World news
Pilgrims being tested for Ebola at Jeddah airport

RIYADH: ARAB NEWS Pilgrims arriving at the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) are being screened, tested and given preventive medication against the Ebola virus. Fahd Al-Ghazwi, supervisor of the preventive center at the airport, told a local newspaper that a medical team wearing protecti
John Kerry and the Afghan Stalemate

Three months after Afghanistan’s presidential election and two months after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brokered an agreement to resolve the dispute that arose from it, the country’s new president has yet to take office. Announcement of the official winner keeps getting delayed. Afghanista
France carries out first Iraq airstrike

PARIS: French jets carried out their first air strike against IS in Iraq Friday, successfully destroying their target, President Francois Hollande announced, vowing that more operations would follow. “This morning at 9:40, our Rafale planes carried out a first strike against a logistics depot of
US: Assad broke chemical arms agreement

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of breaking the terms of a global pact on chemical weapons by unleashing chlorine gas this year. “We believe there is evidence of Assad’s use of chlorine, which when you use it — despite it not being on
Isil seizes 21 villages in northern Syria

Beirut: Isil fighters captured villages and besieged a Kurdish city in northern Syria near the border with Turkey on Thursday in a major assault that prompted a commander to appeal for military aid from other Kurds in the region. With the United States planning to expand military action against
Murder case registered against Nawaz Sharif, ministers
ISLAMABAD: A murder case has been registered against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, three federal ministers and top police officials over the alleged killing of two persons during last month's clashes between the police and anti-government
Changing Pakistan: Tardy MPs thrown off jet

ISLAMABAD: Angry Pakistani passengers have forced two lawmakers off a plane for delaying its departure by almost two hours. A video covering the drama was posted online. Irate passengers decided to take matters into their own hands this time — aiming a string of invective toward the country’s for
World hunger easing but 1 in 9 people undernourished: UN

ROME: The number of hungry people in the world has fallen sharply over the past decade but 805 million, or one in nine of the global population, still do not have enough to eat, three UN food and agriculture agencies said on Tuesday. The number of chronically undernourished people dropped by more
China opens smartphone sidewalk lane

Beijing: Taking a cue from an American TV programme, the Chinese city of Chongqing has created a smartphone sidewalk lane, seemingly offering a path for those too engrossed in messaging and tweeting to watch where they’re going. But the property manager says it’s intended to be ironic — to remi
Devastated Gaza children back to school amid tears

GAZA CITY: As hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children returned to school in Gaza on Sunday, Azhar recited a poem eulogizing her father, killed by Israeli shelling in the enclave’s recent conflict. “Daddy, what can I tell you, if I say I love you it’s not enough,” the nine-year-old, who was
Ukraine truce under threat as heavy fighting erupts

DONETSK: Heavy fighting erupted around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, piling further pressure on a precarious nine-day-old truce between the government and separatist fighters. Large clouds of thick black smoke billowed over the industrial city as the boom of sustai
Prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures leaving Qatar

CAIRO: Qatar has asked seven senior figures from Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to leave the country, the movement said on Saturday, following months of pressure on the Gulf Arab state from its neighbors to stop backing the Islamists. Ibrahim Munir, a senior Brotherhood official based in Lon
Bombed out Gazans given mobile homes

KHAN YUNIS: Fifty Palestinian families made homeless by Israeli bombing during the summer’s fierce offensive on the Gaza Strip were rehoused Saturday in mobile homes in the southern town of Khan Yunis. During the 50-day conflict, 9,800 homes were totally destroyed and another 8,000 left uninhabitab
Govt air raids kill 42 near Damascus

BEIRUT: Syrian government air raids on a rebel-held area near Damascus killed 42 people, including seven children, a monitoring group said Friday. Thursday’s strikes were carried out in Douma, a satellite suburb northeast of the capital that has been under siege for more than a year. “The toll
Syria warns against foreign intervention after Obama speech

DAMASCUS: Any foreign intervention in Syria would be an act of aggression unless it is approved by Damascus, a Syrian government minister said on Thursday, after the United States said it was prepared to strike against Islamic State fighters in the country. “Any action of any type without the app
Strong Earthquake Hits off Eastern Indonesia

A strong earthquake hit off the coast of eastern Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Wednesday, causing panic among residents, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Authorities said there was no threat of a tsunami. The magnitude-6.5 quake struck at a depth of 22.5 kilometers (13 mi
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank

A Palestinian was shot dead early on Wednesday by the Israeli army during clashes near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian and Israeli sources have confirmed. Palestinian medics and security sources said Eissa al-Qotri was killed by live ammunition to the heart during stone-throwing clash
IS advance closes 8 Iraq universities

BAGHDAD: Eight universities across northern Iraq have been shuttered and appear unlikely to open soon after the sweep of fighters through the region. After students and faculty members fled the advance of fighters with the Islamic State, the fighters have settled into dormitories on at least one cam