BEIRUT - Lebanon has decided for the first time to establish diplomatic relations with the "state of Palestine," and has approved the opening of an embassy in Beirut. "The cabinet has approved the establishment of diplomatic relations with the state of Palestine," Information Minister Tarek Mitri said following a cabinet meeting late on Thursday. A Palestinian embassy would replace an office in Beirut representing the Palestine Liberation Organisation, ... Read more »

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah assured a group of Kuwaiti lawmakers on Wednesday that he will not dissolve parliament as a result of its showdown with the government. "We heard from the emir that he was keen for democracy and the national assembly and that it should complete its (four-year) term," speaker Jassem al-Khorafi told reporters after the meeting. "The National Assembly will continue with its business as usual," adde... Read more »

DUBAI - Shrugging off the global financial crisis, Dubai overnight toasted a new luxury hotel with a 20 million dollar bash attended by film stars and sporting greats and marked by a spectacular fireworks display.More than 2,000 world celebrities were invited to the event, which began Thursday night and continued into Friday.Among those who showed up for what the local press described as the "party of the decade" were Hollywood stars Robert de Niro, Cha... Read more »

VIENNA - Syria said Friday a building bombed by Israeli planes last year was not a covert nuclear reactor, as Washington stuck to its allegations."We are talking about military bases, we are talking about military activities," Ibrahim Othman, the head of Syria's Atomic Energy Commission, told reporters after IAEA inspectors briefed members about their first visit to the site in June.Earlier on Friday, the US envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agen... Read more »

ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Committee (ADSIC) launched Wednesday GIS Day in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Council. A multi-sector GIS Day event will be held in the region for the first time and will be broadly attended. It will bring together leaders, decision-makers, government exe... Read more »

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi's son Seif al-Islam discussed ways to improve US-Libyan ties and US human rights concerns, Rice told reporters Thursday.Rice met the younger Gathafi during his private visit to Washington, three weeks after Tripoli fulfilled a deal to compensate US victims of terrorism and cleared the last hurdle to a full normalization of ties with Washington."It was just fine. We had ... Read more »

ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi’s first permanent, public piece of sculpture was unveiled today outside of the Crown Prince’s Diwan by Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan – The Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority of Culture and Heritage; and Mohammed Khalaf al Mazroui – The Director General of ADACH. It has been gifted to the nation by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi reflecting the vision of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan President ... Read more »

RIYADH - Saudi share prices fell by nearly three percent on Saturday, the first trading day of the week.The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) dropped 2.87 percent to 5,327.81 points, with the key petrochemicals sector down by 2.87 percent and market leader SABIC losing 2.9 percent of its value.In the past three months SABIC stocks have plunged 55 percent.The banking sector was also down 3.05 percent as trading opened, with all other sectors in the red except for hotels... Read more »

KUWAIT CITY - Trading at the Kuwait Stock Exchange was halted on Thursday following a court order aimed at halting the market's slide and preventing massive losses among small investors.The bourse management said it decided to halt trade until Monday after receiving the court order, a move unprecedented in the history of the market which was established in the mid-1970s and is now the second largest in the Arab world."The administrative court ordered that trading be ... Read more »

NEW YORK - The United States has ended the war in Iraq and indicted President George W. Bush on treason charges, The New York Times reported Tuesday. OK, well not really.An elaborate spoof hit the streets of New York on Tuesday: a convincing fake of The New York Times announcing not just the withdrawal of troops from Iraq but a raft of other US liberal fantasies.Bush is indicted, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologizes that the fuss about Iraq's weapons of mas... Read more »