Tag: Oman

  • 4 killed in shooting near Oman mosque: police

    4 killed in shooting near Oman mosque: police

    “The Royal Oman Police have responded to a shooting incident that occurred in the vicinity of a mosque in the Al-Wadi Al-Kabir area,” police said in a statement.

    The force gave an initial toll of four killed and “several others” wounded at the mosque in eastern Muscat.

    Such an attack is rare in the Sultanate, which has regularly played the role of mediator in regional conflicts.

    The United States embassy in Muscat issued a security alert following the shooting and cancelled all visa appointments Tuesday.

    “US citizens should remain vigilant, monitor local news and heed directions of local authorities,” the embassy wrote on social media platform X.

    Footage verified by AFP shows people fleeing near Imam Ali Mosque, its minaret visible, as gunshots ring out.

    A voice can be heard saying “oh God” and repeating “oh Hussein”, referring to the imam who Shiites view as the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed.

    Shiites this week mark Ashura, an annual day of mourning that commemorates the 7th-century battlefield martyrdom of Hussein.

    Police said that “all necessary security measures and procedures have been taken to handle the situation” in their statement.

    “The authorities are continuing to gather evidence and conduct investigations to uncover the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the force said on X.

  • McDonald’s in Turkey, UAE, Oman donate to Gaza: Pakistani twitter users question their franchise

    McDonald’s in Turkey, UAE, Oman donate to Gaza: Pakistani twitter users question their franchise

    After controversy rose a few days ago when #BoycottMcDonalds began trending on X (formerly Twitter) after the fast food giant’s Israeli franchise announced that they were providing free food to soldiers carrying out operations in Gaza. Several McDonalds country franchises, including Pakistan, released statements distancing themselves from the Israeli chapter. However a few of them have announced donations for Gaza.

    Read more: McDonalds Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon release statements; dissociate themselves from Israel

    The Turkey franchise released a statement where they distanced themselves from the Israeli branch and announced they were donating $1 million dollars to provide relief and aid to the communities currently suffering in Gaza.

    McDonald’s franchise in UAE wrote they were deeply saddened by the events in the region, and announced that they were sending AED 1 million dollars to Emirates Red Crescent for their ‘Tarahum for Gaza’ campaign.

    In Oman, the McDonald’s franchise wrote that the company was standing with Gaza in these difficult times, and have donated $100,000 dollars towards relief efforts.

    The McDonald’s franchise in Pakistan released a statement on Saturday, distancing themselves from the Israeli branch, but many Twitter users questioned why the company did not announce solidarity with Gaza and donated to provide humanitarian aid like the rest of the countries had.

    Veteran actress Nadia Jamil was among the critics as she wrote: “But do you stand with Palestine? That’s the answer we all want.”

    “If you are a Pakistani entity then where is your condemnation of Israel bombings? Where are your meals for Gaza? This wouldn’t cut it unfortunately,” another user wrote.

    “Spineless chain. Could have supported Palestine but all they care about is their commercial interests and not making international stakeholders unhappy,” another user wrote.

  • When Tabu and Ahsan Khan stunned together on the ramp in Oman

    When Tabu and Ahsan Khan stunned together on the ramp in Oman

    Udaari star Ahsan Khan recently shared some throwback pictures with Bollywood actor Tabu. The duo walked the ramp together for designers Rizwan Beyg and Anita Dongre at a fashion show titled ‘A Fusion of Design’ in Muscat, Oman.

    Ahsan khan is not only a name, He is a brand on Twitter:

    Pakistani and Indian designers collaborated to promote their rich heritage and culture on an international platform in December 2015.

  • ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 to be held in UAE, Oman

    ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 to be held in UAE, Oman

    ICC has officially announced that Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 is to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

    The cricket governing body announced the news on their social media accounts.

    Earlier, it was reported that the T20 WC 2021 is set to begin from October 17 in the UAE, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14. The tournament will start days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, which is likely to be held on October 15.

    As per details, the venue for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 has been shifted to the UAE and Oman, with the tournament set to run from October 17 to November 14.

    The tournament was originally set to be staged in India, but had to be shifted given the deadly second wave of Covid-19 there.

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will remain the hosts of the event, which will now be held across four venues – Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground.

    The first round of the tournament, comprising eight qualifying teams, will now be split between Oman and the UAE. Four of these teams will then progress to the Super 12s round where they will join the eight automatic qualifiers.

    “The BCCI is looking forward to hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament in UAE and Oman,” said Saurav Ganguli in the official statement.

    The upcoming edition will be the first Men’s T20 World Cup played since 2016, when the West Indies beat England in the final in India.

    The eight teams competing in the preliminary stage are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman and Papua New Guinea, before the play-off stage and the Final on November 14.

  • T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    T20 World Cup reportedly moved to UAE from India, set to begin on October 17

    The 2021 men’s T20 World Cup will not take place in India anymore. It is set to begin from October 17 in the United Arab Emirates, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14.

    Reportedly, the tournament will start days after the Indian Premier League (IPL) final, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 will be played in the UAE, starting September 19.

    While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to write to the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially about shifting the T20 World Cup to the UAE, it has already set the ball rolling in terms of planning for the tournament to be held in the middle east.

    As per the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup will be split across two groups and played in the UAE and Oman.

    Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s. Four team from this lot of eight i.e, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams. The Super 12s phase, comprising 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24. The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE, i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. This will be followed by three playoff games – the two semi-finals and the final.

    With Round 1 being co-hosted by one of the venues in the UAE and Oman, the BCCI is confident that will offer enough time to refresh the pitches across the main grounds in the UAE for the Super 12s.

    On June 1, the ICC granted BCCI until the end of June to give its final word on whether India will be able to host the T20 World Cup. With the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting the global cricket calendar last year, the ICC postponed the 2020 World Cup, originally scheduled to be held in Australia, and decided India would host the tournament in 2021 with Australia hosting the 2022 edition.

    However, the grim pandemic situation in India, which was flattened by a second wave this summer, forced the BCCI to abruptly suspend the IPL at the halfway stage in May.

    That development instantly cast doubts on whether India could be fit to host the multi-team World T20 after travel between cities was identified as a prime area of concern for teams getting exposed to coronavirus outside the bubble during the IPL.

    The BCCI had shortlisted nine venues for the T20 World Cup, but an ICC team, meant to carry out inspection, had to cancel its visit in April. Despite the pandemic numbers climbing down since the alarming peak of April-May period, public health experts have predicted India will face a third wave later in 2021. With the ICC deadline expiring in a few days, the BCCI is expected to make its decision public on moving the event outside to the UAE.

  • Report reveals more than 11m Pakistanis went overseas for employment since 1971

    Report reveals more than 11m Pakistanis went overseas for employment since 1971

    More than 11 million Pakistanis have left Pakistan since 1971 to pursue employment opportunities in different parts of the world. 4.2 million of the 11 million were labourers.

    According to a report by the Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment, 11,052,663 workers registered for overseas employment with the bureau between 1971 and November 2019.

    While labourers topped the list, drivers came at number two with 1.3m people leaving the country to become drivers.

    Meanwhile, the profession that saw the least amount of workforce export was that of photographers, with only 1,949 leaving the country for overseas employment.

    Of the 11m manpower exports, 4.7m has been categorised as ‘skilled’ and 4.6m as ‘unskilled’.

    Saudi Arabia has been the most popular destination among Pakistani workers seeking employment opportunities. The report says 5.4m Pakistanis registered as employees in the kingdom since 1971. Saudi Arabia also took in the most number of Pakistanis in 2019, with the figure standing at 294,156.

    United Arab Emirates is second on the list with 3.8m Pakistanis working there while Oman (793,454) comes at number three.