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Saudi finalizes drone regulation after security alarm

Saudi Arabia was finalizing regulation for the use of recreational drones, state media said Sunday, after a toy aircraft sparked security alarm as it hovered close to royal palaces in Riyadh. "The regulation for the use of remote controlled drones is in its final stages," the Saudi...

Saudi king was not in palace during drone incident: Saudi official

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was not present in his palace in Riyadh on Saturday when security forces shot down a toy drone in the area, a senior Saudi official told Reuters. “The king was at his farm in Diriya,” the official said, naming another area of the...

Red Cross worker killed in southern Yemen: spokesman

A Red Cross employee was killed in Yemen's southern city of Taez on Saturday, an ICRC spokesman said. "One of our colleagues was killed by an armed man in Taez city," Sanaa-based Red Cross official Adnan Hizam told AFP. Most of Taez is government-controlled, but many parts of...

Qatar, UK navies conduct joint drills in Arabian Gulf

The Qatari Navy on Thursday took part in joint naval drills with the British Royal Navy in Qatari territorial waters, Qatar’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The drills were conducted within the framework of “longstanding defense cooperation between the two friendly countries...

Saudi Arabia to host cinema test screening with 'Black Panther'

Blockbuster action flick "Black Panther" will play at a cinema test screening in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, the first in a series of trial runs before movie theatres open to the wider public next month. The conservative kingdom lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas last year as part of a...

Yemen govt accuses Iran of arming Houthis with drones

The Yemeni government Saturday accused Iran of supplying Houthi rebels with drones used for cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia. Riyadh said Wednesday it had shot down two drones in the south of the kingdom as well as intercepting ballistic missiles fired from rebel-held parts of...

France to help Saudi Arabia set up orchestra, opera

France is to help Saudi Arabia set up a national orchestra and opera, a minister announced Monday, a further sign of major cultural changes underway in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom. "Today an agreement was signed with the Paris Opera to help Saudi Arabia set up a national...

Saudi detainees may face terrorism-focused courts: newspaper

Dozens of Saudi detainees caught up in a government anti-graft crackdown could be referred to courts specialized in cases of national security and terrorism, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday. They include individuals who refused to agree to confidential settlements with the...

Houthis fire missile at Saudi Aramco tanks

Yemen’s armed Houthi movement launched a missile at storage tanks belonging to oil giant Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan province Wednesday, said Yemeni state news agency Saba, which is controlled by the group. Saudi air defenses shot down a missile in the skies...

Macron urged to pressure Saudi prince over Yemen war

Ten international rights groups called on French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to pressure Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over his country's bombing campaign in Yemen. Macron is set to host Prince Mohammed for a three-day trip to France starting Sunday, the latest stop...

Saudi coalition says Yemeni rebels attack Red Sea oil tanker

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea Tuesday, causing "minor damage" to the ship, the Saudi-led coalition battling the rebels said. Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the attack occurred at 1:30 p.m. (10:30 GMT) in international waters west of the...

UN chief urges Yemeni sides for political settlement

The UN secretary-general on Tuesday urged warring sides in Yemen for a political settlement. Speaking at a high-level pledging conference in Geneva held to discuss the crisis in Yemen, Antonio Guterres asked donor countries to provide nearly $3 billion in aid to the country where...

Air raid kills 16 near Yemen port of Hudaida: security sources

An air strike near the Yemeni port of Hudaida Monday killed 16 people in a building where Houthi rebels were gathering, security sources told AFP. There were conflicting reports on the number of rebels versus civilians killed in the strike which was believed to have been carried...

Death sentence for Lebanese man and his Syrian wife in Kuwait killing

A Kuwaiti court Sunday sentenced in absentia a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife to death by hanging over the murder of a Filipina maid, a judicial source said. The court issued the sentence in the first hearing in the case of Joanna Demafelis, the 29-year-old maid whose body was found...

Major fire at Yemen's Hodeidah port destroys aid supplies

A fire broke out at the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port of Hodeidah early Saturday, destroying warehouses filled with cooking fuel and foodstuffs, port workers said. They told Reuters that, as of 1100 GMT, fire trucks had not been able to put out the blaze in the warehousing area, which they...

Saudi forces say intercept Houthi missile over Najran

Saudi air defense forces intercepted a missile fired by Houthi fighters in neighbouring Yemen at the southern city of Najran on Saturday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported. Al Arabiya gave no further details. The Houthi-run Saba news agency earlier said a ballistic missile was...

Iran supplying weapons to Houthi rebels: Le Drian

France on Thursday accused Iran of supplying weapons to Houthi rebels fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. "There is a problem in Yemen, it is that the political process has not begun, that Saudi Arabia feels regularly attacked by the Houthis, who are themselves supplied with arms...

Yemen army releases 9 rebels in prisoner swap: Houthis

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group on Wednesday announced the release of nine of their fighters captured earlier by pro-government forces in a prisoner exchange. Yemen’s Houthi-run SABA news agency reported that the nine captured fighters had been freed in a prisoner swap carried out...