Iramb Zusha

(CNN)The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the Saudi government's denials that the de facto ruler was involved, according to a senior US official and a source familiar with the matter. The senior US official told CNN on Friday the conclusion is based on a recording provided by the Turkish government and other evidence, including American intelligence. The sources told CNN that the CIA based its assessment on available intelligence, as opposed to any specific smoking gun-type of evidence. Investigators also believe an operation such as the one that ended in Khashoggi's death would not have happened without bin Salman's knowledge given his control of the government, the senior US official said. A Saudi Embassy spokeswoman said in a statement that "the claims in this purported assessment are false. We have and continue to hear various theories without seeing the primary basis...

Inadequacies of the Modi government may have left no option but play the Hindu card The chief minister of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Yogi Adityanath, has lived up to his reputation as a Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) hawk. His attitude has not mellowed after ascending to power. Instead, he has used his political clout to state that Hindu symbols and signs are of overriding importance. Hence, the concept of a huge statue of Rama on the banks of the Saryu, the wholehearted support to the Ram temple movement and the erasure of Muslim names of towns. Starting with the renaming of the Mughal Sarai railway junction, familiar to countless travellers, after a person who is little known outside the Hindutva camp — Deen Dayal Upadhyay — the Adityanath government has been energetically changing the names of other places as well. These include Allahabad, which has become Prayagraj, Faizabad is now Ayodhya, and Muzaffarnagar, which may soon be called Laxmi Nagar if the government a...

Dubai: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is coming to the UAE on Sunday, November 18, for the second time in two months. A highly-placed official at Pakistan’s Ministry of Information told Gulf News that Premier Imran will be in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet the UAE leadership to seek the financial assistance as part of his continuous campaign to salvage his country’s economic situation. The PM and his economic team are expected to hold meetings with the UAE leadership and officials, the Ministry official confirmed. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has already arrived in the UAE and he held meeting with his UAE counterpart, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the 9th Sir Bani Yas Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (today). Details of the agreements between the UAE and Pakistan are likely to be announced on Sunday.Shaikh Abdullah has also visited Pakistan early this month as part of the ongoing talks on economic package with Pakistan, a top official told...

The passport moved up four positions in just over a month; it was ranked 8th most powerful in September this year Dubai: The UAE passport has moved four positions up to become the fourth most powerful passport in the world. The UAE passport was ranked at number eight in September this year According to the updated ranking on Passport Index, the UAE passport was ranked as the fourth best travel document, thanks to ease of travel to 159 countries. Emirati passport holders are allowed to travel to 162 countries without a pre-entry visa. Only a couple of years ago, Emirati citizens could travel visa-free to 88 countries. “The UAE is the fastest-growing passport in the history of passports,” said Armand Arton, founder and president of Arton Capital. “For such a young country this is an exceptional achievement and all Emiratis should be proud of that. Rather than the need to look for second citizenships, UAE citizens already have the strongest passport in the Arab world and th...

UAE to amend retail-banking rules Under the new rule, the bank set new terms and conditions for the transfer of personal loans or personal finance Abu Dhabi: The UAE Central Bank has decided to amend retail-banking rules related to personal loan and other services provided to individuals. Under the new rule, the bank set new terms and conditions for the transfer of personal loans or personal finance from one bank or a finance company to another. As per the rule, banks and finance companies are obligated to reduce the interest rate, not increasing the period of loans and other facilities for retail loans, which will be given to individual customers after the issuance of the new amendment. The move came after a decision issued by the bank’s board and was published in the official gazette. As per Federal Law No 10 of 1980 concerning the Central Bank, the monetary system and regulation of the banking profession, and after having reviewed its thereof and regulation No...

Large number of applicants and slow procedures at some embassies prompt government to extend amnesty period for a month Abu Dhabi: The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (FAIC) announced on Tuesday that the visa amnesty will be extended for one more month. The authority said that the heavy turnout of undocumented residents at the diplomatic missions of the foreign countries and Amnesty Centres and slow procedures at some of the diplomatic missions of foreign countries have prompted the government to extend the amnesty. The authority had earlier announced a three-month long amnesty from August 1 to October 31, which would now be extended to December 1. The extension will provide more time for the amnesty-seekers to regularise their residency status to stay in the country or leave without paying fines or getting an entry ban.Brigadier Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, acting director-general for Foreigners Affairs and Ports at the FAIC, said the authorities will not offer ...

                                              Video: Rare waterspout spotted off RAK National Centre of Meteorology posts video of massive funnel cloud hovering over water on Tuesday Dubai A rare fair-weather waterspout swirled across coastal waters off Ras Al Khaimah late Tuesday morning, said the national weather bureau. The National Centre of Meteorology in Abu Dhabi posted an eyewitness video of the waterspout air-and-water column moving swiftly along coastal waters appearing to have dropped out of the storm clouds that have draped the north eastern reaches of the UAE since Sunday bringing heavy rains.There were no reports of any injuries on Tuesday morning from boats that may have been in the area. The funnel cloud appears to have extended several thousand feet into low-level clouds. Mohammad Al Khajeh, a national weather forecaster, confirmed the ...

Wheelchair-bound Shobhika Kalra, who has helped build over 1,000 ramps across UAE, is now creating a database to identify more locations Dubai: Dubai-based Shobhika Kalra may be wheelchair-bound, but she makes sure she stays ahead of the game. The 28-year-old, who has helped build over 1,000 ramps across the UAE, is set to raise the bar and rope in as many people as she can to identify more places that need to be wheelchair-friendly. “As part of this campaign, we’re launching an app Wings of Angelz, named after our social initiative, to build a database of places that urgently require ramps. So far, whatever we’ve done has been project-specific and based on one-off inputs. We are now taking the initiative to the next level.” That is no empty talk, considering Kalra has come a long way. The Indian expat, who suffers from a rare degenerative muscular disorder called Friedreich Ataxia, said dealing with challenges has been a way of life for her. Turning point A topp...

FNC passes new law to ensure privacy of patient’s data by all medical and health care professionals, and facilities Abu Dhabi: Publishing a medical advertisement without a licence will attract a fine of between Dh100,000 and Dh200,000, according to a new Federal Bill passed yesterday (Tuesday) by the Federal National Council. The new legislation also prohibits handling, transferring or storing of medical records and health information outside the country. Those who violate this article will face a fine ranging between Dh500,000 and Dh700,000. Punitive measures against health facilities which violate the law will range from written notice, written warning, to a fine between Dh1,000 and Dh1 million through to temporary suspension and cancelling of permission to use the central information system. Members of the Federal National Council yesterday passed the draft law on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in health care facilities across the count...