News

UK PM Sunak fires Tory chairman Zahawi over tax affairs

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday after an investigation found he committed a serious breach by not being open about his tax affairs, in the latest scandal to hit one of Mr Sunak's top ministers. Mr Sunak had initially stood by Mr Zahawi before ordering an independent adviser to investigat...

Jordan offers condolences to Pakistan over traffic accident, capsized boat victims

AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry on Sunday expressed its deepest condolences to the government and people of Pakistan over the victims of a traffic accident in Balochistan and a capsized boat in Khyber province. The ministry expressed the Kingdom's supports and sympathies with Pakistan over the victims of both accidents and voiced condolences for their families, wishing the injured a speedy recovery, according to a ministry statement.

Arrested passenger apologises over ‘hijack’ tweet on Dubai-Jaipur flight

A software engineer who was arrested at an Indian airport after tweeting that his plane had been hijacked has apologised and said he used the term in error. Delhi Police said Moti Singh Rathore, who works for a technology company in Dubai, faces at least three charges, including intent to cause alarm and fear. Mr Rathore was travelling on a Spice J...

UAE Circular Economy council discusses ‘Year of Sustainability’ initiatives and COP28

The discussion highlighted the need for cross-industry collaboration

What is the Doctrine of Discovery? Why do Indigenous leaders want King Charles III to renounce it?

Millionaire Akshata Murty, Rishi Sunak's wife, opens doors and her heart to the public

Forty dead after bus falls into ravine in Pakistan

A passenger bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in southern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 40 people, a government official said. The bus was carrying 44 passengers from Quetta in Balochistan province to Karachi in neighbouring Sindh province. The accident happened near the town of Bela, in Lasbela district. Hamza Anjum Nadeem, assistant commission...

Cyberattacks in Bahrain’s SMEs Reach 348%

Based on the research firm Kaspersky, small businesses in Bahrain faced a 348% rise in cyberattacks from the period of January to April 2022.Another report by UK-based AAG IT Services mentioned that 236.1 million ransomware attacks were found worldwide during the first six months of 2022.Top securit

QatarEnergy takes 30% stake in Lebanon's offshore gas blocks

QatarEnergy has signed an agreement with France's TotalEnergies and Italy's Eni to join them in the exploration for natural gas in Lebanon's Mediterranean waters. The consortium of TotalEnergies and Eni has already completed the transfer of a 30 per cent stake to QatarEnergy in the exploration of blocks 4 and 9 off the coast of Lebanon, the French ...

Syrian official's luxe wedding questioned

ALBAWABA - The luxury wedding of a Syrian governmental official in Lebanon triggered anger amid the horrific economic situation and shortages in basic life needs such as food and medicine due to civil war. Photos of Wassim Qattan, the president of the Rural Damascus Chamber of Commerce's splendor wedding in Lebanon were shared with multiple question marks by Syrians who wondered how could he afford it. أثار أمين سر

Iran tries to downplay significance of Isfahan drone attack

Iran has played down a drone attack on a munitions centre in Isfahan, calling it a minor incident, but some analysts said the strike was a significant blow to Tehran. Three drones struck a “military workshop” in the city on Saturday night, Iran's Defence Ministry said, claiming it shot down the unmanned aerial vehicles. One of the drones caused “mi...

Shopper stabbed in London’s Harrods in ‘attempted luxury watch robbery’

A customer shopping in Harrods was stabbed on Saturday evening in what is thought to have been an attempted luxury watch robbery. People who saw the incident in the world-famous Knightsbridge department store described a pool of blood on the floor after the stabbing. The store was busy with shoppers and tourists at the time of the stabbing, which w...

French pension age rise 'non-negotiable', says PM as strikes loom

There will be no backtracking on the plan to raise the retirement age in France, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday, as unions prepared for another day of mass protests and strikes against the reform. A reform package pushed by President Emmanuel Macron will mean the minimum retirement age moves to 64 from 62 as part of plans to ensure t...

New shipping line between Jordan's Aqaba port and US cuts journey by 22 days

A direct shipping line has opened between Jordan's only port of Aqaba and the US, the official Jordanian news agency reported. The agency said the line inaugurated on Sunday would cut a container ship's journey between the two countries by 37 per cent to 22 days. “It is a big opportunity for Jordanian industrial companies to increase their exports ...

Women drive fast train to Makkah as Saudi workforce evolves

‘The first day working here was like a dream for me — entering the train, entering the cabin,’ says Tharaa Ali

Antony Blinken meets regional leaders amid mounting Palestinian-Israeli tension

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Monday for talks as part of a Middle East tour that will take him to Jerusalem and the West Bank in an effort to end Palestinian-Israeli violence. Mr Blinken was also due to meet Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry before he departed for Jerusalem later on Monday. In C...

Nato's Jens Stoltenberg arrives in South Korea to deepen ties in Asia

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Sunday, the first stop on a trip aimed at strengthening the alliance's ties with US allies in South Korea and Japan in the face of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China. In Seoul, Stoltenberg is due to meet Foreign Minister Park Jin, Minister of National Defence Lee Jong-sup...

All you need to know about Yemeni dish aseed - in pictures

More from The National: Shakespearean tragedy rekindles Yemeni city's cultural scene - in pictures Tunisia dairy market struggles as price of cow feed soars - in pictures Iranians enjoy the snow at Abali ski resort - in pictures Restoration of mosque complex in Damascus - in pictures

Bahrain Holds Color Run Event on Feb 18th

Bahrain is holding the fun Color Run event on Saturday, February 18th, within the surrounding area of Bahrain National Stadium at 8 a.m. to get covered in a cloud of color from head to toe. View this post on Instagram

Qatar to Mandate Health Insurance System for Visitors From Feb 1st

Qatar's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced the start of applying the first phase of the Health Insurance Scheme for visitors to the country on Wednesday, February 1st. المرحلة الأولى من نظام التأمين الصحي الإلزامي في دولة قطر pic.twitter.com/REpWBGEwBb— وزارة الصحة العامة

From Churchill to Putin: A look back how Queen Elizabeth shaped the international stage

British Army serviceman accused of bomb hoax and terrorist offence appears in court

A British Army serviceman accused of committing a bomb hoax and a terrorist offence at an RAF base has appeared in court in London. Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, of Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford, attended a brief preliminary hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. He was charged on Friday in connection with two incidents at RAF St...

Ukraine says three killed in latest Russian missile strike

Three civilians were killed in a missile attack on eastern Ukraine on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, as they push for ever greater military support from the West. The attack by Russia on Kostyantynivka hit a residential area and damaged four high-rise buildings, a hotel, garages and private cars, said Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko....

'We have a problem America', says Tyre Nichols's family lawyer

The lawyer representing the family of Tyre Nichols, the black man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers, called on Sunday for the US Congress to pass police reform legislation. Mr Nichols's mother hoped the tragedy could lead to a “greater good", the lawyer, Ben Crump, told CNN. “Shame on us if we don't use his tragic death to finally g...

Vladimir Putin threatened to kill me, says Boris Johnson

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him “I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute”, before the invasion of Ukraine. The “extraordinary” conversation took place in February, Mr Johnson said, after he visited Kyiv in a last-ditch attempt to show western support fo...

India: French actress claims to be held hostage in home, ends up in court disputing property with another woman

Both she and a Nepali resident claim to be the owners of the house in which they are currently residing

Prince Andrew urged to challenge settlement agreement

Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer who was accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre before she withdrew her allegations, has urged Prince Andrew to appeal his settlement agreement with the woman.

Palestinian boy, 13, injures two in another shooting in East Jerusalem

A 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and injured two people in East Jerusalem on Saturday morning, police said, hours after a gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in the city. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics were treating two people in the Silwan neighbourhood, near Jerusalem's Old City. A 23-year-old man was in a ser...

Everything we know about Charles Omenihu’s arrest and possible suspension

Israel takes measures against families of attackers

Family home of a Palestinian in east Jerusalem, who killed seven people near a synagogue, sealed

UAE Adjusts Visa Rules for Visa Holders

UAE changed its residence visa holders rules for those who stay outside the country for over six months.Visa holders will have to provide proof as well as the reason for staying outside to apply for a re-entry permit.The service can be accessed by residents through the ‘smart services’ p

British-Irish journalist Gareth Smyth: a Middle East specialist for whom subtlety was key

Shortly before Gareth Smyth left Beirut to head the Financial Times bureau in Tehran in 2003, he swung by the home of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon’s prime minister, to ask him about the move. "In Beirut it takes only minutes and you know what is going on in the whole world," Hariri told the British-Irish journalist. "In Tehran you can live for decades and...

Preliminary results show low turnout in Tunisian elections

Tunisians voted on Sunday for the remaining 131 seats in their parliament’s House of Representatives, with a low turnout rate that observers say would undermine the power of the legislature. Only 11.3 per cent of Tunisia’s more than seven million eligible voters took part in the parliamentary elections, Farouk Bouasker, president of Tunisia’s Indep...

Azerbaijan evacuates its embassy in Iran

ALBAWABA - Azerbaijan began evacuating employees from its embassy in Iran, two days after an armed attack on the diplomatic mission. On Friday, an armed assailant attacked the embassy, killing a security guard and wounding two others. Azerbaijan said at the time that it would evacuate its embassy staff. The evacuation is in contrast with what Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told his Azerbaijani counterpart following the attack. The Iranian...

New Dubai exhibition of South Asian artworks shines light on time

A new group exhibition at Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue brings together works by 20 contemporary artists from South Asia and its diaspora. The artworks span photography, installations, sculptures, video and watercolours. They all, however, aim to do one thing: highlight the slipstream of time. In metaphysical terms, uncovering ti...

10th Asian youth training camp held

KUWAIT: In cooperation with Kuwait Shooting Federation (KSF), the Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) conducted the 10th Asian Youth Training Camp (Skeet) from Jan 20-27, 2023. The sole aim of this camp is to elevate and improve the theoretical and practical skills of youth shooters and national coaches in Asia. A total of 10 participants (7 shooters and 3 coaches) registered from four member federations benefited from this camp. The 10th Asian...

Watch: Rain-fed water ponds freeze over as UAE records winter’s lowest temperature

There were multiple ponds that had turned into ice. The group made some tea in front of a frozen pond and sipped on its warmth as the sun rose.

Blinken arrives in Egypt as Middle East violence erupts

US Secretary of State will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and call for steps to de-escalate tensions

68 violating camps removed in Abdullah Mubarak

KUWAIT: The head of the Farwaniya and Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorates department at the Kuwait Municipality Nawaf Al-Kanderi has stated that an inspection team removed 68 camps which were erected on public property in Abdullah Mubarak area. He pointed out that the Municipality is keen on clearing anything that disrupts the general aesthetics of public places or constructions that exploit state property.He said the intensive inspection campaigns...

Seven killed in drone attack on convoy entering Syria from Iraq

A convoy of lorries coming from Iraq was attacked by drones in eastern Syria on Sunday night, opposition activists and a pro-government radio station have said. "Seven truck drivers and their assistants, all of them non-Syrians, were killed as a result of unidentified aircraft targeting a convoy of Iran-backed groups last night," the Syrian Observa...

Few more Tunisians turn up to vote in second round of parliamentary elections

Tunisians began voting for members of the next parliament’s House of Representatives on Sunday morning. Only 4.71 per cent of registered voters in 131 constituencies had cast their ballots in the first two hours of polling for the second round of the legislative elections, said Farouk Bouasker, president of Tunisia's Independent High Authority for ...

UAE offers condolences to Pakistan over victims of Balochistan incident

ABU DHABI, 30th January, 2023 (WAM) -- The UAE has expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan over the victims of the fall of a passenger bus from a bridge in Lasbela, Balochistan, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries. In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) expressed its sincere condolences to the Pakistani Government and its people...

Ghanaian artist Larry Amponsah reflects on black identity in first UAE show

The marketplaces of Accra, with their clashes of colours and symphonic bustle, serve as potent inspiration to Larry Amponsah’s paintings — less in terms of subject matter, perhaps, than his overall collage-like approach to the art form, which has him splicing figures from old fashion magazines as well as from the barbershops of London. The Ghanaian...

Iranian military facility hit by drones

ALBAWABA - An explosion shook a military facility affiliated with Iran's defense ministry, but no casualties were reported. The ammunition manufacturing facility in the central Isfahan province was attacked by micro drones. Iranian sources said that the attack failed in view of the readiness and preparedness of the defense system stationed in the area. According to circulating information, one of the three drones that attacked the facility was...

At least 10 children dead after boat capsizes in Pakistan dam

At least 10 children died on Sunday and nine are missing after their boat capsized in a dam in north-western Pakistan. Four others are in a critical condition, local police officials told Pakistani media. The children were pupils of a religious school and were on a day trip to Tanda Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. All those on-board were betwee...

Finland can join Nato without Sweden, says Turkey's Erdogan

Turkey could accept Finland into Nato without its Nordic neighbour Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said for the first time on Sunday. Turkey suspended Nato accession talks with the two countries this week. Mr Erdogan's latest comments were made during a televised meeting with younger voters. His refusal to consider backing Sweden's bid threa...

Nelson Mandela’s most inspirational quotes

The United Nations has designated July 18 Mandela Day, an international day of service in honour of the legacy of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who was born on July 18, 1918 and died December 5, 2013. As a young lawyer in Johannesburg in the 1950s, Mandela began to speak out against the apartheid regime. In 1964 he was accused of “sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy” and sentenced to life in prison, becoming an internationally famous symbol of resistance, as popular opposition to apartheid grew inside and outside of South Africa. He was released from prison on February 11, 1990 and led the peaceful reconciliation process by which apartheid was dismantled. He left politics in 1999 and became known as an author, elder statesman and advocate of peaceful conflict resolution. Here are a few quotes from his writings and speeches to inspire you and make you think.

US envoy calls for more aid to Somalia as it faces deadly famine

The first US Cabinet member to visit Somalia since 2015 called on the international community on Sunday to give more as the eastern African nation faces famine. "The US cannot do this alone," said the US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Ms Thomas-Greenfield urged "other donors and the world to go bigger and be bolder," adding "this is...

Germany's Scholz rules out sending fighter jets to Ukraine

Germany will not send fighter jets to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeated on Sunday, as Kyiv increased calls for more advanced weapons from the West to help repel Russia's invasion. After weeks of intense debate and mounting pressure from allies, Mr Scholz agreed on Wednesday to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to allow other European co...

Saudi Arabia expresses sadness after 41 killed in Balochistan bus accident

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia expressed deep sadness at the death and injury of a number of people as a result of a public transport bus accident in the Balochistan province of Pakistan.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed the Kingdom's sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan for this injury, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.At least 41 people lost their lives as a...