Middle East

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

Jeddah, Nov 24: So called experts have emphasized the need for population control to preserve the economic resources and urged the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and the Shoura Council to express their opinion on the sensitive issue. “People are afraid of talking about birth control in the Kingdom because of sensitivity and ignore the educational, economic and organizational dimensions of the

Jeddah, Nov 23: Authorities have taken steps to nationalize more jobs in travel, tourism and hotel industries, petrochemicals, carpentry and plumbing sectors as part of efforts to reduce the number of unemployed nationals. The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) said Saturday it was increasing the number of professions slated for training-cum-employment program to 90, adding 20

Dubai, Nov 20: The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced a woman babysitter to life in jail for killing her employer’s 11-month-old child with a scarf. According to the records, on January 18, while the employer VK, 36, British housewife of Indian origin, was outside her house, she got a phone call from her sister telling her that her daughter, who was in the custody of the babysitter

Dammam, Nov 19: There has been a 47 percent increase in lawsuits brought by women to divorce their husbands over the past year, to 2,033 cases, according to statistics released by the Justice Ministry. The cases, known as khula, took place up until the end of the Hijri year, or Oct. 23 this year. There were 512 cases in Makkah region, 324 in Riyadh and 191 in the Eastern Province. There were also

Riyadh, Nov 18: Three leading GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain — have resolved their eight-month-old dispute with another GCC member Qatar on Sunday and decided to send back their ambassadors to Doha. The move initiated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has been widely welcomed by foreign diplomats, journalists and scholars in the Kingdom. The annual GCC summit would

Jerusalem, Nov 17: Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in annexed east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” he said at a news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “We won’t accept any

Riyadh, Nov 15: In a major crackdown, Riyadh police have arrested 360 expatriates staying illegally in the Kingdom including 60 wanted men. Police teams, acting on a directive from Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz carried out raids on foreign workers involved in criminal activities including thefts, sorcery, employing illegal workers and brewing liquor. The raids, over a period