Middle East

Jeddah, Nov 3: Passengers departing from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport have expressed shock and disappointment at the new rule limiting the amount of Zamzam water they can carry with them. Earlier, passengers could take a minimum of 10 liters of Zamzam water per person, but the new rule limits the amount to only five liters per passenger causing tensions with airport officials

Abu Dhabi, Oct 31: In one of the largest drug hauls in the country, anti-narcotic officers have busted a gang of four persons and seized 4.5 million narcotic pills worth more than Dh500 million from Al Ain and Dubai in a joint operation code-named ‘Wooden Doors’. Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, said the suspects

Riyadh, Oct 30: Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who wrapped up a brief visit to Riyadh, met with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and senior government officials soon after his arrival at the Riyadh airbase on Tuesday night. Sheikh Sabah was welcomed on arrival by Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin

Jeddah, Oct 29: Ending days of speculation on the matter, the Labor Ministry on Tuesday announced that expatriate women teachers on dependent visas can work at private schools without transferring their sponsorship. In an exclusive statement to Arab News, Ahmed Al-Humaidan, undersecretary for labor policies at the ministry, said: “The decision is aimed at offsetting the shortage of teachers at

Jeddah, Oct 28: A senior official from the Labor Ministry in Jeddah has rejected media reports that a decision has been taken to allow teachers on dependent visas to work without transferring their sponsorship to their employers. Labor Office Director Sultan Al-Harbi said on Monday that the reports were not true. "No decision has been taken yet to allow women to work at private schools without

Riyadh, Oct 27: Saudi women are demanding harsher and more official regulations against sexual harassment as they enter into new work domains. Families, social institutions and mosques are being urged to join forces in the campaign against harassment. Women who frequent malls and shopping centers face all types of woes, especially ladies whose jobs involve direct interaction with men. While some

Jeddah, Oct 26: The Ministry of Labor will bar sponsorship transfers and new visas for companies in the lower end of the green (safe) zone of the Kingdom’s nationalization scheme in a bid to encourage these companies to further enhance Saudi-to-expat ratios. The decision was also taken to prioritize services and incentives provided to companies with a healthier margin within the green zone. One

Jeddah, Oct 25: Gulf states are stepping up their awareness campaigns to alert young people about the dangers of extremism, said Kuwait’s Information Minister Sheikh Salman Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah. He said the new ‘Gulf Awareness’ programs would adopt a different approach with the aims of moving youth away from extremist and harmful views. Al-Sabah’s remarks followed a meeting of the Gulf information

Riyadh, Oct 24: Riyadh police arrested 247 illegal workers on Tuesday in the Malaqa and Manfouha districts in the capital. Acting on the orders of Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, security officers arrested the workers in the two districts located in the north and south of the capital. According to an official, most of the workers in Manfouha were from Ethiopia, and the

Riyadh, Oct 23: Eighteen million licensed vehicles are likely to be on Saudi roads by the end of this year, from 17 million last year, according to a study published by Al-Eqtisadiah daily. The number of licensed cars rose by 7 percent from 2011 to 2012, to 15.9 million vehicles, it said. This was a rise of 975,000 cars from the 14.9 million in 2011. About 81 percent of the registered vehicles in