Middle East

Dubai/Baghdad, Jul 9: At least 45 Daesh group militants have died after eating a poisoned iftar meal, British newspaper the Daily Mail has reported. It is thought that a group of 145 militants had sat together to break their fast, but only 100 survived the meal, the report added. The poisoning is thought to have happened in Mosul, the report added, citing a spokesman for the Kurdish Democratic

Riyadh, Jul 8: Several young Saudis are collecting and repackaging tons of leftover food from iftar and suhoor tables this month for needy people throughout the country. “Did you know that there are many poor families who need food, and go to bed sad and hungry, while the leftovers at weddings and parties are thrown into the garbage,” stated a slogan at an organization named ‘Collector of Leftover

Jeddah, Jul 4: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman opened the new Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah on Thursday night. He was met at the airport by Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman and Suleiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, head of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA). The king toured the facility, which has architecture reflecting the city’s

Kuwait City, Jun 29: Authorities on Sunday identified the suicide bomber behind an attack on a Shiite mosque that killed 27 people and injured 227 as a Saudi citizen who flew into the Gulf nation just hours before blowing himself up. The Interior Ministry named the bomber as Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen Al-Gabbaa and said he was born in 1992, making him 22 or 23 years old. It was not immediately

Makkah, June 27: About 220 Filipinos converted to Islam on the same day in Saudi Arabia after having Iftar (Ramadan evening meal) with Muslims. The 220 workers at a local company decided to embrace Islam after they were invited to the religion by the Islamic Guidance Office near the Western town of Makkah. "They had Iftar with us for a few days... we then decided to invite them to Islam and they

Jeddah, Jun 27: Family visit visas will continue to be issued throughout the year without any interruption, an informed source at the Directorate General of Passports said. Renewal of such visas will also be possible in accordance with the rules laid down by the government, the source added. “The total duration of visit visas will be six months and those could be extended in accordance with prior

Dubai, Jun 26: The cosmopolitan nature of Dubai coupled with a strong lifestyle consideration is making the emirate an extremely attractive real estate market for the global super rich, according to Wealth-X and Sotheby’s International Realty. In a report, titled, “The Europe, Middle East and Africa luxury residential real estate report 2015”, the companies reveal that the emirate has the

Riyadh, Jun 25: A Pakistani firm under investigation for fraud allegedly sold 1,198 fake degrees to Saudis between 2011 and 2015, a local publication reported on Wednesday. Pakistani authorities have already arrested the owner of Axact Company, Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, in Karachi for allegedly selling thousands of fake degrees to customers worldwide during this period. Saudis received 1,198 fake

Riyadh, Jun 21: The Passport Department has announced that companies and individuals would no longer need to visit its offices from Aug. 16 because services would be available online and identity cards for expatriate workers would be sent through Saudi Post, a media report has said. Col. Khaled Al-Saikhan, assistant director of passports for technical affairs, said the new identity card for

Riyadh, Jun 19: The government will provide new machine-readable identity cards to expatriates from the first day of the Islamic year, or Oct. 14 this year, in a bid to fight fraud and improve the efficiency of its systems. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, launched the “Muqeem” (Resident) card, which will replace the current one, in Riyadh on Thursday. The