SAVAR, Bangladesh: An eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed near Bangladesh’s capital Wednesday morning, killing at least 87 people and trapping many more in a jumbled mess of shattered concrete and bricks, officials said. The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire

The compensation to owners of expropriated properties within the Grand Mosque northern courtyards’ expansion project is estimated at SR 133 billion. Of this, SR 50 billion have been disbursed. Compensation is estimated on the basis of the property's proximity to the mosque. The highest compensation

The world's oldest person turned 116 on Friday as local health chiefs in Japan launch a study to find out why he and many of those around him have lived so long.   Jiroemon Kimura, who was born in 1897, was expected to celebrate his astonishing milestone with friends and family, and recei

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE nationals dominate the list of the Arab world’s 100 richest people for 2013 released by Forbes Middle East today. Amongst the world’s richest Arabs, Saudi took lead with 41 ranks, followed by Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Sudan and Oman.

[caption id="attachment_30830" align="aligncenter" width="580"] South Korean honour guards march at a war museum in Seoul on Wednesday. (AFP)[/caption] SEOUL: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle yesterday called on North Korea to stop its “war of rhetoric” and said the isolated state was “p

SHIGAL (AFGHANISTAN): Eleven children and a woman were killed by an air strike during a Nato operation targeting Taliban commanders in eastern Afghanistan, officials in the region said Sunday. Civilian deaths have been a long-running source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai an

  LONDON: The British home office on Saturday relaxed immigration rules that will allow international MBA graduates from British universities and other higher education institutions to stay in the United Kingdom for up to a year after graduating as part of the expanded graduate entrepren

SYDNEY: A Samoan airline that says it is the world’s first carrier to charge passengers by their weight rather than per seat defends the plan as the fairest way to fly, in some cases actually ending up cheaper than conventional tickets. Samoa Air, which opened in 2012, asks passengers to declare th

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman yesterday held talks with Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar on new projects to improve facilities for pilgrims visiting the holy city. Hajar gave a presentation on the ministry’s various projects to improve Haj services including the electronic track system, the inter

Seoul, South Korea: North Korea said Tuesday that it would put all its nuclear facilities - including its operational uranium-enrichment program and its reactors mothballed or under construction - to use in expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal, sharply raising the stakes in the standoff with th

SIT KWIN, MYANMAR: The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing. Their homes, shops and mosques destroy

Seoul: North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of tough rhetoric against Seoul and Washington after coming under international sanctions for its nuclear test. "From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the s

  Seoul: North Korea cut off the last remaining military hotlines with South Korea on Wednesday, accusing President Park Geun-hye of South Korea of pursuing the same hard-line policy of her predecessor that the North blamed for a prolonged chill in inter-Korean relations. Amid tension

A large number of Umrah pilgrims arriving from Asian countries this week are about to set a new record. The Ministry of Haj has indicated that more than 6 million pilgrims are likely to come for Umrah this year, up from 5.5 million last year. The season opened on Dec. 14 last year, and will close

RAMALLAH (WEST BANK): Hours after Palestinian militants fired at least two rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip that crashed into the Israeli border city of Sderot on Thursday, President Obama travelled to the West Bank city of Ramallah and renewed his call for a two-state solution betwe

Sri Lanka’s president opened the country’s second international airport on Monday, intended to help spur a new economic hub and act as a gateway to the island’s southeast. The Sharjah-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia on Monday became the first foreign airline to start scheduled services out of M

At least 116,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,800 coalition troops died in Iraq between the outbreak of war in 2003 and the US withdrawal in 2011, researchers estimated on Friday. Its involvement in Iraq has so far cost the United States $810 billion (625 billion euros) and could eventually re

CAIRO, JERUSALEM // Al Azhar, the 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islam learning, yesterday said it wanted "better relations" with the Vatican after years of acrimony. On Wednesday an Argentine cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergogli, was elected to succeed Benedict XVI. He chose the name Francis. Benedict's