Four killed after bus carrying holidaymakers crashes in Oman


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Four people died and 42 were injured when a bus carrying 53 passengers to a holiday resort in Oman veered off the road into the side of a mountain on Friday.

State broadcaster Oman TV showed footage on Saturday morning of medical personnel moving the injured from the overturned bus and retrieving bodies.

Witnesses said the bus veered off the road while negotiating a turn at high speed.

“It was going round the bend on top of a small hill, veered left to right and then hit the side of a mountain and overturned,” Saif Al Rushaidi, who was driving behind the bus, told The National.

The accident happened in the Wadi Kabeer area of the capital, Muscat.

Nathan Jeevanji, an Indian living in Oman, was travelling on the bus. Many people were screaming after the accident, he told The National.

“I was texting messages on my mobile phone and suddenly the bus went left to right and we found ourselves feet up," said Mr Jeevanji.

"There were screams everywhere and some passengers were just quiet, whom I now presume are the ones who died or were unconscious.”

Mr Jeevanji said the bus was heading to Qantab, a hilly resort in south-west Muscat where he and his friends were going to camp overnight on the beach to take advantage of the long weekend.

Oman declared Sunday a holiday for Isra Wal Miraj, the day Muslims commemorate the journey of Prophet Mohammed took in one night from Makkah to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and through the seven stages of heaven.

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Wednesday and the pair embraced but he failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

 

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Uefa Champions League, Group C
Liverpool v Red Star Belgrade
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THE LOWDOWN

Photograph

Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

Updated: February 18, 2023, 11:49 AM`