Middle East

Jeddah, Oct 21: The government has no plans to change Saudi Arabia’s exchange rate, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf told a television program early Thursday. The MBC network’s program was broadcast hours after the Saudi government sold $17.5 billion of bonds, the largest emerging market debt sale ever, in its first international bond sale. Analysts, quoted by Reuters, believe the bond will allow

Dubai/London, Oct 20: Saudi Arabia attracted massive investor demand of about $67 billion on Wednesday for its first international bond offer, as the Kingdom allayed concern about the impact of low oil prices on its finances. A source familiar with the offer said order books had come close to the $69 billion record for an emerging markets bond issue that was set by Argentina in April this year

Jeddah, Oct 19: Spokesman of the National Information Center at the Ministry of Interior Engineer Mohammed Al-Asiri revealed the presence of Gulf coordination to link the digital identification systems for GCC citizens. He said the linking process will enable all GCC citizens to benefit from electronic services in the GCC countries using their electronic identity card issued by the country. He aid

Baghdad, Oct 18: Iraqi forces advanced Monday after launching an offensive aimed at retaking Mosul and dealing a death blow to the Daesh group’s “caliphate” in the city where it was declared two years ago. The start of the long-awaited assault raised deep concerns for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in Iraq’s second-largest city, with aid groups warning of a massive humanitarian crisis

Jeddah, Oct 17: King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah (KAAI) topped the list of the worst airports in the world for 2016, says the website “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports,” which evaluates the overall airport experience based on the views of passengers. The website recently announced the list for the worst 10 airports around the world. Every year, the website conducts a survey of the

Jeddah, Oct 17: The Daesh-held northern Syrian town of Dabiq fell to Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Sunday, in a battle that is part of a wider offensive by Syrian opposition groups. The loss is of a major symbolic importance due to a Hadith prophecy that the town will be the site of an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and non-Muslims before the end of the world. The FSA seeks to

Jeddah, Oct 16: The Kingdom has mandated new requirements for the marriage of Saudi men and women to non-Saudis. The new regulations require that the income of a Saudi man be at least SR3,000, his age be between 40 and 65, and that appropriate housing be secured. The age of a non-Saudi woman must be at least 25 years, and there cannot be an age difference greater than 30 years between the spouses

Jeddah, Oct 15: Public Investment Fund (PIF) has taken another strong step in its mission to support Saudi Vision 2030 with its move to set up a strategic partnership with SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG), according to top businessmen and analysts. “This is a bold move by the PIF to explore global opportunities into tech ventures,” Basil Al-Ghalayini, CEO of BMG Financial Group, told Arab News. His

Riyadh, Oct 14: Foreign ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council states and Turkey on Thursday called for urgent intervention of the UN in Syria to stop the killing of innocent people. They strongly advocated the need for the speedy implementation of the UNSC resolution, calling for the unimpeded and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to all Syrian cities. The GCC and Turkish ministers met in

Riyadh, Oct 13: The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) urged all foreign Haj pilgrims to leave the Kingdom before the expiry of their visas. It warned that pilgrims who overstay the visas or those who help them overstay in the Kingdom will face stringent punitive measures. “No Haj pilgrim is allowed to move outside of Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah or engage in work in any parts of the Kingdom