Starting April 13, Sharjah will have its first road toll e-gate on Al Dhaid Road — for heavy trucks only. The gate will be fully automated, as is the case with Salik road toll gates in Dubai, within one to three months. Heavy trucks travelling from the northern emirates, Fujairah, Khorfakkan, Kal

Jeddah: The Passport Department will soon make it mandatory for expat women over 18 to record their biometric information if they want to travel, get new iqamas and final exit visas. Women would have to register their biometric details at a local passport office, according to local media. “Thi

The chairman of the Disability Society in the Gulf, Musaed al-Awla, said that students with Down’s Syndrome are being sexually harassed by students in general education schools in Saudi Arabia, Makkah daily reported. The director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education, Abdullah al-Aqee

Dubai: Indians in the UAE don’t expect to be directly impacted by the upcoming general elections in India, but said there is special interest and concern this voting season. They said a “mass hysteria” for change coupled with close competition and hard-to-predict outcomes make the latest electi

Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Wednesday approved 43 insurance companies to provide health cover for Dubai residents, and said the first phase of the scheme will end by October this year. “Initially, the scheme will cover 200 companies with a large number of staff,” said Dr Haidar A

Almost two million more international passengers travelled through Dubai International than London Heathrow up until February Dubai Dubai International overtook London Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic just two months into the year. Almost two million mor

BLS centre moved to office opposite Deira City Centre Abu Dhabi: The centre providing Indian passport and visa services at Deira in Dubai will relocate to a new address from Saturday. The relocation was confirmed in a statement by the India Embassy on Thursday. The firm, BLS International Service

Dubai: Health insurance will be mandatory for expatriates who, after retiring, wish to continue living in Dubai. The new Health Insurance Act makes health insurance mandatory for all citizens and residents, said Dr Haider Al Yousuf, Director of Health Financing, Dubai Health Authority (DHA). S

Dubai: If you really want to make a difference on Earth Hour, go beyond switching the lights off for 60 minutes. Make the switch to energy efficient lighting. This is Emirates Wildlife Society-World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s (EWS-WF) call to action for this year’s Earth Hour in the UAE on Marc

Sharjah: A Sharjah resident has sought a ban on allowing children on dune bashing drives after losing his three-year old son in a desert safari accident last week. “There should be a strict rule banning children in desert safaris. It can be fatal like I found out the hardest possible way,” Arun

Al Ain: Rain and thunderstorm hit different parts of the UAE late on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, as forecasters expect more rain in the country. Rain is continuing in Dubai, Sharjah and many other parts of the UAE. While the rain became a blessing for many, it turned out to be a misery for m

A two-month-old baby girl was found abandoned in Al Qasimiya area behind Al Manama Supermarket in Sharjah on Sunday, a police source told Khaleej Times. This is the fourth baby to be abandoned by parents in the emirate in less than a month. The baby girl was found wrapped in a blanket placed in a

Abu Dhabi: A new app rolled out in the capital on Wednesday will make smartphones even smarter by helping motorists avoid congested roads and traffic delays through real-time information from traffic officials. Named Darb (path or road) and launched by the Department of Transport (DoT), the app

Sharjah: Completion of phase three of the Mohammad Bin Zayed Road expansion project in Sharjah, which is scheduled for early April, is expected to significantly reduce traffic jams and ensure the smooth flow of traffic on the busy highway. Motorists are eager for the completion of the expansion

Ras Al Khaimah: Four days after a major weather system dumped massive sheets of rain across the UAE, a remote farm nestled between mountains in Ras Al Khaimah in Wadi Al Koub remains submerged under two metres of floodwater. Only the tip of the farm shed’s roof was visible above water after ski

Muscat:  Four people were killed in the heavy rains that lashed Oman over the last two days. Two nationals were killed when their vehicle was washed away by Al Qahmi wadi in the Mahda province on Saturday morning. Their bodies were found more than a kilometre away from the spot where t

Dubai: It will soon be mandatory for Indian expatriates living in the UAE to obtain Aadhaar card — the Indian national identity card — a senior official from New Delhi has confirmed. As of now, Indian nationals living in the UAE have to travel and personally apply to government offices to get t

Photo used for illustrative purposes only. Al Ain: Dust storm is raging across the coutry on Thursday with drsatic dip in visibility. Moderate to heavy rain is also expected to hit the UAE from Thursday, according to the national weather bureau. The five-day spell of unstable weathe