Middle East

Jeddah, Feb 10: The two new councils set up by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman last month have been given stringent mandates to formulate and implement the country’s political, security and economic policies, the Cabinet announced on Monday. The Council of Political and Security Affairs and the Council of Economic and Development Affairs would “identify various trends, visions and

Jeddah, Feb 9: The Labor Ministry has softened its Saudization drive in favor of businesses by canceling a previous decision that demanded 13 weeks for confirmation of a Saudi’s appointment as a full employee under Nitaqat. Under the new decision, a Saudi would be calculated in the Nitaqat system soon after his registration with the General Organization for Social Insurance, provided the company

Riyadh, Feb 8: The number of smokers among Saudi secondary schoolgirls reached 65 percent, while the rate among intermediate schoolgirls stands at 45 percent, a recently-published survey said. The survey, conducted by the Faculty of Medicine at the Jeddah-based King Abdulaziz University, said the phenomenon poses a real threat to the health of Saudi women in the long term. In a similar study

Jeddah, Feb 6: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has ordered all Saudi banks not to touch the two-month salary bonus granted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to all Saudi government and military employees, retirees and students. According to Talat Hafiz, secretary-general of Media and Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks, this procedure will protect Saudis who are

Jeddah, Feb 5: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Wednesday called the burning alive of a Jordanian fighter pilot "inhuman and contrary to Islam." In a message of condolence to Jordan's King Abdallah, he said Saudi Arabia “learned with profound sadness of the martyrdom of Lt. Maaz Al-Kasaasbeh.” King Salman condemned the “heinous crime,” which he said was against all values of

Riyadh, Feb 3: Chairing his first Cabinet meeting as monarch and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on Monday, King Salman said that Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy would remain in place. Saudi Arabia’s policies in relation to Arab, Muslim and international countries “will remain unchanged,” the king said during an address to the Cabinet. “We will work hard in the service of Islam, for the betterment

Riyadh, Feb 3: Saudi Arabia has asked several countries to shut down their Haj missions in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah in the off-season, in a renewed bid to curb the mushrooming of illegal offices in these cities. The Haj missions would be allowed to operate during the Haj season for four months from Shawwal to Muharram every year. “A circular has been received by the Pakistani mission

Jeddah, Feb 2: Saudi Arabia is all set for a new era under Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as the newly appointed ministers and regional governors took oath of office in front of the king at Al-Yamamah Palace on Sunday. King Salman urged the new governors and ministers to give top priority for the welfare and prosperity of citizens. “May Allah help us all to serve our religion

Riyadh, Jan 31: Saudi Arabia's new King Salman ordered a lavish payout to all state employees on Thursday and reshuffled some top government jobs while keeping in place the oil, foreign, finance, defence and interior ministers. The top oil exporter will pay two months of bonus salary to all state employees and pension to retired government workers, he said in a series of decrees read aloud on

Jeddah, Jan 30: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman announced a massive Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, appointing Azzam Al-Dakhil, new education minister, Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb new health minister, Adel Al-Toraifi, minister of culture and information and Abdul Lateef bin Abdul Malik Al-Asheikh new minister of municipal and rural affairs. King Salman, who ascended the throne on