Author: News Desk

The Customs Intelligence Department and Jebel Ali Customs Center in Dubai thwarted an attempt to smuggle 251.2 kg of crystal meth and 6.4 kg of heroin, with an estimated market value of Dh25 million. The operation was nicknamed “Gear Box” – the illegal drugs were concealed inside used vehicle spare parts. Despite the fact that the drugs were hidden carefully – a press release from the authorities stated – the inspectors uncovered the illegal shipment using a combination of tools including an in-house smart detection system and a canine unit. The shipment owner added different types and sizes of spare parts,…

The Los Angeles Opera has declined to release any details of its promised investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against opera legend Placido Domingo, the company’s longtime general director, including whether it has already started. The union that represents opera singers said on Friday that it plans a meeting in Los Angeles next week to address its members’ concerns ahead of the LA company’s season opener September 14. Len Egert, the executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, said that the union has been receiving its own reports from members since an AP story earlier this week detailing…

Flags of both Pakistan and India were projected onto the Burj Khalifa on Friday night to mark each country’s Independence Day, which fell on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, respectively. Indians and Pakistanis are the largest expat communities in the UAE and both countries have long-standing and close ties with the UAE. Celebrating 73 years since independence from British rule in 1947, the Pakistan flag was first projected onto the skyscraper at 8.42pm, followed by the India flag at 8.44pm. Numerous events were held at both country’s embassies and consulates during the week, but Friday gave citizens of both…

Donald Trump said Friday that tech giant Apple would be spending “vast sums” of money in the US in a tweet ahead of a dinner meeting with its CEO Tim Cook. The men have had several informal meetings before, including at Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump is reportedly on a working holiday at his golf course. “Having dinner tonight with Tim Cook of Apple. They will be spending vast sums of money in the U.S. Great!” he tweeted at around 7 pm local time. The president’s latest missive comes after a gaffe in March when he referred to Cook as…

Cradling her one-year-old daughter in a house in southern Myanmar, 22-year-old Nu Nu Aye recalled the reasons her husband gave for beating her. She hadn’t looked after his rooster. In a meeting brokered by a village elder, he said he would beat her when “necessary”. “His abuse got worse after that,” she said. Finally, he tried to strangle her while she was sleeping. In Myanmar, where the US-funded Demographic and Health Survey suggested at least one-fifth of women are abused by a partner – figure activists say is likely an underestimate because many cases are not reported there is no…

Brazil’s backsliding on Amazon conservation under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and a likely Peronist return to power in Argentina could delay or even derail ratification of an EU-Mercosur trade agreement that took two decades to negotiate. Deforestation has surged since Bolsonaro’s election last year. His plans to develop the Amazon and moves to weaken rainforest protection have alarmed environmentalists and given ammunition to European opponents of the trade deal with the South American common market. Two former Brazilian environment ministers, Jose Sarney Filho, and Izabella Teixeira said Bolsonaro has rapidly undermined Brazil’s hard-won reputation as a responsible food producer and…

The death toll in five flood-affected states rose to 241 on Friday, with authorities retrieving seven more bodies in Kerala as floodwaters receded from several parts of the worst-hit state, while five casualties were reported from Rajasthan. Over 4,000 people have been moved to relief camps in Guntur and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh as the Krishna River is in spate, causing floods and affecting normal life, even as the weather improved in flood-hit western Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, allowing authorities to speed up rescue and relief operations. So far 111 people have died in rain-related incidents in Kerala, 70…

A 25-year-old married woman from Delhi allegedly killed herself by jumping in front of a metro train at a Yellow Line station on Friday, officials said. The incident, which delayed the services on the busy corridor for some time, took place at Adarsh Nagar metro station in the morning, according to a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC)official. The woman, identified as Anita, got hit by the train that was going towards Vishwavidyalaya Station from Jahangirpuri station. “A Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) inquiry has been ordered,” a senior police official said. The Yellow Line connects Jahangirpuri station in northwest Delhi to Huda…

The White House has advanced a proposal to sell US$8 billion worth of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a move that would likely anger strategic rival Beijing, a senior US senator confirmed Friday (Aug 16). Marco Rubio, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, called the administration’s decision to forward Taiwan’s request for 66 F-16s to Congress for approval “an important step in support of Taiwan’s self-defense efforts.” “As the Chinese government and Communist Party seeks to extend its authoritarian reach in the region, it is critical that the United States continue to enhance our strategic relationship with…

Greenland on Friday dismissed the notion that it might be up for sale after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had privately discussed with his advisers the idea of buying the world’s biggest island. “We are open for business, but we’re not for sale,” Greenland’s foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters. Trump is due to visit Copenhagen in September and the Arctic will be on the agenda during meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. ‘We’re not for sale’, says Greenland’s foreign minister Talk of a Greenland purchase was first reported by the…