TOKYO: The drama surrounding the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, former boss of motor giants Nissan and Renault, has yet to reach its climax. Yet the plot continues to thicken with each new development. On Monday, Ghosn’s defense lawyers unveiled court submissions highlighting the circumstances in which the 65-year-old executive was arrested and subsequently held in…
KABUL, Afghanistan: Yousuf fled with his family from his home in eastern Afghanistan eight years ago to escape the war, but he couldn’t escape tragedy. In the capital, Kabul, five of his children died, not from violence or bombings, but from air pollution, worsened by bitter cold and poverty.At the camp for displaced people they…
BERLIN: Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the electric car pioneer plans to build a new factory near Berlin. News agency dpa reported that Musk made the announcement during a prizegiving ceremony in the German capital Tuesday evening. He said that the plan is for the factory to be built near Berlin's new airport, which is…
BEIJING: A sharp escalation of violence in Hong Kong is once again raising the question of how China’s central government will respond: Will it intervene, or allow the chaos to persist?The Liaison Office, which represents mainland authorities in Hong Kong, said Wednesday that actions in the semi-autonomous territory were “slipping into the abyss of terrorism.”…
BEIRUT: A man was shot dead south of Beirut after the army opened fire to disperse protesters blocking roads, Lebanese state media said Wednesday, nearly a month into an unprecedented anti-graft street movement.The victim “succumbed to his injuries” in hospital, the National News Agency said, the second death during the nationwide protests that have paralyzed…
ISTANBUL: Turkish police detained prominent journalist and author Ahmet Altan late on Tuesday, a week after he was released from prison in his retrial on coup-related charges, Istanbul police said. Before his release last Monday, the 69-year-old had been in jail since his arrest in 2016, two months after an attempted coup which Ankara says…
ERBIL, DUBAI: In a humiliating rebuke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the lead-up to his visit to Washington, members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives have written a strong letter urging US President Donald Trump to withdraw the White House invitation. The letter says Erdogan’s “decision to invade northern Syria…
RIYADH: Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman has reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to diversifying its energy sources, telling the Misk Global Forum 2019 that an expanding renewable energy program will meet the country’s domestic requirements and even allow it to export electricity.“We are moving ahead with our civil nuclear program,” the minister told…
Wait is almost over for music fans eager to learn who will headline E-Prix concerts RIYADH: The first of the major international music acts that will perform at the Diriyah E-Prix this month will be announced on Wednesday. There were incredible scenes at the event last year when David Guetta, One Republic, the Black Eyed…
RIYADH: The evolving nature of the workplace and the challenge the new generation faced was in the spotlight on Tuesday during a panel discussion on Day 1 of the annual meeting of the Misk Global Forum in Riyadh. The panel of influential and inspirational women from the region included: Princess Haifa M. Al-Saud, the vice president…
DUBAI: On Sunday, actors, models and directors gathered in Santa Monica, California, for the 2019 E! People’s Choice Awards. When it came to the red carpet, “Euphoria” actress Zendaya stole the show wearing a black, single-shoulder gown by Sydney-based designer Christopher Esber that featured sparkling details and a cut-out at the waist. Zendaya, who took home…
DUBAI: Amr Diab is the first Arab musical artist to get his face plastered on a Spotify billboard in New York City’s iconic Times Square. The streaming giant projected a smiling portrait of the Egyptian crooner in one of the most-visited landmarks in the Big Apple in a bid to promote the music and culture of the…
DUBAI: Amr Diab is the first Arab musical artist to get his face plastered on a Spotify billboard in New York City’s iconic Times Square. The streaming giant projected a smiling portrait of the Egyptian crooner in one of the most-visited landmarks in the Big Apple in a bid to promote the music and culture of the…
WASHINGTON: French NBA star guard Tony Parker was given an emotional tribute Monday by the San Antonio Spurs, who retired his number nine jersey in a post-game ceremony after a loss.Parker won four NBA titles in 17 seasons with the Spurs, joining the club in 2001 and becoming a starter as a 19-year-old European newcomer…
Saudi female racing driver to make history by becoming first to compete in the Kingdom DUBAI: Reema Juffali will create history later this month at the Diriyah Circuit as the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in an international racing series in the Kingdom. Reema made her competitive racing debut in October last year just…
Saudi female racing driver to make history by becoming first to compete in the Kingdom DUBAI: Reema Juffali will create history later this month at the Diriyah Circuit as the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in an international racing series in the Kingdom. Reema made her competitive racing debut in October last year just…
HONG KONG: Swiss bank UBS was fined HK$400 million ($51.09 million) by Hong Kong’s securities regulator for overcharging up to 5,000 clients for nearly a decade, the watchdog said on Monday.The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said in a statement that an investigation found UBS had overcharged clients on ‘post-trade spread increases’ and…
DUBAI: Amr Al-Madani is in no doubt about the significance of the AlUla heritage project he is heading up for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “It is our yellow oil,” he said — a reference to the sandy landscape in the northwest of the country, just over 100 km from the Red Sea coast. In fact,…
YOKOHAMA, Japan: Crisis-hit Japanese automaker Nissan Tuesday slashed its full-year forecast for both sales and profit as it struggles with weak demand in Japan, the US and Europe, as well as fallout from the arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn.Nissan downgraded its net profit forecast to ¥110 billion ($1 billion) for the fiscal year to…
MADRID: Spain’s Socialists and far-left Unidas Podemos party agreed on the basis of a coalition government on Tuesday, just two days after a parliamentary election delivered a highly fragmented parliament.The election — the country’s fourth in four years — left Spain’s parliament even more divided than a previous ballot in April, with the Spanish Socialist…
