MANILA — At least four people have been killed and 17 are missing after a building under construction collapsed in the Philippines, authorities say as search and rescue efforts are under way. Rescuers retrieved at least three people on Monday from the rubble of the nine-story building in the city of Angeles, around 80 km north of the capital, Manila. Rescuers were racing against time on Monday in a search for possible survivors more than 24 hours after the collapse of the building/ The painstaking operation, with crews carefully removing rocks and surrounding debris by hand, underscored the difficulty of…
Author: Editorial Team
Schools across the UAE are becoming more flexible with tuition fee payment plans as parents increasingly opt for monthly instalments instead of large upfront payments. The shift comes as institutions explore partnerships with fintech platforms such as Tabby to improve school fee collection while offering parents greater financial flexibility. The partnership aims to integrate payment flexibility into existing infrastructure and improve fee collection. This is likely to reduce delays and provide institutions with more predictable cash flow. For parents, the goal is to shift from large upfront payments to structured plans that fit monthly budgets. Explaining the approach, Zarik Nabi,…
Consumers in the UAE are becoming increasingly selective about the origins and production standards of chicken products, and scrutinising if they meet higher standards for quality and food safety, according to retailers and producers backing Abu Dhabi’s new Premium Food Mark initiative. The government-backed “Premium Mark” certification, which will appear directly on chilled chicken packaging from June, is designed to help shoppers instantly identify locally produced poultry that exceeds baseline regulatory standards while strengthening the competitiveness of UAE-made products against imported premium brands. “We believe consumers today are becoming far more conscious about the quality, origin, freshness, and overall standards…
MINA — The National Center for Meteorology (NCM) called on pilgrims to follow preventive guidelines, especially during the midday hours from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, to help mitigate the effects of high temperatures at the holy sites. NCM spokesperson Hussein Al-Qahtani explained that weather conditions and temperatures are continuously monitored through the center’s monitoring stations distributed across the holy sites. He noted that this aims to provide relevant authorities with accurate meteorological data and support decision-making, thereby enhancing the safety and well-being of pilgrims. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health urged pilgrims to take preventive measures to reduce health risks…
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing’s “unbreakable” friendship with Pakistan as he met on Monday visiting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, seeking to deepen their “all-weather” partnership. Pakistan is among an exclusive group of countries China regards as an “all-weather strategic partner”, with ties featuring close economic, trade and security cooperation. Greeting Sharif at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi called the Pakistani leader an “old friend” and said the two countries had “understood, trusted and supported each other” over decades, forging an “unbreakable traditional friendship.” “No matter how the international situation changes, China always prioritizes the development…
Children should not be allowed to open the door for deliveries without adult permission or supervision, a Sharjah child safety authority has said as it urged parents to set clear rules for the use of delivery and online shopping apps at home. The Child Safety Organisation, affiliated with the Sharjah Family and Community Council, said in a message on Monday that children may not always be able to assess a situation or know when adult intervention is needed. The organisation urged parents to ensure children do not place online orders, make payments or share home addresses through delivery and shopping…
RIYADH — Jasem Albudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), expressed his strong condemnation and denunciation of the irresponsible statements made by Naim Qassem, secretary general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, concerning the internal affairs of Bahrain. Qassem’s statements were also pertaining to the measures undertaken by the Bahrain government against individuals who committed crimes against their country and whose involvement in espionage activities together with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has been established. These individuals were found to have plotted to carry out terrorist and hostile acts against Bahrain as well as to undermine its interests, he pointed out.…
JEDDAH — The skies above Makkah will witness the phenomenon of the sun aligning directly over the Holy Kaaba on Thursday, May 28, at approximately 12:18 PM Makkah time. Jeddah Astronomy Society Director Eng. Majed Abu Zahra described the phenomenon as a precise astronomical event that attracts wide interest among those seeking to determine the Qibla direction. He noted that it provides a direct opportunity to verify geographical and astronomical calculations without complex instruments, occurring when the sun reaches its apparent position directly above the Holy Kaaba and its rays fall nearly perpendicular to it. Abu Zahra stated that at…
Amid soaring temperatures and emotional reunions, thousands of UAE pilgrims arriving in Makkah for this year’s Hajj say the spiritual experience has already outweighed the physical exhaustion of the journey. With pilgrims preparing to head to the holy sites in the coming hours, many described their first moments in the holy city as overwhelming, emotional, and deeply moving, especially those traveling with family. For Emirati pilgrims Fatima Al Mansoori and Maryam Al Mansoori, the journey to Hajj began long before arriving in Makkah on May 20, ahead of the annual pilgrimage season. Stay up to date with the latest news.…
MINA — Pilgrims have completed their arrival at Mina to spend the Day of Tarwiyah on Monday, amid a spiritual atmosphere, in preparation for next day’s standing at Arafat, the climax of the annual pilgrimage of Hajj. The entrances to Mina witnessed a high level of crowd-flow efficiency, with field monitoring by various security, health, and service sectors, which mobilized their capabilities to receive pilgrims and provide them with the necessary care from the moment they arrived at the designated camps. The Day of Tarwiyah is considered a key stage in the Hajj rituals, during which pilgrims head to Mina…