Thu, 12/09/2010 - 22:41 by harsheeb
Muscat -- An Italian style opera house is under construction in Muscat, Oman, Iman Hindawi, director-general of the Royal Opera House, said.
In an interview with Middle East Online, Hindawi said she hopes construction of the 16th century style building will be completed for the official opening next October.
Oman's music loving Sultan Qaboos initiated the project in 2001, the Web site said.
The initial concept was drawn up by Theatre Projects Consultants of Great Britain and the architectural firm Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo, Hindawi said.
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Sat, 11/27/2010 - 05:39 by harsheeb
Dubai -- Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter posted bogey-free rounds Friday and share the lead at the halfway point of the European Tour's Dubai World Championship.
Fisher tied the Jumeirah Golf Estates course record with an 8-under-par 64 and went from a tie for 17th into first place. Poulter opened with four consecutive birdies en route to a 6-under 66. They are at 9-under 135 after 36 holes.
Lee Westwood, who shot 5-under 67, is in third at 8-under and Paul Casey (67), Martin Kaymer (70) and Thongchai Jaidee (69) are tied for fourth two strokes behind the leaders.
First-round leader Robert Karlsson fell back in to a tie for 12th with a 75,
10 strokes worse than his opening round.
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Thu, 10/28/2010 - 08:06 by harsheeb
Washington -- Ireland's top bookie is so confident Republicans will take control of the U.S. House he says he's already paid off bettors who put their money on the GOP.
"In our opinion this race is well and truly over with nothing short of a miracle stopping the Republicans taking down the House," said Ken Robertson, communications manager for Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker.
Robertson said with the 1 to 50 odds it made no sense to keep taking bets, meaning it would take $50 to win an additional $1.
Bookies Power and Victor Chandler give Democrats 2 to 9 odds to keep control of the Senate, The Washington Times said Wednesday.
Copyright 2010 United Press International
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Sat, 10/09/2010 - 21:23 by harsheeb
Abu Dhabi -- United Arab Emirate regulators said BlackBerry smart phone services would run uninterrupted, having settled an disagreement with the phone's manufacturer.
The UAE's Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and Research in Motion, the Canadian smart phone maker, had disagreed over the encrypted data used by the phones. The TRA had threatened to suspend BlackBerry use in the country starting Oct. 11, calling the phone a security risk, the Khaleej Times reported Saturday.
RIM has agreed to comply with UAE's rules, the newspaper said.
The confrontation ended with a TRA announcement. "All BlackBerry service in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur," the regulator said.
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Sun, 10/03/2010 - 06:34 by harsheeb
Baghdad -- The International Monetary Fund agreed to provide Iraq with a $741 million loan, citing the country for its economic stability.
The loan is part of a $3.7 billion loan that has been agreed to in principle, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday.
The IMF said, "Iraq has continued to make good progress in rebuilding key economic institutions and maintaining macroeconomic stability, under very difficult circumstances."
About 90 percent of Iraq's income comes from its oil industry. It is struggling to rebuild, however, after seven years of armed conflict.
Copyright 2010 United Press International,
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Fri, 09/10/2010 - 22:39 by harsheeb
Dubai -- Dubai World said Friday it had reached deals with creditors to restructure the vast majority of its debt and would close on the new terms soon.
Before debt issues in Greece rattled investor confidence in Europe this spring, the possibility of default on Dubai World's debt shook markets around the globe. Dubai World is the state-run investment mechanism in Dubai.
The investment company representing Dubai World's interest said, however, that it had agreed on terms to restructure $24.9 billion in debt, 99 percent of its loans, The New York Times reported Friday.
A committee representing 90 lenders tentatively agreed to terms that include a $4.4 billion payment in five years, followed by a $10 billion payment 10 years from now.
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Thu, 07/29/2010 - 06:40 by harsheeb
BalbrigganA -- An Irish 5-year-old was awarded $9,700 from a grocery store in an out-of-court settlement concerning false accusations of stealing a bag of chips.
The family of Tadhg Mooney, 6, of Balbriggan, said a Lidl worker grabbed the boy by the arm June 24, 2009, when the boy was 5 years old, and falsely imprisoned him at the store on accusations of stealing a bag of chips, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.
The lawsuit, which alleged defamation of character on the part of Lidl Ireland, was settled out of court for $9,700.
Copyright 2010 United Press International
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Sat, 05/15/2010 - 12:56 by Pankaj Damin
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates -- The creator of a machine that dispenses gold in exchange for cash at a United Arab Emirates hotel said his invention was an instant hit.
Thomas Geissler of Germany, chief executive of Ex Oriente Lux and creator of the "Gold to Go" machine, said the first of the machines, installed at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, offers 320 gold items, including bars and coins, in exchange for cash, the Daily Mail reported Friday.
He said the machine, which uses a computer system to adjust its prices in accordance with international markets every 10 minutes, was instantly popular at the hotel.
"On the first night we had a lot of demand," Geissler said. "One customer even bought one item of every product we have."
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Sat, 05/01/2010 - 12:03 by Pankaj Damin
Essendon, Australia h-- A former Australian drug kingpin, killed in prison last week, was buried Friday in oversized gold casket valued at $30,000.
Carl Williams, who was beaten to death last week in Barwon Prison, where he was serving the third year of a life sentence, was buried Friday in the gold casket at Keilor Cemetery in Essendon, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.
Williams' family followed the hearse to the cemetery Friday in a black stretch Hummer.
Williams was convicted of four murders and was a suspect in at least six others.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
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Sun, 02/28/2010 - 09:21 by Rakhi
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Defending champ Novak Djokovic of Serbia will have to wait to complete his Dubai Tennis Championships finals match after rain halted play Saturday.
The second-seeded Djokovic was leading Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 2-0 when play was stopped after 79 minutes. The final was set to resume Sunday.
After losing serve to Youzhny in the first set, he stormed back to take the first set 7-5 with a break of serve in the 12th game. The Serb then notched the first two games of the second set with another service break before the rains came.
Some saw the delay as benefiting Youzhny, perhaps giving him a chance to regroup.
The Russian was the 2007 runner-up at Dubai to Roger Federer.
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Fri, 02/26/2010 - 12:57 by Rakhi
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Defending champion Novak Djokovic came from behind Thursday in qualifying for the semifinals of the $2.2 million Dubai Tennis Championships.
Djokovic had his serve broken twice in the first set but not afterward in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Ivan Ljubicic. The second set was even until a late break by Djokovic and the Serb dominated the third set, allowing Ljubicic just 11 points, including three on Djokovic's serve.
Djokovic, the tournament's No. 2 seed, will meet Marcos Baghdatis in Friday's semifinals. Baghdatis was a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, winner over Michael Berrer in the quarterfinals, piling up 11 aces and not facing a break point in the match.
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Thu, 02/25/2010 - 20:03 by Samia Sehgal
A massive aquarium containing thousands of sea animals in Dubai developed a leak, forcing The Dubai Mall to be partly evacuated on Thursday. Water was seen gushing out of the tank, but animals in the aquarium were said to be safe.
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