Middle East

Dubai, Aug 29: The ruler of the United Arab Emirates issued Saturday a decree formally ending the country's boycott of Israel amid a US-brokered deal to normalise relations between the two countries. The state-run WAM news agency said the move was made on the orders of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the Emirates' leader. WAM said the new decree allows Israelis and

Dubai, Aug 29: Mosques and places of worship in industrial areas as well as labour accommodations in the UAE will reopen for worshippers, authorities announced late on Friday night. Taking to Twitter, the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority said: "The General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments and National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority

Tel Aviv, Aug 25: A group of Israeli teenagers volunteering at an archaeological dig have unearthed hundreds of gold coins that were stashed away in a clay vessel for more than a millennium. The 425 24-carat pure gold coins date back to the 9th-century Abbasid caliphate period and would have been a significant amount of money at the time, said Robert Kool, a coin expert at the Israel Antiquities

Ankara, Aug 21: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the discovery of a large natural gas reserves off the Black Sea coast, days after he promised a good news that would usher in a for the energy dependent country. Erdogan said on Friday that the amount of gas discovered is 320 billion cubic meters, adding that he hopes to start extracting and using the gas by 2023. If confirmed as

Dubai, Aug 21: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will establish an embassy in Tel Aviv, its Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash said Thursday at a video conference with US-based Atlantic Council think-tank, Anadolu Agency reported. Gargash said when a normalization agreement with Israel is signed that was announced last week, “Abu Dhabi will have its embassy in Tel Aviv based on international consensus to

Fujairah, Aug 18: The Ministry of Health and Prevention, MoHAP, and Fujairah Medical Zone have announced the inauguration of a coronavirus (Covid-19) testing centre in Mirbah, which will perform free tests for all UAE citizens and residents. The centre was opened on the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah. The inauguration of

Dubai, Aug 18: Residents and visitors with expired UAE visas have hailed the latest government decision that gave them three more months to legalise their status or leave the country. Authorities have confirmed that the short-term amnesty for visa violators, whose papers have expired before March 1, will be extended. Major General Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, director-general of the Federal Authority

Gaza, Aug 17: The Israeli military has intensified its attacks on the Gaza Strip, with its tanks pounding several positions in the besieged enclave. "Tanks targeted a number of military observation posts” belonging to the Hamas resistance movement in Gaza early on Monday, the Israeli army claimed in a statement. The attacks, it said, came in response to incendiary balloons sent from Gaza to the

Jerusalem, Aug 17: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel is preparing for direct flights, over Saudi Arabia, to the United Arab Emirates as part of its normalisation deal with the UAE. Israel and the UAE announced on Thursday that they will normalise diplomatic relations under a U.S.-sponsored deal whose implementation could reshape Middle East politics from the Palestinian

Manama, Aug 17: After a video clip of a woman damaging the idols of Ganesha in a shop in Bahrain went viral, the local police have charged her with intentional damage and publicly insulting a religious symbol. The police said on Sunday that the 54-year-old woman was summoned after the video on social media showed her "intentionally damaging a shop... and breaking religious idols" in the Juffair