Middle East

Jeddah, Feb 6: A Saudi warship targeted last month by Houthi suicide attackers returned to base on Sunday after completing its mission. The Al-Madinah warship of the Royal Saudi Navy was in late January hit by a terrorist boat attack off the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, killing two crew members. It returned early Sunday to the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah, after completing its duties according to

Dubai, Feb 5: US Defense Secretary James Mattis has called Iran the world’s “biggest state sponsor of terrorism,” amid rising tensions between the two nations. His comments come a day after the US imposed new sanctions against Iran in response to a ballistic missile test. But Mattis said he did not see any need to boost US troop numbers in the Middle East to deal with Iran, reported BBC. A

Riyadh, Feb 4: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Ministry of Education have agreed to strengthen cooperation in achieving Saudi Vision 2030. The agreement was reached during a meeting between IDB President Dr. Bandar Hajjar and Education Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Issa in Riyadh, the IDB said on its website. The two sides agreed to build up their partnership to achieve education-related

Thumbay Hospital, the leading network of academic hospitals operated by the healthcare division of Thumbay Group UAE, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global medical technologies provider Hill-Rom, for the purchase of 500 beds to support Thumbay Group’s upcoming healthcare projects in the Middle East and India, over the next 4 years. The MoU was signed at the ‘Arab Health 2017’

Jeddah, Feb 3: More than 1.4 million people have registered for Saudi Arabia’s Citizens Account Program in the first two days since the application portal opened. The Ministry of Labor and Social Development’s communication center started receiving beneficiaries’ inquiries on Feb. 1, with more than 365 supervisors and communication officers working round the clock. The center received 25,000 calls

Abu Dhabi, Feb 2: The UAE’s top diplomat on Wednesday came out in defense of President Donald Trump’s order temporarily barring citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE foreign minister, said the US was within its rights to take what he said was a “sovereign decision” concerning immigration. Sheikh Abdullah also voiced faith in

Riyadh, Feb 1: On behalf of Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, honorary president of the Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Association (SADA), Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar inaugurated the third International Alzheimer’s Conference at the headquarters of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh on Monday. Following the inauguration, Prince Saud bin Khalid bin Abdullah bin

Jeddah, Jan 31: The Palestinian Authority has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up rulings on key issues including Israeli settlements, an official has said. The authority asked ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to expedite rulings on three Palestinian files in order to open a judicial inquiry into the Israeli government’s violations of international law, said Saeb Erekat

Riyadh, Jan 30: King Salman on Sunday received a phone call from US President Donald Trump, during which the two leaders discussed international and regional developments as well as means to boost economic, security and military ties. Among the issues discussed were the efforts to combat terrorism and extremism and means to finance those efforts, a Saudi Press Agency statement said. The two

Abu Dhabi, Jan 29: Arab Coalition Forces with the help of UAE Air Force in Yemen have destroyed an Iranian military drone in north Mokha port city in Yemen, a Yemeni military source has said. The aircraft was at a mobile launching platform, intended to target Yemeni forces participating in the liberation of Mokha city and Port. General Ahmed Saif Al Yafei, Deputy Chief of General Staff of Yemeni