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ABU DHABI: The UAE central bank building in Abu Dhabi.
Most central banks in Gulf raise interest rates after Fed move
DUBAI: Most of the central banks of the Gulf region including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar raised their benchmark borrowing rates after the US Federal Reserve increased its key interest rate to tame inflation and maintain price stability. However, Kuwait’s Central Bank kept its discount rates unchanged. Most central banks in the six-member GCC bloc follow the Fed’s policy rate moves since their currencies are pegged to the...
DAMASCUS: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Damascus. – AFP
Iran’s Raisi, on Syria visit, urges anti-Zionist unity
DAMASCUS: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called Thursday for “resistance forces” to unite against Zionists on his second day in Syria - the first such visit to Tehran’s close ally in over a decade of war. Tehran has long provided logistical and military support to many factions fighting its arch-foe Zionist entity, including some Palestinian groups but also Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah - a major Damascus ally.Zionists carried out...
WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2023. --AFP
US Fed lifts interest rates again
WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate for a tenth time Wednesday in a move that could be the last in the current cycle if the economy cools sufficiently. The central bank embarked on an aggressive campaign of rate hikes in March last year to take aim at price increases. But more than a year later, inflation remains stubbornly above its long-term target of two percent. The latest quarter-point increase lifts the...
Japanese kabuki actor Maholo Terajima (left) practising in Tokyo.
Kabuki kids: The children of Japan’s traditional theatre
Like most 10-year-olds in Japan, Maholo Terajima enjoys baseball and video games, but recently his schedule has also included lessons in swordfighting, choreography and fan dancing - preparations for his kabuki debut.The French-Japanese child made his first appearance to rapturous applause this week under his new stage name, Onoe Maholo, at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za theatre, the storied home of the classical artform. He joins just a handful of children...
A Palestinian man counts stacks of banknotes at a currency exchange counter in the West Bank city of Ramallah. -- AFP
Palestinian economy faces ‘bleak’ outlook amid Zionist blockade
RAMALLAH: The World Bank warned the Palestinian economy faces a “bleak” outlook as Zionist entity continues its blockade of the Gaza Strip and has increased restrictions on the occupied West Bank. In a new report, the global lender commended efforts by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to slim its public wage bill but said the economies of the Gaza Strip and West Bank remain heavily dependent on foreign donor support and hindered by Zionist...
BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT: Paris Saint Germain’s (PSG) football club supporters gathered in front of the club’s headquarters to protest over PSG’s current form and the Messi saga on May 3, 2023. – AFP
PSG boosts security after protests target Neymar and Messi
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain have ordered extra security at the club’s training ground and at the homes of Lionel Messi and Neymar after protests by fans angry over recent results at the Ligue 1 leaders, sources close to the club told AFP on Thursday. Several hundred PSG supporters gathered outside club headquarters on Wednesday evening where they set off smoke flares and sang hostile chants about underperforming stars Messi, Neymar and Italian...
RIYADH: This handout picture provided by the Saudi Tourism Authority shows Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi holding a falcon in Riyadh. - AFP
PSG suspend Messi, future in doubt after Saudi trip
PARIS: Lionel Messi’s future at PSG was plunged into doubt on Wednesday after he was suspended by Paris Saint-Germain after travelling to Saudi Arabia without the club’s permission. A source with knowledge of the disciplinary procedure told AFP that Argentina’s 35-year-old World-Cup winning captain, who is out of contract at the end of the season, would be sidelined for “several days”, while various media in France reported that he...
MOMBASA: Members and worshipppers of the New Life Prayer Centre and Church sing and pray before the beginning of court case against televangelist Ezekiel Odero. – AFP
Kenya’s highest profile pastor in the dock over cult massacre
MOMBASA: One of Kenya’s highest profile pastors appeared in the dock on Thursday in connection with the horrific discovery last month of dozens of bodies in mass graves. Ezekiel Odero, a wealthy televangelist who boasts a huge following, is being investigated on a raft of charges including murder, aiding suicide, abduction, radicalization, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud and money laundering.Prosecutors accuse Odero of links to...
In this file photo Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, leaves at the end of the National Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen's reign at Saint Paul's Cathedral in London as part of Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations. –AFP photos
Coronation gown spotlights Queen Camilla’s style
In just a few days’ time, the eyes of Britain and millions more around the world will be on Camilla as she is crowned queen alongside her husband, King Charles III. “It’ll be the dress that will be the most talked about, it will be analyzed in every detail,” said Caroline Young, a writer specializing in fashion. While the design of Camilla’s gown is being kept under wraps, the 75-year-old queen consort commissioned British couturier...
MADRID: Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz returns the ball to Russia’s Karen Khachanov during their 2023 ATP Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles quarter-final match on May 3, 2023. – AFP
Alcaraz books Madrid Open semi-finals
MADRID: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday moved into the Madrid Open semi-finals with a straight sets victory over Karen Khachanov in his final match as a teenager, while Iga Swiatek reached the women’s last four. US Open winner Alcaraz, who turns 20 on Friday when the last-four ties are played, overturned 4-1 and 5-2 deficits in the second set to defeat 12th-ranked Khachanov, 6-4, 7-5.“Winning this match will give me a lot of...
Tori Bowie
Bowie mourned, remembered as a rare talent
LOS ANGELES: Tori Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist and 2017 100m world champion, was remembered Wednesday as a rare athletics talent and warm friend after her death at the age of 32. Bowie anchored the US team that won 4x100m relay gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she also earned silver in the 100m and 200m bronze. USA Track and Field and her management company confirmed her death a day after sheriff’s deputies in Orlando, Florida,...
KUWAIT: Chairman of the board of directors of Gulf Cables Asaad Al-Banwan (left)  and Vice Chairman Eng Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi during the general assembly meeting.
Gulf Cables to distribute cash dividend of 60 fils per share
KUWAIT: The Gulf Cables & Electrical Industries Group Co (KSCP) at its ordinary general assembly meeting approved the distribution of cash dividends of 60 fils per share to shareholders registered with the company in accordance with the rules in force at Boursa Kuwait. Chairman of the Board of Directors Asaad Al-Banwan said: “The company continued its successful path due to efforts by the executive management and based on the implementation of...