Abu Dhabi // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed will hold talks at the White House with Donald Trump on Monday to discuss enhancing cooperation on counterterrorism, confronting Iran and other core issues in the increasingly close relationship. Over the course of what is expected to be a two-day visit to Washington, Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is also […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN More than 1,500 rebels and their family members left the devastated district of Qaboun on the edge of the Syrian capital Damascus after more than two months of aerial strikes and artillery shelling, rebels and state media said on Sunday. The rebels had agreed overnight to a secret evacuation deal after being cornered in a small pocket of Qaboun, which lies […]
DUBAI Former president Mohammad Khatami, considered the spiritual leader of Iran’s reformists, urged voters on Sunday to re-elect President Hassan Rouhani and support his policy of seeking to end Iran’s isolation from the rest of the world. Iran’s hardline security and judicial powers, which operate separately to the presidency and are close to Iran’s ultimate authority – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – have banned media from […]
India’s $1.6tn stock market broke new ground last week, with the benchmark index hitting an all-time high as confidence builds that the government’s reform agenda will strengthen growth and corporate earnings. But the stock market’s 14.9 per cent rally since January 1 has divided opinion among fund managers who disagree over whether Indian equities can make further gains. “The most common question that I am asked by […]
By Gul Yusufzai | QUETTA, Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan A bomb exploded next to a convoy of the deputy chairman of the Pakistan Senate on Friday in the violence-plagued province of Baluchistan, killing at least 25 people, officials said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing. The group’s Amaq news agency said a bomber wearing an explosive vest carried out the attack, which was condemned by a former […]
Mother Jones on Friday announced a half-million dollar crowdfunding campaign to investigate any connections between the Trump administration and Russia, asking for reader support to “make sure truth prevails over power.” To raise money for the project, which Mother Jones is calling “Trumpocracy: The Russia Connection,” the bimonthly magazine is trying to sign up at least 1,000 new sustaining donors at $15 per month. They’ve already lined […]
By Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will express support for Palestinian “self-determination” during a Middle East trip this month, a senior aide said on Friday, suggesting Trump is open to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite not having publicly embraced the idea so far. The comment by U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster came just nine days after a White House visit […]
But conservatives have targeted Mr. Rouhani for what they regard as his softness toward the United States and tolerance of Western culture. They also have sharply criticized him for what they call his misleading prediction that the nuclear agreement would herald an economic boom in Iran, where joblessness remains pervasive and the economy is the most pressing campaign issue. Still, Mr. Rouhani is considered the front-runner. Photo […]
Dana Gas profit nearly doubled in the first quarter as the UAE-based natural gas producer boosted output. Net income rose to 40 million dirhams ($11 million) from 22 million dirhams a year earlier, the company said Thursday in a statement to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange. Sales climbed 44 percent to 432 million dirhams. Dana Gas, which pumps most of its gas at fields in Egypt and […]
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Looking for early clues of famine rather than waiting for images of dying children is crucial to building the resilience needed to avert full-blown hunger crises, the U.N. aid chief said on Friday, as the world faces four conflict-driven famines. “We took a big and very strategic decision at the U.N. …to use the clues we’ve had rather than wait for the […]
DUBAI: Donald Trump Jr. is set to give the keynote address at an American University of Dubai graduation ceremony next week.The eldest child of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his first wife, Ivana, Trump Jr. will address students and their friends and families at the event, which is slated for May 14.The event will be held at the city’s World Trade Center.Billed […]
Saudi Arabia is preparing to cement ties with President Donald Trump by committing to unprecedented investments in the US. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund is set to announce plans to deploy as much as $40 billion into US infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment may be unveiled as early as next week to coincide with Trump’s visit to the kingdom, said the people, […]
By Parisa Hafezi | ANKARA ANKARA President Hassan Rouhani will defend his efforts to open up Iran to the world on Friday in a final televised debate against the hardline challengers who aim to topple him in an increasingly acrimonious election next week. Rouhani, swept into office in a landslide four years ago on promises to reduce Iran’s international isolation, is seeking a second term after negotiating […]
To find out how to type better with virtual reality technology, computer scientists used a light-up virtual display, autocorrect algorithms and a physical keyboard. Credit: Kiran Udayakumar What’s better than a holographic keyboard? A real one, apparently. New research from computer scientists at Michigan Technological University delves into the different ways to type in a virtual reality (VR) space. They’re presenting their work at ACM Conference on […]
The scene at the Rouhani campaign rally in Tehran on Tuesday has been replicated in other cities in recent days. In what appeared to be a warning that they not get out of hand, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that anyone who disrupted the elections would get a “slap in the face.” Continue reading the main story Mr. Rouhani’s supporters did not care […]
King Abdullah II of Jordan, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou are among leaders invited by Saudi King Salman for a summit with US President Donald Trump. The Arab-Islamic-American Summit will be among a series of talks expected to be held in Riyadh on May 20-21, Saudi officials said. Trump has frequently been accused of fuelling Islamophobia but aides described his decision to visit Saudi […]
MINSK Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with Belarusian TV Channel ONT aired on Thursday, said he will not back down from fighting his enemies. He pledged to defend de-escalation zones, brokered by Russia, and crush, with the support of Iran and Hezbollah, those who will try to breach them. Assad also told the TV channel that the de-escalation zones give chance for insurgents to hand […]
But the candidates still provide significant choices compared with elections in many other Middle Eastern countries. Continue reading the main story The incumbent president, Hassan Rouhani, promotes economic and social freedoms. His main opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the country’s wealthiest religious foundation, opposes many such ideas and wants Iran to become more self-sufficient. Televised debates this year have been held with new restrictions, in contrast […]
Abu Dhabi // The president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa, has been invited by Saudi King Salman to attend talks in Riyadh later this month with the US president. The ruler of Abu Dhabi was invited to both the US-GCC talks as well as the summit expected to be held a day later, on May 21, between Donald Trump and leaders from more than a dozen of […]
On Wednesday, Mr. Erdogan’s prime minister added another warning: that arming the Kurds could have “consequences” for the United States and a “negative result.” He did not go into detail, promising only that Mr. Erdogan would elaborate when he meets President Trump at the White House next week. Continue reading the main story Mr. Erdogan also sharply criticized the Trump administration’s decision in remarks quoted by Turkish […]
BEIRUT Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that any attempts to disrupt the presidential election on May 19 would be dealt with harshly. The vote has shaped up to be primarily a contest between incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who has campaigned on a platform of opening up the country to the West and easing social restrictions, and hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi, who […]
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will hold talks with US president Donald Trump in Washington on Monday. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the meeting is aimed at deepening Washington’s cooperation with a key Middle East partner. The meeting is scheduled to take place a week before Mr Trump makes the first […]
JEDDAH: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem said on Monday his country would reject any UN role in monitoring the implementation of four “de-escalation” zones.“We do not accept a role for the UN or international forces to monitor the agreement,” Al-Moallem told reporters in Damascus.Regime backers Russia and Iran and opposition supporter Turkey reached a deal on Thursday on four “de-escalation zones” in Syria where the regime and […]
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN AMMAN Syrian government warplanes struck rebel outposts near the Jordanian border early on Tuesday, rebels said, bringing the war closer to Syria’s U.S.-allied neighbour to the south. The air strikes, at around 3 a.m. (0000 GMT) were the first near that part of the border, a Jordanian official said. They came hours after Syria’s foreign minister warned Jordan against sending troops into […]
