Oman Observer

World

Qatar and Yemen report 1st cases of swine flu

DOHA — Swine flu cases in Arab states in the Gulf, a high-traffic transit zone for millions of air travellers, rose to 33 yesterday after Qatar reported its first cases. Three people arriving in Doha on international flights were diagnosed with A(H1N1) influenza, and Kuwait also reported that one of its citizens had the virus — the first among the country’s resident population.

Yemen offers reward

SANAA — Yemen offered a reward of $25,000 yesterday for information leading to the capture of kidnappers said to have shot three foreign hostages. Three women from a party of nine kidnapped foreigners were found dead in northern Yemen this week, in a rare killing. One analyst said the killings bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda but no claim of responsibility has been made.

Airbus notches up 15 new orders

LE BOURGET, France — Airbus was the big winner at the Paris Air Show yesterday, notching up 15 new orders. The European consortium followed up an order for 24 A320 aircraft it won on Monday from Qatar Airways with an order from AirAsia X, the long-haul arm of leading low-cost Asian carrier AirAsia, for 10 Airbus A350 aircraft.

Sawers named as new UK spy agency chief

LONDON — Britain named high-profile ambassador John Sawers yesterday as the new head of its Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, saying he was rejoining the espionage agency after years as a diplomat. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s....

BA asks staff to work for free

LONDON — British Airways , which reported a record annual loss last month, said yesterday it had asked its staff to work for free as part of the company’s battle for “survival” in tough market conditions. The appeal to its British-based employees, which featured in the company’s staff magazine,...

Kids among 14 dead in Iraq bus crash

BASRA, Iraq — Fourteen bus passengers, many of them children, were killed and 30 were injured when their vehicle crashed and burst into flames in southern Iraq yesterday, a police officer said. The accident occurred north of the city of Kut, 150 km southeast of Baghdad,...