LONDON: In July 2018, a senior Iranian official made an announcement that raised eyebrows around the Middle East. The Islamic Republic, said Manouchehr Manteqi, head of the Headquarters for Development of Knowledge-Based Aviation and Aeronautics Technology and Industry, was now capable of producing drones self-sufficiently, without reliance on foreign suppliers or outside technical know-how. International … Read more
DUBAI: Lebanese author and art expert Myrna Ayad recently released “Alcove,” a book of 30 essays exploring the lives of celebrated and forgotten modern artists from the Arab world. Ayad based her essays on intimate interviews with the artists’ relatives, students, and close friends. “I was not after describing their work,” Ayad, who lives in … Read more
GENEVA: Israeli forces are “systematically” blocking access to people in need in Gaza, complicating the task of delivering aid in what has become a lawless war zone, the UN said Tuesday.It has become nearly impossible to carry out medical evacuations and aid deliveries in northern Gaza and increasingly difficult in the south, said Jens Laerke, … Read more
NEW DELHI: The number of Indians traveling to Saudi Arabia has grown by 50 percent following a series of strategic initiatives in 2023, the Kingdom’s tourism authority said, as it participated in India’s main international travel show over the weekend. The 2024 edition of the South Asian Travel and Tourism Exchange — Asia’s leading platform … Read more
DUBAI: When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, governments worldwide were caught off guard. Having faced no health emergency of this magnitude in generations, states were left scrambling to protect their populations and shield their economies. Now that life has largely returned to normal following years of social distancing, travel controls and trade … Read more
Dhaka: Billal Hossain was 8 months old when his mother Nurjahan Begum agreed to send him to day care at a charity-run orphanage near their home in a poor neighborhood of Dhaka. A few days later, he was gone forever. Thousands of Bangladeshi babies were adopted abroad in the 1970s. Most of them were children … Read more
Israel selects its Eurovision contestant amid calls for country to be banned from competition LONDON: Israel has chosen singer Eden Golan to be its representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. It comes as organizers of the competition continue to face mounting international pressure to exclude the country over the war in Gaza. Golan, 20, was … Read more
LONDON: The “alarming” situation in a prison camp in northern Syria has led to British mothers incarcerated there fearing for their safety, The Guardian reported on Monday. The newspaper said it had seen WhatsApp messages sent by British women in Roj camp for former Daesh affiliates, including one in which a mother in her 20s … Read more
JAKARTA: Indonesia urged the international community on Saturday to prevent Israeli ministers’ plans for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the building of Israeli settlements in the besieged territory. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have repeatedly called for the emigration of 2.3 million Palestinians from Gaza, where … Read more
CHICAGO: New Jersey prosecutor Attorney General Matthew Platkin vowed at a press conference here to find the assailant involved in the Jan. 3 shooting of Hassan Sharif, 52, the imam of the Masjid Muhammad-Newark mosque. Platkin and other New Jersey law enforcement officials said they do not believe, at this stage of the probe, that … Read more