…ociety will accept this,” the official said. It is not the first time a Saudi monarch has backed a controversial reform against domestic opposition. King Faisal, who introduced television in the 1960s and was eventually assassinated, insisted on introducing education for girls. Today, Saudi women graduates outnumber their male counterparts. …
e strategy that develops every available source of American energy. (Applause.) A strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs. We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. (Applause.) And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. And I’…
en. The ministry of social affairs not only abuses women’s rights but is also one of the reasons poverty is rife in the kingdom. A corrupt system that lacks transparency has meant that more than 50% of our population is poor and needy even though we are one of the wealthiest countries on earth.” 5. The role of the Mahram (chaperone) “Women in Saudi cannot get around or travel without a mahra…
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Saudi Arabia will send two female athletes to compete in the London 2012 Games. Sarah Attar will compete in the 800 m and Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in the judo competition. The Saudi authorities lifted a ban on women from the Gulf kingdom competing in the Games last month. The public participation of women in sport is still fie…
t a possible terror plot, the official said, citing prior warnings about Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber who repeatedly tried to light a fuse in his shoe to bring down American Airlines flight 63 bound for Miami in December 2001. He also cited the 300-gram “ink-cartridge bombs” planted on two cargo planes headed for the US from Yemen in October 2010. Those explosives were intercepted in Du…
…out the type of headscarf she should wear jeopardized her place at the eleventh hour. The Games in London were also a first for Afghanistan, also bound by strict law, when Tahmina Kohistani ran in the 100m, despite months of harassment from men who believed she should not be allowed to compete. SHARIA LAW: HOW IT WORKS IN SOME ISLAMIC STATES Sharia Law is the moral code and religious law of…
…a "sorcerer" Abdul Hamid Bin Hussain Bin Moustafa al-Fakki, who was killed on September 20, is believed to have been the 44th person executed in Saudi Arabia this year – and the 11th foreign national. This year, a total of 17 people were executed in Saudi Arabia, which is more than for the whole of 2010. Lebanese TV host Ali Hussain Sibat, who was sentenced to death over mak…
uilding’s leasing office refused to comment on the suspect or his friends. But one said: “We are co-operating fully with the police.” However, other neighbors pointed to Boston’s role in the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks. Brothers Hamza and Ahmed Ghamdi spent their last four nights hiding out at hotels in nearby Cambridge before hijacking Flight 175 moments after take off from Boston’s Logan…
Thousands of Olympic athletes and officials are to begin arriving in London, as questions remain about recruitment of security staff. Preparations for London 2012 are intensifying with the opening ceremony just 11 days away. The first priority “Games Lane” has begun operation on the M4 and the Olympic drug testing lab starts work. Meanwhile, the chairman of G4S has refused to express…
ed the final medal table with 46 golds, followed by China with 38 golds. GB came third with 29 golds – their best tally since 1908. In all, 44 world records have been set during London 2012, and 117 Olympic records broken. Among those to have set new world bests included Kenyan David Rudisha in the men’s 800 m and the Jamaican sprint relay team, one of three golds during the Games for…
er was alive, but would not say whether he was in foreign custody, Peter King added. US officials said the device had been seized in an unspecified Middle Eastern country outside Yemen within the last 10 days. “As a result of close co-operation with our security and intelligence partners overseas, an improvised explosive device (IED) designed to carry out a terrorist attack has been seized a…
…y Egyptians who feel resentment at the kingdom’s treatment of Egyptians. But Saudi authorities say Ahmed al-Gizawi was found by airport officials to be carrying drugs – allegedly more than 20,000 anti-anxiety pills – in his luggage. They doubt Ahmed al- Gizawi was on a pilgrimage, as they say he was not wearing white pilgrims’ clothes. Observers say it is the worst diplomat…
he capital where trials in some events will be taking place such as cycling. The Olympic Games start on 27 July and run until 12 August 2012. The Paralympic Games begin on 29 August 20012 and close on 9 September 2012. During the London 2012 Olympic Games top sportsmen and women from across the world will be competing in 26 sports which break down into 39 disciplines. There are 20 sports in the Pa…
mmittee’s executive meeting in Quebec City. Doha and Baku were rejected for a second time in a row after failing to make the final list for the 2016 Games. The winning host city will be named on 7 September 2013 in Buenos Aires. The 15-member executive board, headed by IOC president Jacques Rogge, chose the finalists after examining a technical evaluation report compiled by a panel of Olympi…
gain and turn to sport once more to connect the world in a global celebration of achievement and inspiration.” In the stadium, it lit the London 2012 torch of Liverpool-born Greek world champion 10 km swimmer Spyros Gianniotis, who will carry it on the first leg of the relay around Greece. He passed it on to Alex Loukos, 19, the first British torchbearer, a boxer and, in 2005, one of a deleg…
m Palace reception for heads of state and government and an opening ceremony celebration concert featuring Snow Patrol, Stereophonics, Duran Duran and Paolo Nutini will be held in Hyde Park. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 nations will take part in the London Olympics, which has taken £9 billion ($14 billion) of public money to stage. In other developments: • Ticketing delays at St James’…
…flew over the stadium to the sound of the Bond theme tune, as two figures parachuted down, one dressed as the monarch. As if by magic, the Queen appeared in the stands – part of a crowd of about 80,000 – amid cheers. James Bond was not the only much-loved British character to take part. Mr. Bean prompted laughter when he appeared as part of the orchestra playing the Chariots of Fire th…
…ows that. “But look at what we’re capable of achieving as a nation, even at a difficult economic time.” Mitt Romney, who also met Labour leader Ed Miliband, later said outside Number 10: “I expect the Games to be highly successful.” In other developments: • Long queues outside St James’s Park in Newcastle meant some football fans missed the start of Mexico v Sou…
…c of the worldwide system, saying it effectively amounts to “double taxation” and leaves the US both at a competitive disadvantage, and as a bullyboy, on the world stage. “We are the 800 lbs [360kg] gorilla in the world economy, and we can bully other nations into helping enforce our bad tax law.” The tax burden may not be as heavy as it first appears, however, as there are…
f its contract. The company, by its own admission, stands to lose up to £50 million ($80 million) on the contract, worth a total of about £280 million ($445 million), after being unable to provide the 10,000 staff it had been contracted to deliver. Labour MP David Winnick, who sits on the MPs’ committee, said he wanted to know why G4S had not told the authorities earlier what was going on. &…
Scientists discovered that green tea can help mask the levels of testosterone in the body. The study found extracts contained in the beverage, reduced concentrations of the hormone by up to 30%. Olympic doping officials have now raised concerns that athletes could use tea to hide increased levels of testosterone from standard drugs tests. Testosterone is one of the oldest illegal steroids used in…
…ts with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen planned to attack a plane with a more sophisticated version of a bomb hidden in a passenger’s underwear, similar to one used in a failed 2009 attempt, Associated Press news agency reported. Officials told US media that the would-be bomber had been recruited by Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency and sent to Yemen where he infiltr…
Organizers LOCOG announce that more Olympic tickets will go back on sale after the row over empty seats. It said an initial 3,000 tickets – including 600 gymnastics tickets – were “put back into the pot” and sold on the London 2012 website on Sunday night. More tickets returned by sports federations would be released the night before events, LOCOG added. Transport chiefs s…
London Olympic Games organizers have received the Olympic flame at a handover ceremony beneath a rainbow in Athens, Greece. The President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, passed the flame to Princess Anne, president of the British Olympic Association in the Panathenaic Stadium. Lit in Olympia on 10 May, the flame was taken on a week-long tour of Greece. A British delegation inc…
…ph Lauren has designed US Olympic garb, lawmakers said the Chinese involvement had a symbolic impact, as the US anxiously searches for clues of renewed economic competitiveness. “Today there are 600,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in this country and the Olympic committee is outsourcing the manufacturing of uniforms to China?” said Steve Israel, a House Democrat. “That is not just…
Eurovision 2013: Russia calls Azerbaijan's failure to award any points as outrageous actionRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called Azerbaijan's failure to award any points to Russia's entry in this year’s Eurovision song contest as "outrageous". Sergei…
Brad Pitt says he felt he was wasting his life while married to Jennifer AnistonBrad Pitt has revealed he felt he was wasting his life on drugs while he was married to Jennifer Aniston. In yet another blow to his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt…
George Michael fell out of his car at 70 mph while travelling on a four-lane stretch of M1 motorwayAn M1 motorway driver has described the moment she nearly ran over George Michael as he lay covered in blood on the road after falling from his car at 70 mph. Katherine Fox,…
Lady Gaga is back in her favorite high heels after recovering from hip surgeryLady Gaga has been reunited with her favorite heels as she hit the town in New York in her trademark super high boots. Lady Gaga's re-emergence comes after she was seen…
Hilaria Baldwin joins husband Alec at Cannes Film Festival 2013 to promote his documentary Seduced and AbandonedAlec Baldwin famously lost his cool with film producer Harvey Weinstein at last year's Cannes film festival. But it appears that Alec Baldwin, 55, has managed to keep his…
Jennifer Lawrence wears blue body paint to portray X-Men's MystiqueJennifer Lawrence has hit the X-Men set like a bolt from the blue and her fans have been given a glimpse of the 22-year-old star in all her painted glory as she reprises her…
Dominique Venner: Suicide inside Notre-Dame de Paris
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Brad Pitt says he felt he was wasting his life while married to Jennifer Aniston
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Christie Brinkley poses in a swimsuit at 59
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn drop his kids off at school
George Michael fell out of his car at 70 mph while travelling on a four-lane stretch of M1 motorway
Lady Gaga is back in her favorite high heels after recovering from hip surgery
Travis Alexander home becomes tourist attraction
Carl Pistorius: Oscar Pistorius’ brother acquitted in Marietjie Barnard’s death case
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North Korea releases Chinese fishing crew
Efrain Rios Montt genocide and crimes against humanity conviction overturned
Hilaria Baldwin joins husband Alec at Cannes Film Festival 2013 to promote his documentary Seduced and Abandoned
Jennifer Lawrence wears blue body paint to portray X-Men’s Mystique
Oklahoma tornado kills at least 51 people as two entire schools flattened in Moore
Ray Manzarek dead: The Doors co-founder dies aged 74 after long battle with cancer
Christine White dies in a nursing home in Washington at the age of 86
Brazilian husband caught cheating wife as lover escapes from window
Travis Alexander case: Jodi Arias’ attorneys file motion for mistrial
Laura Fernee claims she is too pretty to work
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Macaulay Culkin at risk of lung cancer
Eurovision 2013: Azerbaijan inquiry into “nul points” for Russia
Oscar Pistorius will not compete in 2013
Kate Middleton has a Marilyn Monroe dress blow up moment at William van Cutsem wedding
Iraq: At least 54 people killed in series of car bomb attacks in Baghdad, Basra and Samarra