Oman allows expats to convert visit visas to work permit

MUSCAT: Expatriates coming to Oman on visit visas can now convert them into work permits, according to a newly amended Foreigners’ Residenc...

India: Woman visits Facebook friend, gang-raped by 25 in forest

A woman was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped by around 25 people in a forest in India’s Haryana. The incident happened in Palwal distric...

Singapore to start vaccinating 12-18 year-olds as PM outlines reopening plans

SINGAPORE: Singapore is opening up its COVID-19 vaccination programme to adolescents from Tuesday to help contain the latest outbreak that ...

British retail faces “tsunami of closures” without rent help

LONDON: Britain’s retail sector will endure a “tsunami of closures” if the government does not extend a moratorium on aggressive debt enfor...

Boris Johnson urges G7 accord on Covid-19 ‘passports’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants the upcoming Group of Seven summit to reach agreement on Covid-19 vaccine passports and to open ...

Ethereum rises 5% at $2,509; bitcoin firm

Cryptocurrency Ethereum climbed over 5% on Monday to $2,523 but remained more than 40% below a record high of above $4,300 hit earlier this...

Mass vaccination creates healthy oasis in Brazilian city

Serrana, a city in southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, has seen a 95% drop in COVID-19 deaths after it concluded vaccination of almo...

China, in major policy shift, announces families can have three children

BEIJING: China announced on Monday that married couples may have up to three children, a major policy shift from the existing limit of two ...

Gunmen kill two, wound 20 in US mass shooting

Assailants opened fire on a crowd outside a concert in Florida early on Sunday, killing two people and wounding more than 20, police and me...

India COVID-19 variant exhibits resistance; antibody drug shows promise

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines fo...

Malaysia to allow many manufacturing sectors to run during lockdown

Large parts of Malaysia’s manufacturing sector will be allowed to keep working, with reduced workforce capacity, during a strict coronaviru...

UK PM Boris Johnson marries fiancee in surprise ceremony

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, h...

World’s cheapest and expensive passports

Passports come in all colours and sizes, rankings and designs; but it is also important to note that the cost of obtaining a passport also ...

Sri Lanka facing marine disaster from burning ship: official

NEGOMBO: Sri Lanka is facing its worst beach pollution crisis as tonnes of plastic waste from a burning container ship wash ashore, a senio...

Roadside bomb kills three university teachers in Afghanistan: police

KABUL: A roadside bomb hit a bus carrying university staff in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing three teachers and wounding 15 othe...

Saudi Arabia maintains ban on inbound passengers from Pakistan, India, other countries

KARACHI/RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has maintained the travel ban on inbound passengers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and others despite liftin...

In Oman expats find visa renewal easier for jobs not on Omanisation list

Visa renewals of expatriates who are employed in departments that are not in the Omanisation category are happening with relative ease but ...

Adventure-lovers defy gravity on the tallest Chinese TV tower

Walking tightropes, rappelling down a four-storey-high rope tunnel, sitting in a dangling basket 58 floors high — tourists have been steeli...

Vietnam discovers new Covid-19 variant which spreads quickly by air

Vietnam has discovered a new Covid-19 variant which spreads quickly by air and is a combination of the Indian and British strains, state me...

Saudi Arabia lifts ban on entry of travelers from 11 countries

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia lifted on Saturday a ban on travelers arriving from 11 countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United...

Philippines lifts ban on workers deploying to Saudi Arabia

The Philippines on Saturday said the country’s workers could again go to work in Saudi Arabia, reversing a brief deployment ban after the k...

HORRIFIC: Child dies after being attacked by family dogs

A ten-month-old baby girl died after she was attacked by two family dogs. The incident occurred in the US state of North Carolina. The gir...

Remains of 215 children found at former indigenous school site in Canada

The remains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, were found at the site of a former residential school for indigenous childre...

Big Change: Saudi Arabia introduces new subjects to education system

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced some unprecedented changes to its education system as it has introduced new subjects that will be taught...

EU approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds

The EU’s drug watchdog on Friday approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus jab for 12- to 15-year-olds, the first vaccine to get the green l...

Pandemic won’t be over until 70% are vaccinated: WHO

The WHO’s European director warned Friday that the Covid-19 pandemic won’t be over until at least 70 percent of people are vaccinated, whil...

Get vaccinated, win cash as US state offers $116.5 million in prizes

California will offer $116.5 million in cash and gift cards to residents who get COVID-19 vaccinations before June 15, the latest – and mos...

Britain approves J&J COVID-19 vaccine for use

Britain’s medicine regulator has approved Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for use, the health ministry said in a statement on Frid...

Royal academy seeks 1 mln vaccines as Thailand approves Sinopharm

A royal academy chaired by Princess Chulabhorn, the youngest sibling of Thailand’s king, on Friday said it would import 1 million doses of ...

UNHRC to investigate Israeli war crimes in Palestine

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decided on Thursday to “urgently establish an ongoing independent, international commission...

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad re-elected for 4th term

DAMASCUS: Bashar al-Assad has been re-elected for a fourth term as president of Syria, official results showed on Thursday, despite Western...

Sinopharm’s two COVID-19 shots effective, study says

Two COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinopharm showed more than 70% efficacy against symptomatic cases, but it remains unclear how much prote...

Oman Arab Bank launches $250 million debut bond deal

DUBAI: Oman Arab Bank was set to raise $250 million on Thursday in its first foray in the international debt markets with an Additional Tie...

UN appeals for $95 mln to help Palestinians for 3 months

The United Nations appealed on Thursday for $95 million to help Palestinians over the next three months in Gaza and the West Bank, includin...

Qatar strengthens heat stress protection for workers

Qatar has introduced tougher measures to protect labourers from heat stress ahead of hosting the 2022 soccer World Cup. New regulations is...