Middle East

Sydney, Jan 9: The United Nations has found that a teenage woman who fled Saudi Arabia is a legitimate refugee and has asked Australia to take her in, officials in Canberra said Wednesday. “The UNHCR has referred Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun to Australia for consideration for refugee resettlement,” the Department of Home Affairs confirmed in a statement. The decision marks a significant victory for the

Bangkok, Jan 7: A Saudi woman being held at Bangkok airport on Monday appealed for asylum and for other passengers to help protest her looming deportation, in desperate tweets from the hotel room where she barricaded herself. The incident comes against the backdrop of intense scrutiny of Saudi Arabia over its investigation and handling of the shocking murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year

Jeddah, Jan 4: Saudi Arabia on Thursday called for a global initiative to combat the recruitment of child soldiers. Ambassador to the US, Prince Khalid bin Salman, said the Arab coalition fighting in Yemen to support the internationally recognised government, regularly encountered children who had been recruited by the Houthi militia. In a series of heartfelt tweets, Prince Khalid said the

Saudi prosecutors will seek the death penalty for at least five people over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom’s state media reported on Thursday as 11 suspects attended their first court hearing. The state-run Saudi Press Agency and state television gave few details about the hearing and did not name the suspects. However, a statement from prosecutors said the suspects attended the

Abu Dhabi, Jan 3: An Indian expat has won Dh15 million in Big Ticket Abu Dhabi raffle on Thursday. As usual, the list of top 10 winners had most Indians taking away most of the money. Sarath Purushothaman, who had purchased ticket no. 083733 at Big Ticket Abu Dhabi, was announced as the winner of the bumper prize, Dh15 million. The second price, Dh100,000 was won by Indian expat, Jinachandran

Dubai, Dec 30: Rahul Gandhi, the chairperson of All India Congress Committee, will address Indian expats and interact with NRI business tycoons in the region during his two day UAE tour on January 11-12 as part of his international outreach. The visit to the UAE will be his second to the Gulf region this year. In January, Gandhi visited Bahrain shortly after taking over as the Congress chief in

Cairo, Dec 29: Egyptian security forces have killed 40 suspected militants in three separate incidents in North Sinai and Giza, the ministry of interior said on Saturday, a day after a deadly bombing on a Vietnamese tourist bus in Giza killed four people. The ministry did not say whether the suspected militants were connected to Friday's attack, but said its forces killed 30 people during raids on

Cairo, Dec 29: An explosion on Friday targeting a bus carrying Vietnamese tourists on an excursion to the Giza pyramids left four people dead and 10 others wounded, Egyptian authorities said. Three of the tourists were killed along with the tour guide, an Egyptian citizen, Attorney General Nabil Ahmed Sadeq said in a statement. The bus driver and nine other Vietnamese visitors were wounded

Damascus, Dec 28: The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus Thursday, the latest sign of efforts to bring the Syrian government back into the Arab fold. The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a devastating war. Nearly seven years later, the Emirati flag was raised again during a ceremony

Moscow, Dec 27: A royal decree to reshuffle the Saudi Cabinet, headed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was issued on Thursday, local media reported. According to the Al Arabiya broadcaster, under this decree, Ibrahim al-Assaf, former Saudi finance minister, became the country's foreign minister, while Adel al-Jubeir, who used to be the foreign minister, was appointed as the minister of