A woman has been appointed to run a Saudi Arabian bank in a first for women in the country. Saudi businesswoman Lubna Al Olayan will chair a new bank being formed out of a merger between the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank.   The move comes amid a liberalisation of women’s roles in a traditionally conservative society.   ...

Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) confirmed that the death toll in the earthquake and tsunami that struck Indonesia’s Sulawesi islands rose to 1,558 on Friday, reports ANI. A BNPB spokesperson revealed that over 1,000 people might still be missing in the region, as rescue dogs have been utilised to help expedite rescue missions.   Meanwhile, the United Nations allocated ...

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have rejected the possibility of Stormont having a say over what kind of backstop may emerge if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit Proposals being worked on by the British government are said to include some kind of role for MLAs. Sinn Féin and the SDLP said they oppose this. Earlier the parties, along with ...

Photo: A Kashmiri man cries as the body of a relative is carried on a stretcher outside a local hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Srinagar, Oct 5 : Suspected rebels on Friday shot and killed two activists affiliated with a pro-India Kashmiri political group in the disputed region’s main city, officials said, as authorities prepared ...

Samsung Electronics expects to post record operating profit in the third quarter, helped by strong demand for its memory chips. The South Korean electronics giant is forecasting operating profits of around 17.5 trillion won ($15.5bn; £11.9 bn), up 20.4% from a year ago.   The guidance is above analyst estimates for the period, boosted by its thriving chip business.   ...

A court in India’s capital Delhi has acquitted the host of a popular TV crime series who had been jailed for murdering his wife in 2000. The Delhi High Court judge said there was no evidence that Suhaib Ilyasi, who fronted India’s Most Wanted, had stabbed his wife Anju Ilyasi to death.   Mr Ilyasi was jailed for life in ...

Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. Photo: Courtesy Oslo, Oct 5 : The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” The winners were named Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Congolese doctor Mukwege has been a critic of ...

Authorities in South Africa are investigating a collision between two trains that left more than 300 people injured, 32 of them seriously. The crash occurred late Thursday on the outskirts of Johannesburg when one train hit another that was stationary. Rail officials were working on Friday to clear the area.   Commuter rail crashes have been worryingly common in South ...

President Vladimir Putin was expected Friday to sign a deal in India worth more than $5 billion for the S-400 air defence system, despite US warnings of sanctions against countries buying Russian military hardware. Putin, who arrived in New Delhi late Thursday, was also set to discuss with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi further agreements worth some $3 billion for ...

Apple and Amazon are among US companies and agencies who have had data stolen by Chinese spies, claims Bloomberg. The data had been siphoned off via tiny chips inserted on server circuit boards made by a company called Super Micro Computer, reported the news agency.   The servers had been compromised during manufacturing and the chips activated once they were ...