MIDDLE EAST

Dubai airport sees passenger traffic drop 70 per cent amid pandemic

12:09 pm February 15, 2021

Dubai: Dubai International Airport saw the coronavirus pandemic push passenger traffic down by an unprecedented 70 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year, its CEO announced Monday, even as the airport held onto its prized title as the world’s busiest for international travel. While the key east-west transit point started to see an […]

Internet disruption reported in southeast Iran amid unrest

Iran’s Guard begins ground forces drill near Iraqi border

4:18 pm February 11, 2021

Tehran: Iran‘s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Thursday began a ground forces drill near the Iraqi border, state TV reported. The report said the annual exercise, dubbed the “great prophet,” is ongoing in the southwest of the country and has aimed at readiness and assessment of forces. Drones and helicopters will be used in the drill, too. In recent months, Iran has increased […]

CMS holds Global Interfaith Convention to promote communal harmony

3 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes in northern Iraq

3:36 pm February 11, 2021

Ankara: Three Turkish soldiers were killed in a new Turkish military offensive against a Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said Thursday. Two of soldiers were killed Wednesday in a clash that erupted in northern Iraq’s Gara region on the first day of the latest Turkish operation, the ministry said. Another soldier died of his wounds on Thursday. The military said Turkish jets retaliated by striking targets of […]

Saudi TV: Yemen rebel attack on airport sets plane on fire

8:54 pm February 10, 2021

Dubai: Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire, the kingdom’s state television reported, an attack that threatens to escalate Yemen’s grinding war. Firefighters brought the blaze at Abha airport under control, Saudi state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV said, adding there were no […]

Israel’s Netanyahu ‘determined’ to continue Gaza operation

Israeli PM’s corruption trial resumes weeks before election

2:05 pm February 8, 2021

Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in a Jerusalem courtroom Monday to respond formally to corruption charges just weeks before national elections in which he hopes to extend his 12-year rule. Netanyahu was indicted last year for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. In recent months, Israelis have held weekly protests calling on him […]