World news

List of 100 richest Arabs for 2013 released

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.

N. Korea ‘playing with fire’; South raises alert level

[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

Nato air strike kills 11 children in east Afghanistan

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

International MBA graduates in UK get a year to stay on for work

  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

Samoan airline introduces pay by weight plan

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

Prince Faisal briefed on Haj projects in Madinah

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

North Korea threatens to restart nuclear reactor

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

Muslims vanish as Buddhist attacks approach Myanmar's biggest city

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

N Korea says it is entering 'state of war' with South Korea

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

North Korea shuts last military hotlines to South

  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

Asian arrivals helping set new Umrah record

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

Palestinians deserve a state: Obama

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 opens new airport

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

Iraq war killed 120,000, cost $800 bln

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

Hopes Pope Francis will seek peace with Islam

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

​Fukushima radiation fight an uphill task

On the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the nightmarish task of cleanup is just about beginning. Experts working on the site say that it may take 30 to 40 years to just clean up the Daiichi nuclear plant. How long it will take to clean the 20 km radius prohibited zone around

15 Saudis among 100 most powerful Arab women

Fifteen Saudi women who are breaking new grounds in the social, educational, economic, political and cultural fields have been named in the list of the world’s 100 most powerful Arab women, published this week by CEO Middle East. The highest Saudi entry was second place Lubna Olayan, while Princess

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's polarizing leader, dies at 58

Caracas, Venezuela: Hugo Chavez, who rose from poverty in a dirt-floor adobe house to unrivaled influence in Venezuela as its president, consolidating power and wielding the country's oil reserves as a tool for his Socialist-inspired change, died on Tuesday, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said. H