Riyadh: A new study has found that men with multiple wives have four times more the risk of heart disease. Researchers said the study suggested that the stress of running multiple households and the “emotional expense” of polygamy could place strain on the heart. Research on 687 men in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates found that the risks of heart disease increased with each extra wife. Two thirds of the men in the research were monogamous while the rest had between two and four wives.
Saudi king appoints nephew as new crown prince
Riyadh: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has appointed his nephew and deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef as the new crown prince, replacing his younger half-brother Muqrin. Muqrin was also relieved of his duties as the first deputy prime minister, Xinhua news agency reported. The king also appointed his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the deputy crown prince and replaced Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal with the kingdom's ambassador to the US, Adel al-Jubeir, according to Saudi state television.
Hillary Clinton calls for reforms in US race relations
Washington: Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton calls for reforms in US race relations in the wake of Baltimore riots. She said there was something “profoundly wrong” in the state of US race-relations, blaming rising inequality and institutional racism in the police and court system for creating a situation that should “tear at the soul” of America. Speaking as order was restored in Baltimore following two days of rioting following the death of another unarmed black person at the hands of white police, Clinton called for every US police officer to be fitted with body cameras. “Not every problem can be or will be prevented by cameras but this is a common sense step we should take,” she said.
Muslim schoolgirl sent home for wearing long skirt
Paris: France's controversial ban on religious clothing in state schools has come under attack after a 15-year-old Muslim girl was sent home twice for wearing a long black skirt. The 2004 ban covers Islamic head scarves, the Jewish kippa, or skullcap, large Christian crosses or any other "ostentatious sign of religion". But schools' interpretation of the ban has come under scrutiny after a girl, named as Sarah K, was sent home twice this month from the Léo Lagrange high school in the eastern town of Charleville-Mézières. An education official, Patrice Dutot, said she had not been expelled or suspended: "She was asked to come back with neutral clothing and it seems her father did not want the pupil to return to school." The girl herself said that her skirt was "nothing special, it's very simple, there's nothing conspicuous. There's no religious sign at all."
Five beheaded in Saudi Arabia for Indian's murder
Jeddah: Five people were beheaded in Saudi Arabia for killing an Indian during an armed robbery, the interior ministry announced. The convicts - two from Yemen and one each from Chad, Eritrea and Sudan - were executed in the western coastal city of Jeddah, the ministry said. No further details of the case were provided, other than that the armed robbery took place in a store. The kingdom executed 87 people in 2014, according to rights group Amnesty International. Over 70 people have already been put to death this year. Murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable with death. Saudi Arabia is among the five countries that execute most people in the world, according to Amnesty's 2014 global report.
3 Indians plead guilty to student visa fraud charges in US
New York: Three Indians have pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiring to commit student visa and financial aid fraud through a for-profit school they ran and agreed to forfeit over $8 million to US authorities. Suresh Hiranandaney, 61, Lalit Chabria, 54, and Anita Chabria, 50, were arrested in May 2014, along with co-defendants Samir Hiranandaney and Seema Shah following a long-term investigation by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Hiranandaney and Chabria pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit student visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit student financial aid fraud. Each faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and will be sentenced in September this year.
Italian ships rescue nearly 6,800 migrants
Rome: A baby girl was born aboard a rescue boat in the Mediterranean Sea as Italian Coast Guard and Navy ships bring migrants by the thousands to the country's southern ports. In the three-day period ending Sunday, 6,771 survivors were rescued at sea north of Libya from overcrowded rubber dinghies and unseaworthy fishing boats used by Libya-based smugglers. Ten bodies were found on boats or in the sea. Calm seas and mild temperatures brought the spike in arrivals. The relentless flood of migrants this year is on track to surpass the 170,000 rescued at sea by Italy in 2014. The Navy said a woman, in labour when rescued, gave birth aboard a patrol ship.
Pak refuses to open Afghan-India road link
Karachi: Pakistan has refused to open the road link for Afghanistan and India, urging the latter to continue trade via the Karachi port, said sources. According to sources, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that if Pakistan did not open the road link, they will deny Pakistan access to Central Asia. Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah said that Afghanistan expected Pakistan to open up to trade links as Pakistan expected the same of them. Abdullah urged that if Pakistan wanted access to Central Asia then the country must respond accordingly.
Indian-Americans cross $100,000 median income
Washington: A snapshot released by the US Census Bureau reveals that the median household income for Indian-Americans has crossed the $100,000 per annum milestone, the highest for any ethnic group, including white, native-born Americans. In fact, the ground-breaking figure was crossed almost two years ago in 2013 but came to light only now when the US Census Bureau put it out as part of the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month which is celebrated in May. According to the bureau, the median income of households headed by the Asian population in 2013 was $72,472, much higher then than national median income of around $51,000. But even among Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans racked it up at $100,547, almost double the national median income, and significantly more than even white, non-Hispanic Americans whose median income is approximately $57,000. Indian-Americans also out-earned other South Asian groups such as Pakistani-Americans ($63,000) and Bangladeshi-Americans ($51,000).
Taliban, Afghan negotiators fail to agree on ceasefire
Qatar/Peshawar: Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures in Qatar on Sunday, and one participant said the two sides discussed a possible ceasefire but ultimately disagreed over the continued presence of US troops in the country. The United States and Pakistan, long-regarded by critics as sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban, both welcomed the closed-door talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has raged in Afghanistan since US-backed forces drove the Taliban from power in 2001. The informal talks, hosted by Qatar's foreign ministry, came as fighting escalated after the withdrawal of most US and allied troops. The Taliban recently launched an offensive in northern Afghanistan that brought its fighters to the outskirts of Kunduz city, a provincial capital.
Saudi-led aerial campaign leaves bloody stalemate in Yemen
Dubai: A month of Saudi-led air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen has failed to bring a decisive victory in a conflict that is becoming a bloody stalemate. Saudi Arabia launched its aerial campaign in March after the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia militia, closed in on the southern city of Aden where Abd Rabbu Hadi, the ousted president, was sheltering. Hadi then fled the country. Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the Saudi king, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his defence minister son, were confident a coalition of anti-Houthi forces would form quickly behind Hadi in the largely Sunni south and central territories, bringing the rebels to a standstill. The campaign has achieved some of its aims, destroying long-range ballistic missiles that threatened Saudi Arabia, preventing the Houthis and their allies from asserting control over all of Yemen and giving opposition groups in southern and central provinces operational space.
