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President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on the death of Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki, the First (1st) bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, have also dispatched similar cables of condolences to King Salman. Sharjah Ruler condoles King Salman on death of Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme

RIYADH: Ahmad Javed, the Indian ambassador in Riyadh, believes the visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to India will be a landmark event in the history of “our high-level bilateral engagements and they will certainly take an upward strategic direction.” Talking exclusively to Arab News at the Indian Embassy in the Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter, the ambassador expressed his joy at the upcoming visit. “I began my posting as ambassador in Saudi Arabia with the visit of the Indian prime minister to Riyadh in April 2016, and I am happy that the visit of the Crown Prince will be my last assignment before ending my time in Saudi Arabia.” The friendly relationship between India and Saudi Arabia

BEIRUT:  Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security has censored a caricature of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that was published in the French weekly Courrier International. The directorate covered the caricature with a sticker before allowing the publication to enter Lebanon.  The move has sparked debate on social media, including criticism and questions as to whether the directorate is affiliated with the Shiite group Hezbollah, a close ally of Tehran. There were also questions as to whether such censorship would apply to other leaders who are caricatured by the French newspaper. Journalist Dima Sadek shared the caricature on social media in defiance of the censorship. Journalist

Meghan Markle will celebrate her baby shower with 15 of her closest friends in New York on Tuesday. The Duchess of Sussex - who is pregnant with her and Prince Harry's first child - has jetted across the pond to mark the impending arrival of her little girl or boy with her friends and family. Meghan's stylist Jessica Mulroney has been co-ordinating the event, which will take place at an exclusive Upper East Side hotel and they will be joined by 15 of her closest friends. Details of the party are being kept private but it is thought Benita Litt, whose daughters Rylan and Remi took part in Meghan's wedding, and Meghan's former 'Suits' co-stars Abigail Spencer and Sarah Rafferty will also be in attendance.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready to help India investigate the deadliest attack in Kashmir in decades, but will retaliate if Delhi attacks, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday as tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals soared. "Pakistan won't just think to retaliate. Pakistan will retaliate," said Khan in a nationally televised address, calling on Delhi to share proof of Islamabad's involvement in last week's suicide blast in Indian-held Kashmir, which killed at least 41 Indian paramilitaries. Pakistan's foreign minister appealed to the UN Secretary General to help ease tension with India that has escalated sharply following a suicide bomb attack in the Indian part of disputed Kashmir, that India blamed on Pakistan.

Who still remembers, or cares to remember, or cares at all about the "Salman Rushdie affair"?     Thirty years ago, on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1989, the late Ayatollah Khomeini, then the supreme leader of Iran, issued a religious decree, a fatwa, condemning the British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie to death. Up until that fateful decree, the name Salman Rushdie was known only to a community of South Asian literary aficionados admiring a gifted Mumbai-born novelist whose piercing prose and wicked sense of humour had given the world such literary gems as Midnight's Children (1981) and Shame (1983). The book was written and published in English. The ayatollah did not read English. He was

GENEVA, LONDON: In early January, labor activist Esmail Bakhshi posted a letter on Instagram saying he had been tortured in jail, attracting support from tens of thousands of Iranians online. Bakhshi, who said he was still in pain, also challenged the intelligence minister to a public debate about the religious justification for torture. Late last month, Bakhshi was rearrested. Sepideh Qoliyan, a journalist covering labor issues in the Ahvaz region, was also rearrested on the same day after saying on social media that she had been abused in jail. Bakhshi's allegations of torture and the social media furor that followed led Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to call for an investigation, and the