 | | New MRI system for radiotherapy set up at Al Amal |
 AL
AMAL Hospital has become the first healthcare institution in
the world to have acquired the highlysophisticated Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI) system for targeted radiation therapy
with pinpoint accuracy in cancer cases. Installed recently at
the Radiation Oncology Department of Al Amal Hospital, it´s
an advanced medical imaging... |
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|  |  | | Arabs´ Defining Moment |
 ONCE
I had lunch with Samuel Huntington at the Harvard Faculty Club.
I was eager to talk to him because he had used my 1991 book,
La Revanche de Dieu ("The Revenge of God"), in his
famous article and subsequent volume, The Clash of Civilisations.
I had argued that the emergence of religious political movements
from the 1970s onward had comparable roots in Islam, Judaism...
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| |  | | Error-prone India throws match again |
 INDIA´S
defeat at the hands of South Africa in the Group B match on
Saturday clearly shows that the Indian team has failed to learn
lessons from its tiedmatch against England. To the detriment
of its prospects, Indian players repeated the mistakes they
had made during the match against England. Firstly, the middle-order
fiasco came to haunt India once again after openers Sachin...
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Oman’s Sultan gives lawmaking powers to councils
AP
MUSCAT OMAN’S ruler granted lawmaking powers on Sunday to officials outside the royal family in the boldest reforms yet aimed at quelling protests for jobs and a greater public role in politics.
The decree by Sultan Qaboos bin Said reflects the scramble to appease demonstrators and head off possible wider unrest in the strategically important nation, which shares control of the Gulf waterway that carries 40 percent of the world’s oil tanker traffic.
Just hours before the announcement, suspected arsonists burned a government office and the home of a clan leader in Ebri, about 210 miles (350 kilometers) northwest of the capital Muscat.
No injuries were reported, but military units boosted their presence in the area.
The sultan has made sweeping Cabinet shakeups and promises for thousands of new civil service posts since demonstrations began late last month.
But the latest plan introduces the most fundamental changes about how the country is governed.
Two current advisory councils — one elected and another appointed by the sultan — will receive powers to make laws and regulations within 30 days after a special commission decides how to amend the state statutes.
But it was not immediately clear if the sultan would retain full veto power.
Oman’s protests are limited compared with the unrest in Gulf ally Bahrain, where demonstrators have increasingly called for toppling the monarchy.
But Oman and Bahrain have been promised $10 billion each in aid from the Gulf Cooperation Council in attempts to answer demands for more job opportunities and more state aid.
As part of the decree on Sunday, Oman’s leader also boosted state pensions and payments for families receiving state social security.
An Oman-based political analyst, Saeed Awad bin Bagoer, described the sultan’s plan to transfer powers to the council as an “historic political reform.” Oman is not a major oil producer, but its stability is closely followed on international markets.
Oman and Iran share control of the Strait of Hormouz at the mouth of the Gulf.
Oman also is an important diplomatic bridge between the United States and Iran.
Protests in Oman began in late February among young job seekers inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world.
One person was killed in clashes that stunned a nation whose last major unrest was an anti-monarchy rebellion in the 1970s.
Thousands of workers have staged strikes or sitins to demand pay hikes and expanded benefits.
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