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19 defiant bathers drown off Pakistan beaches

KARACHI: At least 19 bathers have drowned and four are missing in rough seas off Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi, officials said Thursday, after defying a ban on swimming during the monsoon season.The bathers were among thousands who had taken to the beaches to celebrate the Eid holiday, which began on Tuesday and continues until Friday.Even as relatives gathered at the beach for news of loved ones, hundreds more families continued to arrive Thursday and demanded that police let them swim, despite the deaths.Senior police officer Ibadat Nisar said police discovered three bodies washed up at the upscale Clifton beach on Wednesday evening, which prompted a wider search operation that was suspended overnight but resumed Thursday.“We started talking to picnickers on the beach and realized that the number of people who drowned was much higher than we thought, people whom we talked to told us...

Turkish women ‘laugh’ off leader’s remarks

ISTANBUL: Hundreds of Turkish women posted pictures of themselves laughing on Twitter on Wednesday t...

Iraqi Shiite militia executes, hangs 15 by electricity poles

BAGHDAD: Shiite militia forces executed 15 Sunnis and then hung them by electricity poles in a publi...

World stands ‘disgraced’: 16 die as Israel shells UN school

SAN JOSE: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned an Israeli strike on a Gaza school that killed 16 people as “unjustifiable” Wednesday, calling for those responsible to be held to account.“This morning a UN school sheltering thousands of Palestinian families suffered a reprehensible attack,” Ban said during a visit to Costa Rica.“It is unjustifiable, and demands accountability and justice.”The school in the Jabaliya r...

Belt blues: Thousands fly out without luggage from Jeddah a...

A conveyor belt at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) crashed under the influx of baggage on the first day of Eid, resulting in thousands of passengers having to travel without their luggage.Operations were largely back to normal by Wednesday amid a frenzy of travelers leaving the Kingdom after performing Umrah and many who left during the Eid break.“A conveyor belt at the southern terminal broke down an...

SAUDI ARABIA »

‘Knights of the Road’ helps motorists with broken down cars

Some Saudi youths have volunteered to fix broken down cars during Eid around the Kingdom.The group of volunteers called Knights of the Road offer free repairing service in a bid to demonstrate the existence of helpful people.The volunteers launched a website that contains the names of the volunteers...

No decline seen in camaraderie among neighbors during Eid

There is the age-old practice in cities and villages of taking meals to the nearest neighborhoods on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr. Men of the neighborhood meet with each other and exchange Eid greetings soon after the Eid prayers and they together share the meals.This social tradition still exists despite the many factors t...

UNWTO lauds Saudi law to protect heritage

The United Nation’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has applauded Saudi Arabia’s new monuments system, a legislation aimed at protecting national heritage and antiquities.The Kingdom recently joined the selected league of countries to set up a system for the monuments and became one of the first Arab countries to set up...

Kashmiri leader wants OIC to make more efforts

Overseas Kashmiris, including those in the Kingdom, are concerned about the future of Kashmir, following Hindu right-wing leader Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister of India, says former Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sultan Mahmoud Choudary. “The new Indian premier is trying to dilute the issue by ignoring all internati...

KFIP gets world’s largest desal equipment

The King Fahd Industrial Port (KFIP) in Yanbu Tuesday received Korean ship Dongbang Jiant 3, which is carrying the world’s largest water desalination equipment to be installed at the water desalination plant in Yanbu.The Yanbu plant along the same coast produces about 124 million cubic meters of water, and supplies it to Ma...

Stranded Indian family marks end of ordeal with Eid in Hyderabad

The ordeal of a stranded Indian family from Hyderabad finally came to an end with the climax being the wishful Eid Al-Fitr celebration with family and friends at home as they departed from King Khaled International Airport, Riyadh to India, celebrating the festival on Tuesday.The Saudi government, the Indian Embassy in Riya...

Indian Eid program toned down in solidarity with Gazans

An extensive yearly Indian community Eid program was reduced to a simple get-together ceremony on Monday night in solidarity with the victims of Gaza.Indian expatriates condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children.Organizers cited the assertion made by United Nations High Commiss...

Wife of BIS official dies in road crash

The wife of a member of the governing board at the Bangladesh International School (BIS) in Jeddah was killed in a road accident on Tuesday, the second day of Eid Al-Fitr.Nasima Jahan Silpi was the wife of Amir Firoz, a board member at the school’s English section.Five other members of the same family were injured in the in...

Overseas Saudi students find celebrating Eid away from family lacks flavor

Students studying abroad have shared their experience with spending Eid Al-Fitr on foreign soil. They say celebrating the festival away from their families lacks flavor. They are however mindful that they are required to be abroad due to their studies.They say they rely on social networks and other Internet services to conn...

Scholarship student set to be cleared in harassment case

Another Saudi is embroiled in a legal scandal merely 20 days after an American judge in Los Angeles acquitted a Saudi student of false charges of assault and battery made by a German woman and her lawyers.Judge Calvin Holden has dismissed charges of kidnap, assault and battery against the student, on scholarship at a univer...

Police officer stabbed to death in dawn attack

A Saudi police officer in Riyadh was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant on his way to the mosque to perform the morning prayers on the first day of Eid.Col. Fawaz Al-Meiman, Riyadh police spokesman, refused to disclose any details into the incident. “Investigative authorities have stipulated that we don’t divulge any...

Ukrainian Embassy: Russian-backed groups behind MH17 crash

The Ukrainian Embassy in Riyadh has blamed Russian-backed terrorist groups for downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17. Volodymyr Plachynda, chargé d’affaires at the Ukraine Embassy, told Arab News that the Ukraine government is highly concerned about subsequent spats resulting from the incident.Major international...

Sharif eyes Saudi investment

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has suggested that Saudi corporates and the private sector invest in his country’s power industry.“They can set up coal-fired power stations in Pakistan,” he said during an informal meeting with journalists at his Jeddah residence on Tuesday.“We now have a stable economy and we are offe...

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» Ailing Filipino illegals seek...

» Biggest mobile zoo comes to Abha

» Land ports experience congestion

» SR108m spent on birth control pills

» One million likes … and counting

» Huge Jeddah fire doused

» Fireworks vendors take to Twitter to...

» Saudi stamps society to honor editors...

MIDDLE EAST »

Gaza toll passes 1,300 on day 23 of Israeli assault

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: At least 76 people died in Israeli strikes a...

Turkey divided over Erdogan ahead of vote

WASHINGTON: The Turkish people are deeply divided over Prime Minister Recep Tayy...

Gaza tension: Israelis leave Maldives resort

COLOMBO: Israeli holiday makers were evacuated from their Maldivian resort after...

Protests quelled as Yemen increases fuel prices

SANAA: Protests erupted in Sanaa on Wednesday and were dispersed by the army aft...

75 bodies discovered in Benghazi

BENGHAZI: At least 75 bodies, mostly soldiers, have been found in the eastern Li...

WORLD »

Kerry in New Delhi to reboot ties with Modi

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State John Kerry flew into India on Wednesday for ice...

‘Nearly 100 casualties’ in Xinjiang violence

BEIJING: A clash in Xinjiang, home to China’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority, lef...

Fears grow of Ebola spreading to Europe

LONDON: Fears that the West African Ebola outbreak could spread to Europe grew o...

European ransoms now Al-Qaeda’s major funding: NYTimes

WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda is increasingly funding terror operations thanks to at leas...

Russia defiant in face of historic Western sanctions

MOSCOW: A defiant Russia dismissed Wednesday unprecedented Western sanctions ove...

SPORTS »

Bolt in controversy at Games

GLASGOW: Still days away from running, Usain Bolt was at the center of a controv...

India in a spin as England eyes victory

SOUTHAMPTON: England were in sight of their first win in 11 Tests as they closed...

Francis Tiafoe falls in ATP debut

WASHINGTON: Sixteen-year-old Francis Tiafoe lost his ATP tour debut while fellow...

Ecclestone offers 25 million euros to settle German bribery case

MUNICH, Germany: Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone offered on Tuesday to pay...

Heavyweight trio says Langer, 56, merits Ryder consideration

LONDON: Tom Watson, Colin Montgomerie and Tony Jacklin have called for the 56-ye...

ECONOMY »

Kingdom sees modest increase in oil supply

LONDON: OPEC’s oil production rose in July from June, a Reuters survey found, as a fragile recovery in Libyan supply outweighed fighting in Iraq and reduced output from A...

Mobily Wajid offers free lines to family members

Mobily continues to provide its extraordinary offer to the new subscribers of Wajid that provides discounts and privileges to all family members.The new Wajid Extra and Plus subscribers can enjoy a discount up to 50 percent on the subscription fees of the first month, in addition to the free additional lines it offers; thre...

Amazon to invest $2bn to expand in India

MUMBAI: The world’s largest online retailer is facing off in India against a new name in e-commerce that was founded by former Amazon employees.Amazon.com Inc. said it will invest $2 billion to expand its Indian business, a day after local rival Flipkart raised $1 billion to fund its own expansion.Launched last year, Amazon...

Twitter surges on user growth figures

NEW YORK: Twitter shares surged in morning trade after the messaging platform eased investor concerns with a quarterly report showing strong user growth and robust revenues.In the first half hour of trading, Twitter rallied 20 percent to $46.15, the highest levels since March.The company’s shares were up 27 percent at $48.9...

US crude inventories fall more than forecast

NEW YORK: US crude stocks fell more than forecast last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose less than expected, the Energy Information Administration reported.Crude inventories fell 3.7 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 1.5 million barrels.Crude stocks a...

Osram cuts 7,800 jobs as sales of traditional bulb drop faster

MUNICH: Osram AG, the world’s second-biggest lighting company, will cut an additional 7,800 jobs to safeguard earnings amid a faster-than-expected decline in sales of traditional bulbs.The layoffs will help Osram save 260 million euros ($349 million) in annual costs through 2017, the Munich-based company said in a statement...

Toyota keeps global lead over VW on SUV demand

TOKYO: Toyota has maintained its global sales lead over Volkswagen in the year’s first six months as rising US demand for SUVs paced a first-half record.Deliveries for Toyota, including its Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co. units, climbed 3.8 percent to 5.1 million vehicles in the first half, according to a company st...

Hyundai recalls 883K Sonatas to fix gear shifters

DETROIT: Hyundai is recalling its popular Sonata midsize sedan to fix problems with the gear shift levers.The recall covers 883,000 cars from the 2011 through 2014 model years.The Korean automaker says the automatic transmission shift cable can separate from the shift lever. If that happens, the lever may not show the corre...

Singapore Airlines Q1 net profit plunges 71.4%

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said its financial first quarter net profit plunged 71.4 percent from the previous year, weighed down by lower passenger and cargo revenue.Net profit in the three months to June came in at Sg$34.8 million ($27.8 million), down from Sg$121.8 million in the same period last year, the nation...

All Nippon Airways swings back into the black

TOKYO: Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) said it had swung back to profitability in the three months to June, largely thanks to an expansion at Tokyo’s second airport and changes to its pension plan.The upbeat results came a day after rival Japan Airlines said its quarterly earnings dived nearly 20 percent owing to higher fu...

Total posts profit fall, yet to assess sanctions impact

PARIS: French oil group Total suffered a profit and production setback in the second quarter, it reported on Wednesday but said it expected output to rebound despite uncertainty over the impact of sanctions on Russia.The key quarterly net profit on a current cost basis, excluding the effects of changes in inventory values,...

Airbus reports profit boost amid airliner boom

PARIS: Airbus Group showed stellar performance in the first half of the year, raising net profits by half with sales of airliners, it reported.The results coupled with a confirmed outlook for performance, pushed Airbus shares up sharply.The group said that net profit jumped by 50 percent from the equivalent figure last year...

IMF cautions Sri Lanka over mounting foreign debt

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s economy was among the fastest growing in Asia, but it was vulnerable to sudden external shocks due to high levels of foreign commercial borrowings, the IMF said.The International Monetary Fund warned that the Indian Ocean island remained vulnerable despite economic gains after ending decades of ethnic w...

OPINION »

Rajeev Sharma

US chasing India opportunity

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds its first strategic dialogue w...

Salahuddin Haider

Is Sharif facing real challenges?

Will Aug. 14 bring hope or despair for Nawaz Sharif? Different viewpoints are be...

Gene Frieda

China’s bad dream

Since his first address as China’s president last year, Xi Jinping has been espo...

Novi Anggriani

A bright future for Indonesia

On July 22, 2014, Joko Widodo was declared the winner of Indonesia’s presidentia...

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ART & CULTURE »

Al-Athr showcases abstract and geometry...

Jeddah’s Al-Athr Gallery is hosting the abstract and geometry inspired work of 40 local and international artists until Oct. 10.
The gallery opened its door in 2009 and has already displayed the work of some leading artists.
The theme of this exhibition is entitled “The Language of Human Consciousness,” and explores how artists over th...

Street art to serve society

Dana Eshki’s emotionally inspi...

Clash of two worlds: Calligraf...

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY »

NASA rover breaks off-Earth distance rec...

WASHINGTON: The US space agency’s Opportunity rover has now clocked more miles on Mars than any man-made vehicle to reach another celestial body, NASA said Monday.
Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004, the solar-powered robot has journeyed across 40 kilometers of Martian terrain.
That surpasses the previous record held by the Sovie...

German scientist starts 4-week...

Earth survived near-miss from...

Twitter’s new move threatens W...

FASHION »

Hermes names new womenswear designer

PARIS: French luxury powerhouse Hermes has named Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski as their new womenswear designer.
The low-profile, 36-year-old French designer will replace Christophe Lemaire, whose departure was announced earlier this week and who will take his final bow in October.
Though Vanhee-Cybulski is not a big name, she was previously...

Eid gift ideas for the loved o...

Mishael Al-Rajhi designs for s...

Saudi women look to mesotherap...

TRAVEL »

UNWTO lauds Saudi law to protect heritag...

The United Nation’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has applauded Saudi Arabia’s new monuments system, a legislation aimed at protecting national heritage and antiquities.
The Kingdom recently joined the selected league of countries to set up a system for the monuments and became one of the first Arab countries to set up a monuments syst...

4-day Eid festival planned

Balad takes on a festive mood...

Naxos island: A glimmer among...

FOOD & HEALTH »

E-cigarette ban sought: Decades of education against smoking...

A prominent professor at King Saud University (KSU) has called for a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes, especially to those under the age of 18.Sultan Ayoub Meo, a professor at the KSU’s College of Medicine, told Arab News on Friday that e-cigarette smoking should be regulated in the same way as traditional cigarettes. “Retail outlets, including pharmacies, must not be allowed to sell it to children and adolescents,” he said.E-cigarettes, which generate a vapor containing nicotine as a tobacco substitute, were initially released as a device to help smokers quit, but Meo fears “the huge rise in users could normalize smoking, and undo decades of anti-smoking education and campaigning.”He...

Study: Sleeping habits affect ethics

Do you consider yourself an ethical person? Chances are you answered “yes.” But new research suggests that our ability to act honestly in a given situation depends, in part, on the time of day. A study forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science finds that early-risers, or “larks,” are more likely to act dishonestly in the late evening hours. Night owls, on the other hand, exhibit a tendency toward ethical lapses early in the morning.Most of us are hard-wired to go to sleep and wake up at certain times of day. Some of us go to bed early to wake up early, while others prefer to stay up late and wake up late. Many of us fall somewhere in between. Researchers refer to this preference for...

Inside Loulou’s Kitchen

Louloua Elazzah is an ambitious and enthusiastic Saudi chef who lives between Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Greece with 19 years of experience in the field of culinary arts.Elazzah created a cooking academy called Loulou’s Kitchen that offers special cooking classes as well as basics in kitchen management.The ability to recognize different cultures and traditions of people through cooking is what first attracted Elazzah to cooking. Even though, she has a passion for Asian cuisine, she considers herself as an international cook who gets creative with globally celebrated cuisine.Arab News met with Elazzah to talk about her cooking classes, her passion for food and future plans. You give cooking...

OFFBEAT »

Renowned British band dedicates Midde East gig to Gaza child...

BYBLOS, Lebanon: Influential British band Massive Attack dedicated their only Middle East gig to the children of Gaza, o...

More mysterious craters found in Russia’s Siberia

MOSCOW: Two more craters of unknown origin have been spotted in Russia’s Siberia region, weeks after a similar-looking hole was found in the isolated northernmost area, a local paper reported.The Siberian Times, an English-language newspaper, published pictures of two new giant holes discovered by reindeer herders, one located in the Yamal and the other in the Taymyr peninsula, both above the Arctic circle.The paper said that theories of their origin range from meteorites or stray missiles to aliens or an underground gas explosion. The report could not be confirmed independently.Russian state...

Pulitzer-winning novel to hit big screen

LOS ANGELES: Donna Tarrt’s acclaimed novel “The Goldfinch” could be set for the big screen after Warner Bros. snapped up the film rights to the Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, it was confirmed Tuesday.A tale of survival, “The Goldfinch” charts a decade in the life of its 13-year old protagonist, whose mother is killed in an act of terrorism at the New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.Paul Mcguire, a spokesman for Warners Bros., said no decision has been made as to who will write the screenplay or produce the film.A release date also has not yet to be determined, he said.Tartt has a cult...