28-04-2024 RIYADH: The first grand opera to be produced in Saudi Arabia has had its opening performance in Riyadh, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s massively ambitious plans to shift the kingdom into a new era, economically and socially. Zarqa Al Yamama is the story of a blue-eyed tribal …
Read More »Oil tanker damaged in Houthi missile strike
28-04-2024 DAMASCUS/ DUBAI: A crude oil tanker has been damaged in a missile attack off the coast of Yemen, the latest strike to be carried out by the Houthis. The incident happened roughly 15 nautical miles south-west of the Yemeni city of Mocha. British maritime security agency UKMTO reported that …
Read More »Pentagon to ‘rush’ Patriot missiles to Ukraine
28-04-2024 WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has said it will “rush” Patriot air defence missiles and artillery ammunition to Ukraine as part of a $6bn (£4.8bn) military aid. It’s the second package from Washington this week, following $1bn in more immediate aid announced on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on …
Read More »Surgery for Indian woman who inhaled nose pin
27-04-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: When Varsha Sahu accidentally inhaled the screw of her nose pin two months ago, she wasn’t too concerned. She thought the pin had gone into her stomach and would naturally pass through her digestive system but the metal object got lodged in her …
Read More »Japan comes face to face with its own space junk
27-04-2024 TOKYO: A satellite operated by Japanese company Astroscale has chased down a 15 year-old piece of space junk and taken an up-close image of it. The object is a discarded rocket segment that’s about 11m by 4m (36ft by 15ft), with a mass of three tones. It’s the first …
Read More »China warns US not to step on its ‘red lines’
27-04-2024 BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has cautioned his US counterpart Antony Blinken against stepping on China’s “red lines”, as the two country’s top diplomats met in Beijing on Friday. Wang opened the meeting acknowledging the China-US relationship is beginning to stabilize, but it is still being tested by …
Read More »Global wine demand drops to 27-year low as high prices hit
27-04-2024 PARIS: Global wine consumption fell to its lowest level since 1996 last year as inflation sent prices to record highs, deterring consumers already facing lower spending power, the International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) said on Thursday. The Paris-based OIV estimated world wine consumption in 2023 at 221 …
Read More »Israel intensifies strikes on Rafah ahead of threatened invasion
27-04-2024 RAFAH/ GAZA CITY/ CAIRO: Israel stepped up airstrikes on Rafah overnight after saying it would evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city and launch an all-out assault despite allies’ warnings this could cause mass casualties. Medics in the besieged Palestinian enclave reported five Israeli airstrikes on Rafah early on …
Read More »Poll heats up after charged Modi comments about Muslims
27-04-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: The world’s biggest election heated up after India’s Prime Minister made remarks about the country’s Muslim minority that drew fire from political opponents, only days before millions went to the polls. India has 968 million voters, more than the populations of the United …
Read More »US justices lean toward level of immunity in Trump case
27-04-2024 WASHINGTON: Conservative US Supreme Court justices have signaled sympathy to the argument that presidents have some immunity against criminal charges for certain actions taken in office as it heard arguments over Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss. Some of the …
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