Middle East

Manama, Mar 19: A broker is asking for SR 8 million to sell a piece of cloth he claims comes from the Kiswah—the embroidered black and gold cloth covering the Kaaba. The broker did not say who was selling the piece of cloth, but added that it was old and belonged to Al Sheebi, the family looking after the Kaaba since pre-Islam times. He insisted that the rare item was authentic and that he had an

Riyadh, Mar 18: Tens of thousands of civilians fled their homes and streamed out of their towns on Saturday to escape battles in the north and south of Syria. A new wave of at least 10,000 people left the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus as Assad regime airstrikes continued to pound the besieged zone. In the northern Afrin region, more than 150,000 people have fled the main town

New York, Mar 15: Saudi Arabia is helping ever-more women into the workplace, with everything from college places to schemes for nurseries and transport, one of the Kingdom’s highest-ranking female officials told the UN on Wednesday. Tamadar bint Yousef Al-Ramah, who was appointed as deputy minister of labor and social development last month, addressed the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

Gaza City, Mar 13: An explosion targeted Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah's convoy as he arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for a rare visit, lightly wounding seven people, officials and witnesses said. Hamdallah was not injured in the explosion, which occurred shortly after his convoy entered the territory run by Islamist movement Hamas, a security source in the convoy said

Tehran, Mar 12: A Turkish private jet flying a group of young women from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul crashed Sunday in heavy rain in a mountainous region of Iran, killing all 11 people on board, authorities said. Days earlier, the aircraft carried a bachelorette party bound for Dubai, although it was not clear who was on the plane when it crashed. Iranian state television quoted a

CAIRO, Mar 6: Egypt will allow stretches of land in the southern Sinai to be used for Saudi Arabia’s planned megacity Neom project announced by the Kingdom last October. The agreement forms part of a $10 billion joint investment fund the two countries signed during the visit to Cairo this week by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a Saudi official. The size of the committed land is

Washington, Mar 6: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Saudi Arabia had granted Air India permission to fly over its territory on its new routes to and from Tel Aviv. There was no immediate confirmation from either Saudi officials or Air India. Netanyahu made the announcement during a briefing in Washington to Israeli reporters after he had met US President Donald Trump

Cairo/Riyadh, Mar 5: Saudi Arabia and Egypt set up a $10 billion joint fund on Sunday to develop a planned mega-city, committing more than 1,000 square kilometres in the south Sinai, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. The deal came at the start of Prince Mohammed's first public trip abroad since becoming heir apparent last year and purging the kingdom

Dubai, Mar 4: The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) has opened 21 Amer centres for visa transactions, in a step to replace all typing centres from processing residency visa applications after failing to adhere to certain conditions, officials said on Saturday. The directorate stopped visa-related services at hundreds of typing centres and alternatively

Riyadh, Mar 4: Two highly sophisticated drones were among a selection of military defense research projects showcased at the Armed Forces Exhibition for Diversity of Requirements and Capabilities (AFED 2018). Two Skyguard drones, “Haris Al-Ajwaa” and “Al-Nawras,” were revealed by the Prince Sultan Center for Defense Studies and Researchers to reflect the Kingdom’s advancement in the military