Middle East

Jeddah, Aug 29: Education Minister Prince Khaled Al-Faisal received an award of excellence from Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah at a huge gathering of princes, ministers, elite and dignitaries from both the government and private sectors at the Jeddah Hilton on Tuesday. The education minister had been nominated for his work during his time as Makkah governor. “Prince Khaled played a

Jeddah, Aug 26: More than 1.3 million foreign pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year, according to the Haj Ministry. South Asian countries will send the largest contingent of 410,000 Hajis followed by Arab countries with 250,000. About 228,000 pilgrims will come from Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia and Malaysia, while Turkey and European countries will send 190,000, non-Arab

Riyadh, Aug 25: The Ministry of Labor and the Riyadh police are setting up a joint operations team to nab labor law violators in the Riyadh region as new raids on Sunday targeted recruitment offices in Riyadh that were dealing with undocumented workers. The decision follows a meeting held in Riyadh between Abdullah Al-Olayan, director-general of the Labor Ministry’s branch office, and Capt

Riyadh, Aug 24: The Ministry of Health announced Saturday mandatory measures for Haj and Umrah pilgrims coming from countries with high rates of infectious diseases. The ministry had already sent out a circular to the Foreign Ministry, which distributed among embassies the notice spelling out health requirements prior to issuing pilgrim visas. Sami Badawood, Jeddah Health Affairs director, told

Riyadh, Aug 22: Police arrested a large number of illegal expatriates in the south of the capital in an early morning raid on Thursday under the direct supervision of Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. According to one eyewitness, operations started immediately after dawn prayers. He said that more than 400 undocumented expatriates, including women and children living in the

Jeddah, Aug 21: Saudi authorities are getting ready to launch a massive campaign next month against more than 17,000 firms that are in the "red zone" of the Nitaqat nationalization scheme for not employing a single Saudi, Labor Ministry sources said. “There are 17,314 red-zone firms in different parts of the Kingdom that employ 241,530 foreign workers,” one source said, adding that labor officials

Riyadh, Aug 19: Many expat women are still reluctant to transfer their sponsorships from their male guardians onto their employers despite new Labor Ministry laws. Abeer Aslam, a human resources consultant in Riyadh, said many expat women just don’t have the guts to leave their comfort zone of security under their family sponsorships. “Most expat women have grown up here and cannot risk being sent

Jeddah, Aug 18: The Haj Ministry is all set to hand over accommodation blocks in Mina to low-cost Haj operators ahead of the annual pilgrimage. The ministry, however, has still not announced the names of the operators who have been allotted the housing, which enables local pilgrims to perform Haj at reduced costs. The Civil Defense, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), National Water Company (NWC) and

Makkah, Aug 17: The Kingdom’s top religious scholar has called for a global code of conduct for leaders, intellectuals and young people to halt a dangerous slide into chaos and violence. Addressing a large congregation at the Grand Mosque in Makkah during Friday prayers, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais said there was an urgent need for an international charter to protect the youth from being

Baghdad, August 17: Kurdish forces backed by U.S. airstrikes on Saturday were attempting to regain control of the strategic Mosul Dam from insurgents in northern Iraq. Islamic State militants meanwhile killed around 100 Yazidi men near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, after they refused to convert to Islam. The men were killed on Friday, while women and children were detained and taken to an