Kingdom —General News

THE HAGUE: The World Court will hear arguments on Monday in a dispute between India and Pakistan about a former Indian navy commander sentenced to death by Islamabad for allegedly being an intelligence agency spy.
The hearings come at a time of particularly strained relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors following a suicide attack on a convoy in Kashmir on Thursday that killed 44 Indian paramilitary policemen.

AMMAN: Jordan said Friday that two deadly explosions which rocked the Salt region northwest of the capital Amman were apparently linked to a militant cell.
A security source had previously told AFP that old mines were behind Thursday's blasts which killed a farmer and three members of the security forces.
But analysis of the site found the blasts were caused by "homemade explosives buried in the ground matching the type used by a terrorist cell in Al-Fuhais" last August, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat said.

JEDDAH: Tourism chiefs have been taking part in a major five-day Saudi campaign to help promote Indonesia as a top international holiday destination.
More than 165,000 Saudis visited the Southeast Asian country in 2018, and officials there are aiming to increase that number to 200,000 as part of a global visitor target of 20 million for this year.
From Feb. 11-15, the Indonesian Tourism Ministry has been working with its Consulate General in Jeddah to run a series of events in the Kingdom in a bid to boost the country’s tourist attractions.

BARCELONA: Spanish champions Barcelona announced Friday they have extended the contract of coach Ernesto Valverde for another season with the option of one more.

Valverde, who took over at the Nou Camp in 2017 after joining from Athletic Bilbao, won the league and cup double last season.

“FC Barcelona and Ernesto Valverde, the first team coach, have reached an agreement to extend the contract between the two parties for another season (2019/20) with the option for one more (2020/21),” the club said in a statement.

TOKYO: Myanmar's army chief, who is facing international calls that he be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, has denied any systematic army persecution and said such accusations were an insult to his country's honour.
In his first detailed interview since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown in 2017, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on U.N. estimates that some 730,000 Rohingya had fled to Bangladesh, and on their accounts of abuses by his forces, saying the refugees had been told what to say.

NEW DELHI: A hotel that caught fire in the Indian capital on Tuesday, killing 17 people, passed safety checks 14 months ago, but an investigation has revealed breaches of regulations, such as faulty alarms, prompting a mass reinspection of other hotels.
Poorly enforced regulations lead to thousands of deaths in fires across India every year and officials in New Delhi say an overstretched fire service is hampering safety efforts.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is expecting to sign two out of 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for the establishment of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Baluchistan’s deep-sea port city of Gwadar during the first state-level visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday, officials familiar with the matter told Arab News.

The deals will see Pakistan join hands with Saudi Aramco for the state-of-the-art facility worth $10 billion, with a groundbreaking ceremony expected to be performed early next year for the purpose.

CARACAS: Twenty-five countries have pledged $100 million in aid to Venezuela, a top US official said Thursday, as the crisis-hit country’s Supreme Court took aim at oil executives appointed by the opposition.
Venezuela is plagued by hyperinflation and major shortages of basic goods, and two men — opposition leader Juan Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro — are vying for control of the country.

TOKYO: Former Renault-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has beefed up his defense team ahead of his trial in Japan by hiring Junichiro Hironaka, a star lawyer with a strong track record for winning rare acquittals in a country where the conviction rate is 99 percent.
Another new attorney on his team, Hiroshi Kawatsu, is an expert on judicial reform who has studied and done research in the US
Ghosn, arrested Nov. 19, and charged with falsifying financial reports and breach of trust, says he is innocent.
Some of prominent cases Hironaka has won are:

DUBAI: Among the artefacts on show in the “Roads of Arabia” exhibition, on show for the final weekend at Louvre Abu Dhabi, is a photograph of a handsome young man.

He is an imposing figure, with chiseled features and his eyes hinting at a shrewd intelligence. His is the face of a man accustomed to command, a man who might change history — as indeed he did.

JEDDAH: Saudi women will be able to get property loans from the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), following a decision from its board of directors.
The move aims to support Saudi women in purchasing property, as well as increase the proportion of home-owning Saudis to 60 percent by the end of 2020 and to 70 percent by the end of 2030.
The REDF decision came during its first board meeting of 2019.
The board reviewed the updated number of people who have benefited from the mortgage loan program since early 2018, with the figure currently at 62,841.

WARSAW: The US on Thursday accused Iran of prolonging the war in Yemen with its support for the Houthis and called on Tehran to help make a ceasefire agreement a success.

Speaking to Arab News at the Middle East conference in Warsaw, Washington’s special represenative for Iran Brian Hook said there had been extensive discussion at the meeting of the war, which is now in its fifth year.