Asia

Bahrain to sue The Independent for ‘libel’

DUBAI — Bahrain is suing British daily The Independent for alleged libel after veteran writer Robert Fisk slammed the Gulf kingdom for becoming an extension of Saudi Arabia. The Information Affairs Authority has appointed a UK-based lawyer to sue the newspaper, the official BNA news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting […]

SR476m annual aid for needy students

By ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered the allocation of SR476 million annually to support the public education of poor students in the Kingdom, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah announced on Sunday. Prince Faisal, chairman of the board of trustees of the […]

Nitaqat: Firms face Sept. 10 deadline

By MUHAMMAD AL-SULAMI | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: The Ministry of Labor has given private companies and establishments three months to comply with the Nitaqat program, which aims to improve employment opportunities for Saudis. Ministry spokesman Hattab Al-Anazi said companies would have until Sept. 10 to ensure they are fully compliant […]

Missing Iraq cash ‘as high as $18bn’

Iraq’s parliament speaker tells Al Jazeera unaccounted reconstruction money is three times the reported $6.6bn. Osama al-Nujaifi, the Iraqi parliament speaker, has told Al Jazeera that the amount of Iraqi money unaccounted for by the US is $18.7bn – three times more than the reported $6.6bn. Just before departing for […]

Misspent energies …

Some voices in the US Congress are reportedly suggesting that the US cut back its financial contribution to the UN system and withdraw from some of its main bodies, such as the UN Human Rights Council, if the UN General Assembly votes in favour of recognising an independent Palestinian state […]

From Iran to Persia and back

With an estimated population of about 78 million, most of them aged under 30, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to use the official title, attracts something like two million tourists a year. A significant chunk originate from the European Union, notably Italy, Germany, France and Belgium. Evidently realising the potential […]

Jordan’s Abdullah: Israel is not interested in peace

In interview with Washington Post, Jordan King Abdullah laments Israeli public’s gravitation toward the right, rejection of 1967 borders, saying prospects for Middle East peace are grim. Jordanian King Abdullah expressed alarm over Israel’s prevailing political opinions in an interview with the Washington Post Thursday, saying that the Israeli public […]

Abbas calls on EU to recognize Palestinian state

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton meets Palestinian PM, president after Lieberman tells her, ‘Abbas does not want an agreement, but rather confrontation with Israel.’ Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas called upon European Union nations on Friday to recognize a Palestinian state, according to an AFP report. According to the report, […]