Middle East

Washington, Sept 25: Saudis in the US celebrated the country’s National Day on Saturday with a celebration organized by the Saudi Embassy at the National Building Museum in downtown Washington. The evening event was opened to the public and was attended by hundreds of people, including Prince Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington. The mood was festive and Saudis of all ages

Riyadh, Sept 23: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday celebrated the 87th anniversary of its National Day amid increasing regional challenges. On this day, late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman declared the unification of the country under the name of “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” on the 19th of the month of Jumada I of 1351 AH. The unification was achieved after 32 years of struggle during which

Riyadh, Sept 22: Saudi Arabia has made extensive arrangements to celebrate its 87th National Day in a fitting manner throughout the Kingdom. On Wednesday, the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) announced that elaborate preparations were being made to unveil 27 diverse festivities across 17 cities within Saudi Arabia to mark the National Day. Celebrations will begin on Thursday and run through

Riyadh, Sept 21: The Saudi government is lifting a ban on calls made through online apps on Thursday but will monitor and censor them, a government spokesman said. All online voice and video call services - such as Microsoft's Skype, Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger, and Rakuten's Viber - that satisfy regulatory requirements were set to become accessible overnight. However, on Thursday morning

Jeddah, Sept 21: King Salman on Wednesday received the chairman of the General Sports Authority (GSA), Turki Al-Asheikh, accompanied by the president and members of Saudi Arabian Football Association (SAFA) and players of the Saudi Football First Team on the occasion of their qualification for 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. Upon their reception at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, King Salman said he

Riyadh, Sept 20: Saudi Arabia will remove its ban on internet phone calls on Thursday, a government spokesman said, in a bid to stimulate online business as the kingdom looks to boost non-oil revenue. All online voice and video call services such as Microsoft's Skype and Facebook's WhatsApp that satisfy regulatory requirements will become accessible at midnight (2100 GMT), Adel Abu Hameed

Riyadh, Sept 20: The Shoura Council is currently studying a major proposal to merge the religious police, officially known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, into the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The plan is widely seen as a move to redesign and redefine the role of the religious police, as also to curb its powers further. “This is not a plan or proposal from the

Jeddah, Sept 19: A second member of Qatar’s ruling family has joined calls for a national meeting of Qataris to resolve the dispute with its Gulf neighbors. In a televised address, Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim Al-Thani repeated the plea made on Sunday by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani. “Since the crisis started I have been living in Paris after I could no longer tolerate seeing strangers roaming our country

Riyadh, Sept 18: The Makkah, Madinah and Riyadh regions harbor about 60 percent of the population in the Kingdom which reached 32.6 million people as of the first half of 2017, a research study revealed. According to preliminary data of the General Authority for Statistics, this is an increase of about 870,000 people compared to the end of 2016. The area of these combined areas amounts to about 20

Sao Paulo, Sept 17: Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance Saleh Al-Asheikh said the Saudi government and people are proud to communicate and create partnerships with Muslims all over the world, notably Latin America, in serving Islam and strengthening the moderate approach of Islam. The minister’s remarks came at the opening of the 30th session of the International Conference of