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China’s President Xi Jinping officially opened the world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China Tuesday, at a time when Beijing is tightening its grip on its semi-autonomous territories. The 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, links Hong Kong with the southern mainland city of Zhuhai and the gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary. Xi presided over an inauguration ceremony attended by Hong Kong’s and Macau’s city leaders at a new port terminal in Zhuhai. “I declare the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge officially open,” Xi said in a one-line address, as digital fireworks exploded

Despite the stunning pictures that Qatar is sending to the world regarding its FIFA 2022 preparations, the reality on the ground looked different on Monday after a year’s worth of rain showers exposed Doha’s poor constructions and infrastructure. Critics’ doubts on the feasibility of the 2022 tournament - already surrounded by suspicions of corruption and human rights violations - took another turn when Qatar announced a strange plan to accommodate the tens of thousands of fans expected to show up in four years’ time. The proposed plan reveals a difficult Qatari predicament caused by the fact that the country is small and lacking in preparations, with many doubting whether Doha could accommodate the large number of fans between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18, 2022. The company of Katara, the largest hotel owner in Qatar, announced on Sunday that it will equip about 20,000 hotel rooms on cruise ships in the Gulf to host tens of thousands of visitors.

Alia Bhatt was trying to leave town on the weekend and her face helped her sail through. The Raazi actress was at the airport and she was trying to locate her ticket on the phone and could not do so. The CISF constables on duty recognised her but were waiting for her to show her ticket. “The paparazzi were clicking her continuously and she was looking back and smiling for the cameras, but she was getting very late. She tried to look into her phone for her e-ticket, but was unable to locate it as she was also in a hurry. The constable soon realised that she was in a hurry and let the actress pass,” says an eye witness. Alia is a frequent traveller and like most stars, does not arrive early at

Ever since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing in Istanbul, the name Hatice Cengiz has dominated the scene and remained at the forefront of news headlines amid the mysterious aura of the past 13 days. Hatice graduated from the Sharia college in the University of Istanbul in 2013 and got her MA in 2017 from the Faculty of Social Sciences - History Department at Salahaddin University after finishing a field study about sects in Oman.

The Jamal Khashoggi case has taken the world by storm, all in favor of the Iranian regime to take attention from its domestic and international crises, and place the spotlights elsewhere. What should not go overlooked is the fact that Iran has a long history of brutal methods to eliminate dissidents inside the country and abroad, especially Europe. This goes alongside the Iranian regime’s atrocious report card of massive terrorist attacks, killing scores of innocent people. Unfortunately, through the past 39 years, the West’s appeasement approach has saved Tehran from any meaningful accountability in this regard.

The pregnant Duchess of Sussex has had her schedule cut back during her first royal tour, after a hectic start to her visit to Australia and the South Pacific with husband Prince Harry. Meghan Markle’s first tour is an extremely busy one, with the royal couple scheduled to attend more than 70 engagements during a 16-day trip across four countries. Kensington Palace says the couple has decided to slightly reduce Markle’s schedule “for the next couple of days” ahead of the final week-and-a-half of the tour. Markle, who is about 12 weeks pregnant, skipped an event in Sydney on Sunday morning, leaving Prince Harry to attend the Invictus Games alone.

Riyadh - A senior Saudi government official laid out a detailed new version of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The latest account, provided by a Saudi official who requested anonymity, includes details on how the team of 15 Saudi nationals sent to confront Khashoggi on Oct. 2 had threatened him with being drugged and kidnapped and then killed him in a chokehold when he resisted. A member of the team then dressed in Khashoggi's clothes to make it appear as if he had left the consulate. After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning said he had died in a fistfight at the consulate.