street, a media report said on Sunday. The accident happened on Friday in Kuwait city when a group of Filipino cycling group had gathered to practice the sport, and was later joined by cyclists of Indian nationality as well, the Khaleej Times reported. As the group was cycling

Dubai-based billionaire businessman Micky Jagtiani, who founded retail giant Landmark Group, has passed away. The chairman and owner of the group was 70 years old. With a net worth of $5.2 billion, he was ranked 511 on the Forbes' 37th annual world billionaires list earlier this year. Jagtiani was originally from India and started the business in 1973 with one store in Bahrain. He then expanded

Riyadh, May 23: Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni have arrived at the International Space Station, Al Ekhbariya reported on Monday. Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go into space, and Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, traveled on the SpaceX Dragon capsule with astronaut Peggy Whitson and business pioneer and pilot John Shoffner. They were welcomed by the