Middle East

Jeddah, Dec 6: Saudi Arabia’s massive spending on infrastructure and overhaul of its regulatory environment has made the country even more attractive for foreign investors. This is according to Prince Saud bin Khaled Al-Faisal, deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), who said that these developments have seen the Kingdom become one of the world’s leading

Jeddah, Dec 5: Forty-four major Saudi companies have only managed to fill 811 out of 2,758 jobs on offer at an employment fair organized by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). A report prepared by the RCCI reportedly revealed that the companies could not fill all the vacancies because too few unemployed citizens turned up. The lackluster turnout came despite the jobs meeting the

Abu Dhabi, Dec 4: A 37-year-old American woman was allegedly stabbed to death following an altercation inside the washroom of a shopping mall on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon. The woman was rushed to the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital in a critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries. The police have launched a manhunt to arrest the accused, whose gender has not

Jeddah, Dec 3: Saudi Arabian Airlines delayed one of its flights after a passenger claimed he saw the plane crash in a dream. The flight was supposed to travel from King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh to Jeddah on Tuesday morning. The Saudi man caused pandemonium when he stood up from his seat and proclaimed, according to local media: “I dreamt that this plane would crash.” The crew dealt

Jeddah, Dec 2: Mosques in the Kingdom will soon have close circuit cameras and a smart control system to monitor imams and muezzins (prayer callers) as they perform prayers, religious rituals and deliver sermons. The move will help record any irregularities or violations in the mosque. According to Abdullah Al-Howaimel, undersecretary for administrative and technical affairs at the Ministry of

Jeddah, Dec 1: The long-awaited verdict against people accused of causing the 2009 Jeddah floods has finally been announced. The floods killed more than 120 people and destroyed several homes causing damage to property worth millions of riyals in the sprawling city. The Court of Grievances issued 39 verdicts that convicted 45 defendants and acquitted 78 others. The convicted defendants will spend

Jeddah, Nov 30: GCC labor ministers have agreed to implement a skill assessment and certification project on expatriate workers in coordination with major manpower exporting countries such as India, Pakistan and the Philippines. The UAE and Kuwait have implemented the system on an experimental basis on construction and service workers recruited by the private sector while other GCC countries would

Riyadh, Nov 28: The GCC plans to set up a joint police force to tackle organized crime syndicates, terrorist groups, drug smugglers and human traffickers. The force, dubbed the Gulf Interpol, would have its headquarters in Abu Dhabi with Emirati Lt. Col Mubarak Al-Khayli as its chief, said a GCC statement released on Thursday. The GCC body would be similar to Europol, the European Union’s law

Madinah, Nov 26: Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman inaugurated an international seminar, entitled “The Printing and Publication of the Holy Qur’an: Realities and Objectives,” in Madinah on Tuesday. The forum was organized by the King Fahd Qur’an Printing Complex at Le Meridien Hotel in the holy city and was conducted under the aegis of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The

Jeddah, Nov 25: Saudi Arabia tops the list of countries impacted by advanced targeted cyber attack in META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa) computer networks, accounting for 30.1 percent of the total attacks in the region during the first half of this year, said a report issued by FireEye, a leader in cyber security. Turkey came second with 29.5 percent, followed by Qatar at 16 percent and the UAE