ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira weakened again on Friday and the government promised reforms, after a volatile week that brought back memories of last year’s currency crisis just as Turks head to polls this weekend.Turkey’s currency was down 1.8 percent after having tumbled 5 percent on Thursday. The weakness, after a strong rebound earlier in the…
KUALA LUMPUR: Families and friends of death row inmates petitioned the Malaysian government to repeal its mandatory death penalty on Friday. Earlier this month, the government backtracked on its decision to scrap capital punishment in the country. Friends and kin of more than 20 death row inmates gathered in Putrajaya and sent a memorandum to…
MANILA: “This is not the Philippines I knew,” said Maria Ressa, CEO and executive editor of news website Rappler, after being released on bail hours after her arrest on Friday. Ressa, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested on arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport over an anti-dummy case filed on Thursday at…
CARACAS: The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday it was prepared to channel humanitarian aid to Venezuela through an operation that could be similar to one in Syria, potentially helping ease chronic hunger and disease in the South American nation.President Nicolas Maduro in February blocked efforts by political…
GAZA CITY: Protests are to take place across Gaza City on the anniversary of last year’s series of demonstrations against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The protests began on March 30, last year, when Palestinians voiced their frustration at the siege imposed on their region 13 years ago, and at the refusal of Israeli…
GAZA CITY: A year ago, Ezzedine Al-Baz’s decision to skip work and join tens of thousands at the first day of protests along the Gaza-Israel border nearly cost him his life. Baz, then 29, said he had been standing a couple of hundred meters from the border fence for only about a half an hour…
GAZA CITY: Protests are to take place across Gaza City on the anniversary of last year’s series of demonstrations against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. The protests began on March 30, last year, when Palestinians voiced their frustration at the siege imposed on their region 13 years ago, and at the refusal of Israeli…
RIYADH: Nearly 2.9 million violators of residency, work and border security systems have been arrested in a year-long roundup, according to an official report.Since the campaign began in 2017, there have been 2,865,608 offenders, including 2,234,100 for violating residency regulations, 438,458 for labor violations and 193,050 for border violations.2,025 people were arrested for trying to…
RIYADH: Nearly 2.9 million violators of residency, work and border security systems have been arrested in a year-long roundup, according to an official report.Since the campaign began in 2017, there have been 2,865,608 offenders, including 2,234,100 for violating residency regulations, 438,458 for labor violations and 193,050 for border violations.2,025 people were arrested for trying to…
Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal opens green initiative in Al-Majmaah RIYADH: Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar inaugurated Green Al-Majmaah Initiative during his visit to Al-Majmaah on Friday.Prince Abdulrahman bin Abdullah bin Faisal, governor of Al-Majmaah, said the initiative is part of a series of environmental activities in the region, seeking to increase green spaces in Al-Majmaah and aiming to…
Matt Stroud, the author of Thin Blue Lie, is an investigative reporter with a focus on companies that do business with police departments and prisons. Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief, said in a review that Stroud has “given us the definitive case against ‘high-tech’ policing.” Stamper added: “While Stroud does not discount the potential…
BAHRAIN: Charles Leclerc, in just his second Grand Prix weekend, topped the times ahead of his team-mate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari dominated Friday’s opening free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. With track temperatures rising to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit), the Ferrari duo comprehensively outpaced Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and defending five-time champion Lewis…
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says complacency won’t set in at Old Trafford now he is permanent boss MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has promised there will be no complacency from him or the players now he has been confirmed as the Premier League club’s permanent manager.Solskjaer was handed the job on Thursday after a…
BAHRAIN: Charles Leclerc, in just his second Grand Prix weekend, topped the times ahead of his team-mate Sebastian Vettel as Ferrari dominated Friday’s opening free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix. With track temperatures rising to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit), the Ferrari duo comprehensively outpaced Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and defending five-time champion Lewis…
TOKYO: Japanese refineries have put a halt on imports of Iranian oil after buying 15.3 million barrels between January and March ahead of the expiry of a temporary waiver on US sanctions, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon.The waiver, which allowed Japan to buy some Iranian oil for another 180 days, expires…
NEW YORK: Boeing’s MCAS anti-stall system, which was implicated in the October crash of a 737 MAX 8 in Indonesia, was also activated shortly before a recent accident in Ethiopia, a source with knowledge of the investigation said Friday.The information is part of preliminary findings from the analysis of black boxes from Ethiopian Airlines flight…
LONDON: British MPs on Friday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal for a third time, opening the way for a long delay to Brexit — or a chaotic “no deal” withdrawal in two weeks.The pound sank as MPs defied May’s plea to end the deadlock that has plunged Britain into a deep political…
LONDON: British MPs on Friday rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU divorce deal for a third time, opening the way for a long delay to Brexit — or a chaotic “no deal” withdrawal in two weeks.The pound sank as MPs defied May’s plea to end the deadlock that has plunged Britain into a deep political…
CASABLANCA: Migrants at a squalid camp in the Moroccan city of Casablanca have few hopes for the future, after their dreams of a new life in Europe were squashed. Illegal but tolerated, the Oulad Ziane camp is the last of its kind in the country following the dismantling of similar ones in southern Agadir in…
AL-HOL CAMP: Malnourished children struck down by chronic diarrhea, mothers too weak to breastfeed — in northeastern Syria’s Al-Hol camp, a humanitarian emergency is unfolding. Arabic, French, German and English voices fill the air in the muddy alleyways, as foreign women who married into Daesh and civilians displaced by the fighting against terroorists seek out…
