Middle East News
5,000 Indian expats in Saudi Arabia get new jobs
Dubai, June 19 : Around 5,000 expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia, affected by a new labour policy in the Gulf nation, have found new jobs, the Indian consul general in Jeddah said....
Full StorySaudi Arabia sets up national e-security center to prevent hackers
Riyadh, June 18 : Saudi Arabia has started to set up National e-Security Center, a national authority for information security to protect the country's e-system from hackers, local Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper said Tuesday....
Full StoryAbu Dhabi, June 19 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia have held talks over a number of issues of mutual interest and explored ways to develop bilateral relations in all sectors....
Full StoryMore flights for repatriation of Indians from Saudi Arabia
Dubai, June 18 : Additional flights will operate between Saudi Arabia and India to help in the repatriation of illegal Indian expatriates who want to return to India from the Gulf nation, a top Indian diplomat has said....
Full StorySaudi Arabia e-security centre to prevent hacking
Riyadh, June 18 : Saudi Arabia has set up a national e-security centre to protect the country's e-system from hackers, a media report said Tuesday....
Full StoryEmirates to fly 60 extra flights during Ramadan
Dubai, June 18 (IANS/WAM) The Emirates will operate nearly 60 extra flights to assist pilgrims travelling to the Saudi Arabia during the holy month of Ramadan....
Full StoryIndian fugitive hands himself over to Dubai police
Dubai, June 17 : An Indian man, who had fled the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after allegedly killing his wife, has handed himself over to police in Dubai....
Full StorySaudi Arabia urges people to postpone Haj plans
Riyadh, June 17 : Saudi Arabia has called upon foreign pilgrims to postpone their Haj plans this year due to ongoing expansion work at Makkah's Grand Mosque, Xinhua reported....
Full StoryEmirates to fly Airbus A380 to Los Angeles
Dubai, June 16 (IANS/WAM) Emirates has announced an upgrade of its service from Dubai to Los Angeles with the introduction of an Airbus A380 starting Dec 2....
Full StoryHassan Rouhani becomes Iran's new president
Tehran, June 15 : Moderate presidential candidate, Hassan Rouhani, won the Iran's presidential election by securing over 50 percent of votes, Iran's interior minister said Saturday evening, reported Xinhua....
Full StoryHamas calls for unity, end to internal Palestinian feuds
Gaza, June 15 : Islamic Hamas movement Saturday called for unity and ending the internal Palestinian feuds and division on the sixth anniversary for its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, reported Xinhua....
Full StoryUAE envoy attends Portugal's National Day celebrations
Lisbon, June 15 (IANS/WAM) The UAE's ambassador to Portugal, Saqr Nasser Ahmed Al Raisi, attended a reception on the occasion of Portugal's National Day....
Full StoryParis, June 15 (IANS/WAM) French President Francois Hollande met visiting UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and discussed ways of enhancing the strategic partnership between the two countries....
Full StoryMillions vote to choose Ahmadinejad's successor
Tehran, June 14 : Millions of Iranians cast their votes in the presidential election Friday at over 60,000 polling stations to choose two-term President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's successor....
Full StoryKhamenei calls for high voting in Iranian presidential poll
Tehran, June 14 : Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a high turnout as over 60,000 polling stations opened across the country Friday for the 11th presidential elections, RIA Novosti reported....
Full StoryEtihad Airways expands check-in options
Abu Dhabi, June 14 (IANS/WAM) Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is expanding its check-in options in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai....
Full StoryOver 4,500 police officers promoted in Dubai
Dubai, June 14 (IANS/WAM) A total of 4,566 Dubai Police officers have been promoted, following orders from UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum....
Full Story$159,000 ex-gratia for family of Indian killed in Bahrain
Dubai, June 13 : The family of an Indian man, who died mysteriously during the pro-democracy protests in Bahrain two years ago, has received 60,000 Bahraini dinars (about $159,000) as compensation....
Full StoryIndians in Dubai on trial for attempted cable theft
Dubai, June 13 : Two Indian men have been put on trial for trying to steal power cables worth over 143,000 dirhams (about $38,900) by breaking into an electricity station here....
Full StoryAnother raunchy tape of female Israeli soldiers stripping, using rifles as poles surfaces
Jerusalem, June 13 : Female soldiers from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are seen performing stripper moves in the barracks in a new amateur video....
Full StorySyrian rebels kill 60 pro-government Shia fighters
Damascus, June 13 : Syrian rebels killed 60 Shia Muslim pro-government fighters in the east of the country, near the border with Iraq, Britain-based activists said....
Full StoryUAE group to build hospital in Jordan
Amman (Jordan), June 13 (IANS/WAM) The Al Maktoum Foundation of the UAE will build a maternity hospital in Al Zarqa province in Jordan....
Full StoryIndian in Bahrain acquitted of raping boy
Dubai, June 12 : An Indian man, who was accused of raping a six-year-old schoolboy in Bahrain, has been acquitted by a court there for lack of evidence....
Full StoryNo change in Indian passports rules regarding marital status, says embassy in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, June 12 : The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has said there is no change in rules regarding the process of updating marital status in Indian passports....
Full StorySaudi Arabia to build city for over 200,000 pilgrims in Madinah
Manama, June 12 : Saudi Arabia is set to build a pilgrims' city in the vicinity of Al Masjid Al Nabawi, the Prophet's Mosque, in Madinah....
Full StoryFive Indians arrested in Saudi Arabia
Dubai, June 12 : As part of the Saudi Arabian government's crackdown on people making unauthorised cheap calls on the internet, five Indians have been arrested in that country for selling internet telephone cards, Arab News reported Wednesday....
Full StorySaudi to again hire Indian maids - on reduced salaries
Riyadh, June 12 : Saudi Arabia will resume the hiring of Indian female domestic workers but on less salaries than before, Xinhua reported Wednesday citing the Al Hayat newspaper....
Full StoryUAE holds talks with Iran, S. Korea, Kosovo
Abu Dhabi, June 12 (IANS/WAM) Top officials of the UAE have held discussions with their counterparts from Iran, South Korea and the southeastern European republic of Kosovo....
Full StoryHeroin smuggling bid foiled in Dubai
Dubai, June 12 (IANS/WAM) Dubai Customs foiled a bid to smuggle more than two kg of heroin by an African passenger, who hid the drugs in 125 capsules in his stomach....
Full StoryIndian with burn injuries vanishes from Bahrain hospital
Dubai, June 11 : An Indian man who was admitted to a hospital in Bahrain with burn injuries has reportedly vanished from the hospital, leading to speculation that he might have been an illegal resident in that Gulf nation....
Full StorySix killed in bomb attacks in Iraq
Baghdad, June 11 : Six people were killed and five wounded in separate bomb attacks in northern and eastern Iraq Tuesday, police said....
Full StoryIndians in UAE accused of being bogus cops
Dubai, June 11 : Three Indian men in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been accused of posing as police officers, raiding a house and kidnapping two of its inhabitants for ransom....
Full Story14 killed in twin bombings in heart of Syrian capital
Damascus, June 11 : At least 14 people were killed and 31 others wounded on Tuesday morning when two suicide bombers detonated themselves near a police station at a main square in the heart of Syria's capital Damascus, the state media reported....
Full StoryBrit stewardess fined 2,000 Dirhams for calling Emirati housewife 'lesbian'
Dubai,June 10 : A British stewardess has been fined 2000 Dirhams for calling an Emirati housewife a 'lesbian' in a public place....
Full StoryUAE, Britain hold talks over transportation
Dubai, June 11 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Britain have committed themselves to develop a closer relationship for transport cooperation....
Full StoryUAE, Macedonia to disuss avoiding double taxation
Skobje (Macedonia), June 11 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Macedonia have agreed on initiating, at the earliest, negotiations on agreements on double taxation avoidance, the protection and promotion of investments....
Full Story20 killed in Iraq car bombings
Baghdad, June 11 : At least 20 people were killed and over 50 injured in different incidents of violence in Iraq Monday....
Full StorySharjah, US envoys discuss relations
Sharjah, June 10 (IANS/WAM) The US and Sharjah held discussions on bilateral relations and reviewed ways to strengthen existing ties between them....
Full StoryIran launches space monitoring centre
Tehran, June 9 : Iran Sunday opened a new space centre to monitor and observe space objects and satellites passing through the country's upper atmosphere....
Full StoryDuped Indians in Saudi Arabia beaten up
Dubai, June 8 : A group of Indians who were lured into a manpower supplying company run by two Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province were beaten up after they complained about their situation to Indian officials....
Full StoryIndian jailed in Bahrain for petty crime
Dubai, June 7 : An Indian man in Bahrain, who broke a car's side rear view mirror in the hope of getting deported to India, has been sentenced to jail for two months....
Full StoryIndian woman's body in Saudi Arabia morgue for two months
Dubai, June 7 : The body of a 51-year-old Indian housemaid, who died more than two months ago, is still lying unclaimed in a morgue in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh....
Full StoryPoor response to call for Indian volunteers in Jeddah
Dubai, June 7 : The Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has made a fresh appeal for volunteers from the Indian community to help Indian workers who have been affected by a new labour policy in that Gulf country....
Full StoryIndian workers in Saudi Arabia claim they were duped
Dubai, June 7 : Around 200 newly-arrived expatriate Indian workers in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province claim to have been duped by two Bangladeshi recruiting agents....
Full StoryUAE favours Arab states' right to safe water
Cairo, June 7 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has stressed on the right of Arab states to access safe and clean water as a human right....
Full StorySaudi Arabia bans communication application viber
Riyadh, June 6 : Saudi Arabia's telecom regulator has banned use of the web-based communication application Viber, which is hard for the state to monitor and deprives licensed telecom companies of revenue from international calls and texts....
Full StoryJobless Indian commits suicide in Dubai cemetery
Dubai, June 6 : A jobless Indian has committed suicide in a cemetery in Dubai....
Full StoryBahrainis jailed for attacking Indian tailors
Dubai, June 6 : A court in Bahrain has sentenced three Bahraini nationals to two years in jail for assaulting two Indian tailors in that country in a case dating back to 2011....
Full StoryNew counter in Jeddah for newly-designed Indian passports
Dubai, June 6 : Saudi Arabia's passport department has opened a special counter in Rehab district of Jeddah to accept newly-designed Indian passports....
Full StorySaudi Arabia bans communication application viber
Riyadh, June 6 : Saudi Arabia's telecom regulator has banned use of the web-based communication application Viber, which is hard for the state to monitor and deprives licensed telecom companies of revenue from international calls and texts....
Full StoryJobless Indian commits suicide in Dubai cemetery
Dubai, June 6 : A jobless Indian has committed suicide in a cemetery in Dubai....
Full StoryConvicted murderer beheaded in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, June 6 : A Saudi man was beheaded with a ceremonial sword after being found guilty of murder, the interior ministry said....
Full StoryFour Dubai cops promoted for saving patient's life
Dubai, June 6 (IANS/WAM) Four Dubai Police personnel will be promoted in appreciation of their "act of kindness" after they rushed to donate blood to a patient in one of Dubai's hospitals....
Full StoryIndian in Saudi Arabia seeks father's release from Pakistan jail
Dubai, June 5 : An expatriate Indian man in Saudi Arabia has asked the newly-elected Pakistan government to release his father who is reportedly languishing in a jail in Pakistan for the last 36 years....
Full StoryIsrael to raise tax on alcoholic beverages
Jerusalem, June 5 : Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid has signed a decree to raise the purchase tax on alcoholic drinks by 25 percent....
Full StoryIran edges out Qatar to revive hopes for World Cup qualifying
Tehran, June 5 : The Iranian national football team beat Qatar 1-0 to restore their hopes of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup....
Full StoryTurkey a destination for people seeking fertility treatments
Istanbul, June 4 : Turkey has become the preferred destination for couples from the Middle East, Eastern Europe and even the US who seek in vitro fertilization so they can have babies....
Full StoryEgypt court convicts man for insulting president
Cairo, June 4 : A court in Cairo has found activist Ahmed Douma guilty of insulting Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and handed him a six-month suspended sentence....
Full StoryIran's supreme leader wants next president to revive economy
Tehran, June 4 : Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday the country's next president should focus on the Iranian economy which is targeted by the West....
Full StorySaudi Arabia launches women-only sports centre
Riyadh, June 4 : A pioneering "women-only" sports centre has opened in Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Khobar....
Full Story