Travel agencies in the UAE and abroad are all set to roll out packages for tourists visiting the Gulf region ahead of the launch of the unified GCC tourist visa or GCC ‘Grand Tours’ visa. Travel and tourism industry executives said packages, which will include a couple of night stays, travel and sightseeing in three countries in the region, could...
WORLD
Maldives Defence minister admits their pilots Can’t fly aircraft given by India
The Maldives’s Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon has admitted that its military lacks pilots capable of operating three aircraft donated by India, days after the last of the Indian defence personnel left the island nation. “There aren’t any people licenced to fly the aircraft,” said Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon at a media briefing in Male on Sunday. Maumoon explained that Maldivian soldiers who...
Israel hits Rafah despite US warning on arms transfers
Israeli warplanes struck Gaza’s crowded southern city of Rafah Thursday after US President Joe Biden vowed to stop supplying artillery shells and other weapons to Israel if a full-scale assault goes ahead. It was the starkest warning yet from the United States, Israel’s main military provider, over the civilian impact of its war against Hamas. An AFP correspondent and witnesses on Thursday...
“Bear Hugs Didn’t Work”: Biden Pulls Away From Netanyahu Embrace Over Rafah
Days after the October 7 attack, Joe Biden walked onto the tarmac in Tel Aviv and offered a warm bear hug to Benjamin Netanyahu, a sign both of solid support for Israel and the US president’s long, if not uncomplicated, relationship with the prime minister. Seven months into the devastating conflict, the gentle approach is over. Biden, who memorably once...
Development of India-Maldives ties based on mutual interests, reciprocal sensitivity: Jaishankar to Maldivian counterpart
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday conveyed to his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer that the development of India-Maldives ties is based on “mutual interests” and “reciprocal sensitivity”. Jaishankar’s remarks came amid a downturn in the bilateral ties between the two countries since pro-China president Mohamed Muizzu assumed office six months back. “As close and proximate neighbours, the development of...
US reveals it paused shipment of bombs for Israel over Rafah concerns
The shipment consisted of 1,800 2,000lb (907kg) bombs and 1,700 500lb bombs, the official told the BBC. Israel has not “fully addressed” US concerns over the humanitarian needs of civilians in Rafah, they added. An Israeli military official appeared to play down the US move. The delayed arms shipment comes as US President Joe Biden faces mounting domestic pressure –...
AstraZeneca Withdraws Covid Vaccine Globally
AstraZeneca has initiated a global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, days after it was reported that the British pharmaceutical company admitted that the jab can cause rare side effects. The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield. The vaccine maker has said the worldwide withdrawal was initiated because of commercial...
Putin Sworn in for Record Fifth Term as Russia’s President, Amid Growing Conflict With the West
President Vladimir Putin has been sworn for a record-breaking fifth term as Russia’s leader. In a lavish Tuesday ceremony at Andreyevsky Hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin swore an oath of allegiance by placing his right hand on Russia’s constitution. The ceremony—widely boycotted by Western diplomats following what election watchdogs called a sham vote in March—marked the start of a new six-year presidential term. “We...
Putin Orders Nuclear Drills With Troops Near Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine, Moscow said Monday, in response to “threats” from Western officials to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine. The announcement came as Russian forces said they captured two villages in the war-battered regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, where outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian troops have struggled to hold the...
Israel orders shut down of Al Jazeera in the country, seizes equipment
Israel shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country and seized some of its communication equipment Sunday, prompting condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s moves to restrict press freedoms. The closure comes as ceasefire and hostage negotiations in Cairo show little sign of breakthrough after almost seven months of war, and international concern mounts over Israel’s expected...
UK Opposition Party Wins Key Poll As PM Rishi Sunak Stares At More Losses
Britain’s ruling Conservatives lost a parliamentary seat to the main Labour opposition Friday, as the country awaited local election results likely to pile more pressure on embattled leader Rishi Sunak. Labour seized the constituency of Blackpool South, in the northwest of England, in the latest by-election defeat for the Tories as it appears on course to lose an upcoming general...
Hush money trial judge raises threat of jail as he finds Trump violated gag order
Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. If he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed. Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M....