RIYADH: The deputy governor of the Makkah Region Prince Saud bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz handed over the Kaaba’s Kiswa to the gatekeeper of the holy site on Monday, Saudi Press Agency reported. The hand-over was signed off by Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and the deputy chief gatekeeper Abdul Malik bin Taha Al-Shaibi. The Kaaba will be adorned with its new Kiswa on Muharram 1, the stat of the new Islamic year.

MAKKAH: The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) has developed the Smart Makkah Operations Center (Smart Moc) to ensure the safety and comfort of Hajj pilgrims and facilitating their movement and the services provided to them, Saudi Press Agency reported. The operations center uses the latest technologies based on AI techniques to do so, SPA added.

JEDDAH: During the pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah, devout Muslims seek out sites that deepen their understanding of Islam and its rich heritage. The historical sites and archaeological museums in Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Madinah Al-Munawara offer a profound educational experience to millions of visitors from around the world who flock to the two holy cities each year. After completing their religious rites, such as Umrah and Tawaf, and paying their respects at the Haram, pilgrims yearn to immerse themselves in the history of Makkah and Madinah.

It appears Alberta's coal power era has come to an end. If confirmed, it's a notable milestone, as the province used to rely on coal for the majority of the electricity on its grid.

Dario G, real name Paul Spencer, took to social media last summer to reveal that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 rectal cancer.

A Royal Marine trainee, Connor Clark, 18, from Norwich, who was found dead on a railway line just weeks into his initial training believed he was the 'worst recruit', an inquest has heard.

Jasvinder Gill abused his 'position of authority and influence' at the firm and pursued sexual relationships with multiple women, a tribunal found.

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital when she went into labour unexpectedly - 15 weeks early - in February 2016.

Yesterday Christine Lee appeared at the High Court wearing a silver cross as she launched a legal bid for compensation.

Moscow and Pyongyang are on the same side in the fight for more democracy and stability in international relations, Vladimir Putin has said Read Full Article at RT.com

US government has rebuked Hanoi for hosting a state visit this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin Read Full Article at RT.com

Russia intends to build better ties with Pyongyang, free from Western pressure, Vladimir Putin has said ahead of his visit to the DPRK Read Full Article at RT.com

NATO’s Stoltenberg calls for imposing a “cost” on China for supplying key components to Russia during Moscow’s conflict with Ukraine Read Full Article at RT.com

Kiev has to “win the war” with Moscow to join the US-led military bloc, the White House has said Read Full Article at RT.com

Hugh Broom, National Farmers' Union's South East livestock chairman, said although the footage looked 'horrendous', officers probably 'did the right thing at the time'.

Wood Green Crown Court heard how the singer, 36, had 'a kink' of wanting to have sex with sleeping women and allegedly filmed himself fondling women while they slept.

Aminan Rahman, 47, is accused of attacking 24-year-old Suma Begum in front of in a flat in Docklands, east London, after finding out she had an affair with a man her own age.

SINGAPORE – The blade of the knife came off the handle as meat specialist Mike Foo was filleting a 100kg giant grouper in front of a crowd of eager shoppers at FairPrice Xtra AMK Hub on June 17. “It was very difficult to do the filleting because the fish was huge, the meat was very thick and the bones were very hard,” said Mr Foo, 50. “This is the first time in my 24 years of working with seafood that I’ve seen such a big fish, so I was very surprised.” FairPrice said that this was the first time it had a grouper of this size filleted for sale to its consumers.

SINGAPORE — The authorities here are expanding cleanup efforts to more areas following a major oil spill on June 14, with some oil leaking from a damaged cargo tank at Pasir Panjang Terminal having spread to the waters off Changi on June 17. As at June 17, some 1,500m of booms have been deployed to contain the oil spill, with an additional 1,600m to be deployed at several beaches on Sentosa Island and Labrador Nature Reserve by June 18, as well as at Southern Islands, according to a joint statement by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, National Environment Agency (NEA), National Parks Board (NParks), national water agency PUB, Sentosa Development Corporation and Singapore Food Agency. Booms have also been installed along stretches of East Coast Park beaches that are badly affected, and at canal openings, to trap oil and prevent it from flowing back into the canal.

Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) has won ammunition orders of more than S$100 million in total value from Europe between April and early June, the group announced on Monday (June 17). Specifically, the orders are for 155 millimetre (mm) ammunition and 40mm ammunition — both of Nato-standard — ST Engineering said, without giving a breakdown of the contract values for these two types of ammunition or naming the new customers. Nato or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 members, is reportedly set to take over from the United States the coordination of arms deliveries to Ukraine, which is at war with Russia. ST Engineering's 155mm ammunition system has an extended-range high-explosive projectile and modular charge system designed for 155mm gun howitzers with 39 and 52-calibre barrels. As for the 40mm ammunition, it has more than 58 variants and the engineering ability to customise the munition to meet unique operational needs of users from over 40 countries.

Rishi Sunak led criticism of the Shadow Chancellor after she vowed to forge closer ties with the European Union if Labour wins the Election.

Is Brexit safe in Labour's hands? Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer promises he would not rejoin the single market or customs union, if elected, nor seek a return to free movement.

The leader of Reform Nigel Farage was forced to defend his manifesto's staggering £141billion in tax cuts and additional spending - nearly double the amount in Liz Truss's doomed mini-budget.

Mr Lineker was sporting a pale green T-shirt and sage jacket from his collection with Next while presenting coverage of the England vs Serbia game on Sunday night.

Ukrainian officials first made details of the unmanned vessel, which can carry explosive payloads of up to 150kg, public at the Black Sea Security Forum.

Leaders of 32 nations converge on Washington in three weeks, facing questions on NATO’s future and potentially massive demonstrations.

People in the gallery openly wept Monday as friends and family of Naomi Onotera took the stand at a sentencing hearing to share stories about positive ways she touched their lives — and the devastating impact her death at the hands of her husband has had on them.

An argument broke out between two customers at a Tyrwhitt Road coffee shop in Jalan Besar at about 11pm on June 14 and it escalated into a physical altercation. Mr Yang, who was at the coffee shop at the time of the incident, told Lianhe Zaobao that the Singha and Chang female promoters apparently had beef with each other because of competition in beer sale. The drinks stall manager, 51-year-old Chen, said a Chang customer acted out of control after drinking that night and was caught on closed circuit television footage slapping the Singha promoter. Another customer stepped in to shield the Singha promoter but ended up fighting with the Chang customer, who is believed to have attacked the Singha promoter in defence of the Chang promoter. «The two beer promoters knew each other, so perhaps this happened because of some personal matters,» said Ms Chen. Both the Chang and Singha promoters even tried to mediate the situation but failed. Tables and chairs in the coffee shop were toppled over during the fight but no other customers were hurt.

A 19-year-old St Andrew fisherman has been charged by the police for using a spear gun to shooting another man in his neck during an argument. Charged with wounding with intent is Jerome Troupe. His court date is being arranged. The incident...