Indian President Pratibha Patil to visit Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah Abu Dhabi: Indian President Pratibha Patil will arrive in the UAE on November 21 for a five-day official visit. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said the date of the president's visit was being finalised. But the UAE National Medi

Saudi Arabia's top clerics have challenged the government's policy to expand jobs for women with a fatwa ruling that they should not work as cashiers in markets. In the statement obtained by AFP the official fatwa issuing body said that "it is not permissible for a woman to work in a place where th

JEDDAH: Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy said Saturday that about 1.75 million foreign pilgrims would perform Haj this year, adding that they would be joined by some 250,000 faithful from within the Kingdom. Speaking to reporters after opening a workshop on crowd management at Jamrat in Mina, the minist

RAS AL KHAIMAH - President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent his condolences after His Highness Shaikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah died at dawn today in Ras Al Khaimah. The Dubai, Ajman, Sharjah, Fujairah and Umm Al Qaiwain

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will hold talks with Russia over a potential draft nuclear agreement, Saudi state media said on Monday. The Gulf Arab state has said it is looking at various energy sources to satisfy rising domestic demand and has set up a nuclear research centre at the King Abdullah

Muscat -The hike in visa fees has been announced by the government following the amendment of the expatriate residence law. The fee hike, effective from October 19, does not include change in the employment visa charges. The fee for express visa, which is valid for three weeks from the date of entry

The case of Beebi Lumada, the Indian housemaid who died at Muscat International Airport, seems to be a closed issue for both Qatar Airways and the Indian authorities Muscat: The case of Beebi Lumada, the Indian housemaid who died after being stranded for five days at Muscat International Airport, s

The previous record in prestige-conscious Kuwait City was KD116, 500 for the number 90000000, sold by mobile operator Zain Manama: The craze for vanity mobile phone numbers in Kuwait has reached a new level after the easy-to-remember number 55555555 was sold for KD210, 000 (Dh2.7 million). The publ

Abu Dhabi: Over 7000 poets from 30 countries including India took part in a competition for classical Arabic poetry organised by Abu Dhabi authorities. Sultan Al Amimi, director of the Poetry Academy and member of the organising committee for the "Prince of Poets", announced that all works entered

Abu Dhabi: Police have advised drivers to take the necessary precautions when faced with glare from the sun while driving. Motorists in turn urged traffic authorities to consider the effect of the sun's glare when analysing accidents that occur on east-bound roads in the morning. Data compiled by t

Dubai: Residents and visitors to the country are having their photos taken at ports of entry in a measure aimed at boosting security, said a senior Ministry of Interior official. Brigadier Obaid Muhair Bin Surour said the photographs are being taken "in a non-intrusive manner" as part of security a

Abu Dhabi - An employee who forged his salary certificate and has been handed a one-year work ban by the Labour Court will not be allowed to work for another company during the said period. This was stated on Monday, during the weekly open day held on the premises of the Ministry of Labour in Abu D

DUBAI - Exactly at the stroke of 1pm on Friday, Dubai Metro opened the gates of five new stations on the Red Line. Along with that came new weekend timings, increased frequency and reduced duration at each stop. Business Bay, First Gulf Bank, Sharaf DG, Nakheel and Jumeirah Lakes Towers are the five

DUBAI - The captain of a Qatar Airways flight from the Philippines to Qatar died of heart attack on Wednesday.Sources said the captain, a 43-year-old Indian national, apparently suffered a heart attack after the flight took off from Manila. The crew and a doctor on board tried to revive him, while t

MUSCAT - The body of Beebi Lumada, the Indian domestic maid who died at Muscat airport after being stranded for four days after she lost her passport, was buried around 6pm (Indian time) yesterday at her native village in Chittoor district of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.The body was

United Arab Emirates-based carrier RAK Airways restarted flights on Sunday, after over a year of suspension, with trips to Saudi Arabia and India and tickets priced as low as AED10 ($2.72), it said in a statement.The airline will operate four flights per week each to Jeddah and southern Indian city

JEDDAH: A record number of Indian pilgrims, over 170,000, will perform this year's Haj, Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad told a press conference at the Consulate General of India on Thursday.The Indian diplomatic mission is coordinating arrangements for 125,000 pilgrims who will come through the Haj C

Extension of the Green Line of the Dubai Metro by at least 20 kilometers is one of the major transport projects to be carried out in the near future Dubai: The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has not abandoned any of its public transport expansion projects, said as senior official."Construction