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Even in ordinary times, an attack on commercial tankers near the Strait of Hormuz - a vital sea lane for the world's oil supplies, located between Iran and Oman - would be a matter of concern for global trade. That such incidents were reported on Thursday, at a time of soaring US-Iran tensions, makes them an even greater threat. Not just for global commerce, but also for peace and security in the region and the world.   Thursday's incidents, which caused damage to the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, came just a month after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported "sabotage attacks" against four other commercial ships off the coast of its Fujairah emirate.  The

Jennifer Lopez says she doesn't consider her first two marriages to be the real deal because they last less than a year. The 'Medicine' singer was married to Cuban actor Ojani for just for just nine months, and second husband Cris, a choreographer, for 11 months, and as she gears up for her wedding to fiancé Alex Rodriguez, she has revealed she is planning to have a "big church wedding" this time round. The 49-year-old star - who has 11-year-old twins Emme and Max with third husband Marc Anthony - said: "I'd like a big wedding and I'd like to get married in a church this time. "I've never been married in a church and I've been married three times, and once was nine months and once was 11 months, so I don't really count those.

Egypt's Spokesperson for the Presidency Ahmed Hafez asserted on Friday that Egypt was deeply concerned about the explosion of two oil tankers on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman. The explosion left one tanker ablaze and both adrift. Hafez clarified that Egypt has been following the situation and waiting for the conclusion of investigations on the explosion. Hafez stressed that the Egyptian government condemns any acts that undermine maritime navigation and harm the security of waterways in the Gulf area. According to Al-Arabia TV Channel, the two tankers were hit in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman and the crews have been evacuated, shipping sources said on Thursday, a month after a similar

MOSCOW: A first intact head of a gigantic adult wolf which died about 32,000 years ago and was preserved in permafrost has been found in the Russian Arctic, scientists have said. Covered with thick fur, the head was found by a local on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in Russia's remote Arctic region of Yakutia last summer. It features a well-preserved brain, soft tissue and a set of powerful teeth and measures 41.5 centimeters (16 inches) in length. By comparison, the torso of a modern-day wolf is between 66 and 86 centimeters long. The head was handed to local palaeontologists who teamed up with scientists from the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo to study it. “It is the first

This week, amid the fallout of tough US sanctions and growing political uncertainty, many Iranians are marking the 10th anniversary of the Green Movement. Ten years ago, mass protests erupted after suspicions arose that the general elections had been rigged in favour of the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Reformist candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi rejected the results and their supporters took to the streets to express their anger at what they saw as the trampling of democratic procedures in Iran. Today, 10 years later, many are wondering whether Iran is on the eve of another Green Movement or even a revolution. Indeed, some scholars have pointed out that there are many

Britney Spears has been granted a permanent restraining order against her former manager, Sam Lutfi. The 'Toxic' hitmaker sought protection from Sam Lutfi - who looked after her career from 2007 to 2008 - for herself and her family last month and now a judge has granted a five-year order forbidding him from contacting her and her relatives and from making disparaging comments about them online. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny rejected arguments from Sam's lawyer, Marc Gans, that the order would be a restraint on his free speech as none of his controversial Twitter posts - which largely criticised Britney's circumstances and the people around her - were made directly to individuals or could be considered harassment. The 37-year-old singer's dad, Jamie Spears - who has control of his daughter's affairs because of a court-ordered conservatorship - admitted while giving evidence that he has a "strained" relationship with the 'Womanizer' hitmaker.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has denied a request by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for immediate measures against Qatar in a dispute over alleged discrimination between the Gulf neighbours. The ruling came on Friday, weeks after the UAE forced the pause in the main court process to stop Qatar from blocking access to a UAE website that allows Qataris expelled from the Emirates to obtain permits to return. By not allowing access to the site, the UAE argued Qatar was aggravating the dispute. Qatar told the ICJ, which is informally known as the World Court, it had blocked the site because it posed a state security threat due to "malware" coded within that was designed to infiltrate the