Middle East

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

Riyadh, Nov 13: Former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist and Madinah expansion project consultant Abdul Salam emphasized on the need for centers of national excellence in Muslim countries. He said that these centers of excellence would cater to the development of huge human resources and convert them into a diverse talent pool serving the purposes of the Ummah at large. He hailed

Jeddah, Nov 12: The Labor Ministry’s ongoing inspections backed by security teams to check on expatriates’ legal work status, particularly those working in the industrial sector is causing much concern among those who are not in compliance with the Kingdom’s work and residency laws. With the Labor Ministry having joined forces with security teams, illegal workers who could earlier slip through the

Jeddah, Nov 11: A proposal under consideration by the Shoura Council suggests the possibility of returning rehabilitated addicts to their former jobs after treatment. The security committee of the council has, however, rejected the proposal. Some members, on the other hand, quoted a survey indicating that 45 percent of current addicts are holding jobs at present. The proposal, submitted by Shoura

Beirut, Nov 10: Unknown assailants killed five nuclear engineers Sunday while they were on a bus just north of Damascus, near the research center where they worked, a monitor said on Sunday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its reports, was unable however to say how they were killed or supply their nationalities.

Jeddah, Nov 9: The Ministry of Transport has decided to implement new regulations for taxis, whether owned by individuals or firms, starting from mid-February. The new regulations involve extensive amendments, mainly insurance coverage to include third parties, the passengers and drivers through an insurance company licensed to operate in the Kingdom. Also, vehicles must be equipped with GPS and