Middle East

Riyadh, Nov 22: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has issued directives on Tuesday that Wednesday, Nov. 23, will be a holiday for all employees in the entire government and private sectors, as well as for students in all phases of education. This is in line with the recommendation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to celebrate the joyous occasion of the stunning

Riyadh, Nov 18: Indian nationals will no longer need to submit police clearance certificates in order to gain a visa to Saudi Arabia, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in New Delhi said in a statement on Thursday. The Saudi government move to do away with the PCC will mean faster processing of applications, easier management by tour firms, and one less document for travelers to provide. “In view of the

The Israeli military is set to confiscate thousands of square meters of Palestinian-owned land in the southern West Bank to expand illegal settlements in violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions which condemn the Tel Aviv regime’s land expropriation policies in the occupied territories. Hasan Brijiyeh, a local anti-settlement and anti-apartheid activist, told the official

Dubai, Nov 15: Emirates is now offering international travellers the opportunity to speed up their airport experience by consenting to the use of biometric data. Biometric recognition technology will help travellers breeze through Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 check-in, lounges, boarding and immigration at high-speed as the AI systems recognise their unique facial features and will link

As many as 130,000 Palestinians, who live in the areas occupied by the Israeli regime following a war in 1948, face the threat of demolition of their homes and other structures, a new report says. The survey was published by the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) and the Sikkuy-Aufoq Organization, both of whom are NGOs based in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, the Palestinian

Pope Francis said Mass for thousands of Catholics in Bahrain on Saturday, thrilling members of the small foreign Catholic community from around the Gulf and urging them to show kindness to their hosts, even if they feel sometimes badly treated. The crowd of about 30,000 people that filled Bahrain's National Stadium was the second-largest gathering for a papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula

Tehran, Oct 29: Iran’s top intelligence bodies have issued a joint statement, pointing to the major role of foreign intelligence agencies, especially the CIA, in orchestrating the violent riots in Iran in the past weeks. Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued the statement on Friday, explaining different aspects of the

Israeli forces have carried out a series of raids across the occupied West Bank, killing at least five Palestinians and injuring over 20 others. The new fatalities took place early Tuesday when Israeli forces attacked several neighborhoods in the Old City of Nablus as well as a town north of Ramallah, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. The raid on Nablus led to four fatalities

Israeli military forces have shot dead a Palestinian teenager and injured three others during an overnight raid on the Jenin refugee camp in northern West Bank, as an escalation of tensions is fueling an atmosphere of hatred and anger across the occupied territories. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, reported that the teenager, identified as 19-year-old Salah Briki

Israeli forces have trapped more than 100,000 Palestinians in the Shufat refugee camp and the nearby Anata town amid an ongoing search for the shooter that killed an Israeli soldier. According to Palestinian news outlets, the Shufat refugee camp and the town of Anata, northeast of al-Quds, have been besieged by Israeli forces since Saturday night, after an Israeli soldier was killed and two others