Middle East

Jeddah, Jan 6: Social media in the Gulf region has been flooded with celebratory joy since news broke that Saudi Arabia had reopened its airspace and land and sea borders with Qatar as part of a deal to end a three-year diplomatic crisis. For many, the story is deeply personal. On Tuesday Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the GCC Summit in AlUla that the agreement to mend ties

Riyadh, Jan 5: Gulf Arab leaders gather in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a summit that is expected to see formal agreement towards ending a long-running dispute with Qatar that shattered Gulf unity at a time of heightened regional tensions with Iran. Riyadh, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf Egypt severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar in mid-2017 over allegations Doha

Riyadh, Jan 5: Saudi Arabia reopened its airspace and land and sea borders with Qatar on Monday, in a breakthrough agreement aimed at ending the three-year diplomatic dispute with Doha. The full deal is expected to be signed on Tuesday at the annual summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders in the northwestern Saudi city of AlUla, attended by Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The

Lebanon, Jan 4: Since the Pentagon assassinated Iran’s popular anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his companions in January 2020, there have been growing calls for the expulsion of US forces from the region, and this is only one of the repercussions of the cowardly act of terror, says the secretary general of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah. "One of the main

Dubai, Jan 3: The holy month of Ramadan is expected to begin in 100 days, according to a renowned Arab astronomer. Ibrahim Al Jarwan, member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, said that the Ramadan crescent is expected to form on April 12, 2021 at 06:31pm UAE time. Ramadan 2021, hence, is expected to begin on April 13, Tuesday. The above dates are subject to moon sighting.

Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia will resume international flights, opening land and sea ports as from 11am on Sunday, amid strict precautions against the new COVID-19 variant, an official source said. The country had suspended international flights and closed overland and sea ports for a fortnight starting from December 20. The kingdom stipulated that any foreign passenger, who wished to enter Saudi

Tehran, Jan 1: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has offered his condolences on the passing of senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Assembly of Experts. In a message issued on Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei hailed the late cleric as “a prominent thinker, a competent manager, and an outspoken advocate of the truth with fortitude on

Ras Al Khaimah, Jan 1: The Ras Al Khaimah New Year’s Eve Celebrations dazzled the world with a 10-minute fireworks show that underlined the UAE’s message of hope, peace and achievements. Lighting up the sky over the Arabian Sea, 8,500kg of fireworks lit up a length of 4km and width of 3.9km. The festive panorama of colours was achieved from 81 launch pontoons that shot up 15,281 firework shells

Tehran, Jan 1: The deadly terrorist attack on the airport of the southern Yemeni city of Aden is a result of the foreign occupation of the country, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said. "Continued foreign aggression and occupation of Yemeni soil are the key contributors to instability as well as a lack of order and enforcement of the law, and have jeopardized Yemen's

Riyadh, Dec 28: Saudi Arabia has extended the suspension of all international commercial flights and entry into the Kingdom through land and seaports for another week in view of the new coronavirus strain which was discovered in the United Kingdom, the state media said. "An official source in the Ministry of Interior said: Extending the suspension of international flights and entering the Kingdom