Middle East

Jeddah, Nov 14: The UAE has urged President Donald Trump’s United States to develop a stronger strategy on the Middle East, after a “disconcerting vacuum” seen during Obama years. Anwar Gargash, the country’s minister of state for foreign affairs, said that the influence of Washington in the region was “more important than ever.” “Following eight years of weakened American engagement in the region

Jerusalem, Nov 12: US President-elect Donald Trump pledged Friday to work for a “just, lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians, in his first public message on the issue since his upset victory. “I believe that my administration can play a significant role in helping the parties to achieve a just, lasting peace,” Trump said in a message published by the Israel Hayom newspaper. He also

United Nations, Nov 11: Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its continued support for the Palestinian refugees and UNRWA, the UN body that looks after their welfare. The Kingdom's reassurance came during a speech delivered by its permanent representative at the United Nations, Abdullah Al-Muallimi, at an UNRWA committee meeting “The Kingdom is honored to stand by the side of the Palestinian people

Jeddah, Nov 10: A defiant Tehran on Wednesday said there would be no reversal of its controversial nuclear deal with Western powers, as had earlier been threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump. As Arab leaders issued statements welcoming the Republican’s victory in the US election, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani challenged Trump by saying there was “no possibility” of the nuclear deal being

Riyadh, Nov 9: The Shoura Council has called on the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to conduct a field study to determine citizens’ real consumption of water, accordingly adjust consumption segments, and delay issuing new water bills until handling complaints about the new tariffs. This came in the 62nd regular session held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker of the

Riyadh, Nov 8: Saudi Arabia will pay by next month the money it owes private companies, a committee headed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Monday. “The council came up with a package of solutions and procedures to settle the dues that met the requirements of spending,” SPA reported after a regular meeting of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs. Solutions “will be

Riyadh, Nov 7: Saudi Arabia and China agreed to step up cooperation on various key issues including security and counter-terrorism during talks held in Riyadh Sunday. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, received a delegation led by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy Meng Jianzhu. The two sides also

Riyadh, Nov 6: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman is sponsoring the 4th Saudi International Conference on Information Technology on Sunday. The venue of the conference is the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh. The conference seeks to put forward the appropriate and supportive infrastructure for the initiatives and programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The city

Dubai, Nov 4: Alarmed by the dangers posed by drones to planes, Dubai airport has decided to deploy a 'drone hunter' to fix the problem that has resulted in losses running into millions of dollars. The airport, the third busiest in the world, has already been forced to shut three times this year because of unauthorised drone activity, creating a headache for airlines and their passengers. During

Jeddah, Nov 5: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) recently thwarted schemes by international gangs to carry out thefts onboard its aircraft. The schemes involved rummaging passengers’ bags and stealing their money and belongings while they were asleep or in toilets. Mansour Al-Bader, media and public relations director at Saudia, confirmed that Saudi Arabian Airlines crew successfully thwarted three