Middle East

Islamabad, Nov 19: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visas to visitors for Pakistan and 11 other countries until further notice. Pakistan's Foreign Office on Wednesday confirmed the news saying that the decision by the UAE authorities is "believed to be related to the second wave of Covid-19", The Express Tribune reported. "We have learned that the UAE

Dubai, Nov 15: An Indian couple in the UAE has organised a “drive-by wedding ceremony” where guests were allowed to wish them from their cars only, in a bid to maintain social distancing due to the Covid-19, a media report said. Muhammed Jazem and Almas Ahmed from Kerala first had their ‘Nikah’ then they stood under a flower arch outside their home in Dubai for a socially-distanced wedding

Jerusalem, Nov 14: Palestinian officials have slammed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to visit Israeli settlement in the West Bank, calling the planned trip "a challenge to the international consensus". "The visit will be a challenge to the positions of all previous US administrations that emphasized the illegality of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories," Xinhua news

Riyadh, Nov 12: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, urged the world on Thursday to take "a decisive stance" to address efforts by Iran to develop nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in an annual address to the top government advisory body. "The Kingdom stresses the dangers of Iran's regional project, its interference in other countries, its

Abu Dhabi, Nov 12: Fitch Ratings Inc, the US credit rating agency, has rated the federal government of the UAE at -AA with a stable outlook. The move reflects the creditworthiness of the federal government entities and their vibrant resilience to draw plans necessary for sustainable growth while maintaining the highest performance standards for credit control backed by a large group of factors of

Kuwait: Mild tremors were felt this evening in Kuwait, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). The 4.5 earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Wednesday 11 November 2020 at 5.56 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review

Jeddah, Nov 11: Several people were wounded on Wednesday when an explosive device hit a ceremony commemorating the end of World War I at a cemetery in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. France’s foreign ministry said several countries had representatives at the commemoration attended by European diplomats. “The annual ceremony commemorating the end of World War I at the non-Muslim cemetery in

Manama, Nov 11: Bahrain’s long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has died, the state media reported. He was 84. “The Royal Court mourns His Royal Highness … who passed away this morning at Mayo Clinic Hospital in the United States of America,” the Bahrain News Agency said on Wednesday, without elaborating. The Gulf state’s King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa announced

Dubai, Nov 8: In a major overhaul of the country's Islamic personal laws, the United Arab Emirates has shown green signal to some of the haram activities including cohabitation of unmarried couples (live-in relationship). It also loosened alcohol restrictions. The broadening of personal freedoms reflects the changing profile of a country that has sought to bill itself as a skyscraper-studded

Riyadh, Nov 4: The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) launched Wednesday a Labor Reform Initiative (LRI) under the National Transformation Program (NTP) that aims to support the Ministry's vision of establishing an attractive job market, empowering and developing labor competencies and developing the work environment in the Kingdom. The initiative allows job mobility and