Middle East

Riyadh, May 13: The Saudi tourism and national heritage sector is witnessing unprecedented growth thanks to the support and care of King Salman, said Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH). The king issued a directive to support the sector by passing resolutions and allocating budgets that contribute to its development and

Madinah, May 12: The 17th Scientific Forum for Haj, Umrah and Visit Research was inaugurated Wednesday at Taibah University in Madinah by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, chairman of the Higher Supervisory Committee of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj and Umrah Research. The institute, at Umm Al-Qura University, “is proud to take on the task of developing and improving the

Jeddah, May 11: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal inaugurated the convoy of the Makkah Cultural Forum with the participation of 100 land and sea vehicles representing 56 governmental and private entities from the provinces of the region. The vehicle convoy will visit various areas of the Kingdom. The convoy is among the final programs launched by the Makkah Cultural Forum in its first year. It

Jeddah, May 10: The Shoura Council has approved a proposal calling on the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to reduce the period of time between the first (Adhan) and second (Iqama) calls to prayer to five minutes for mosques that are either inside malls/shopping centers or close to them, according to Al-Madina newspaper. The proposal was previously filed by Council member Ata Al-Subaiti, who said there

Jeddah, May 9: The caption to a picture showing Angela Merkel with her hair pixelated said it was all a joke. But some social-media users took the idea that Saudi television networks had censored images of the unveiled German chancellor very seriously. Indeed, the erroneous claim soon became the latest fake news story to spread like wildfire online. Merkel’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia, during

Riyadh, May 8: The entertainment sector supported by the General Authority for Entertainment (GAE) generates SR2.02 for every riyal spent on the organization of an event, according to a report by the GAE. Some 106 events organized in 21 Saudi cities in a period of less than one year were responsible for millions of riyals spent in the Kingdom, instead of being spent abroad, said the report. Since

Ottawa, May 7: Royal Court Adviser and General Supervisor of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief) Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, underscored the Kingdom’s leading role in humanitarian work and its commitment to the international humanitarian law, which corresponds to the teachings of Islam that call for the preservation of human dignity and sparing mankind suffering. Al-Rabeeah

Jeddah, May 6: Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), has called for more awareness of the increasing dangers of Islamophobia, through the dissemination of principles of peace and harmony between communities. He was speaking at the recently held 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan. He confirmed the continuous

Washington, May 5: Promoting an agenda of “tolerance,” “burden sharing” and “countering both Iran and Daesh,” senior US officials announced that Saudi Arabia will be the first stop for US President Donald Trump on his debut foreign visit since taking office in January. This is the first time ever that a US president has made Saudi Arabia a first stop on a maiden foreign trip after taking office

Jeddah, May 4: Prince Mishal bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the Allegiance Council died Wednesday, the royal court announced, adding that funeral prayer will be performed after Isha prayer at the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Prince Mishal was 90. Prince Mishal was born on Sept. 5, 1926, and was the 14th son of King Abdulaziz. He was in charge of the