Middle East

Riyadh, Jul 18: Companies and individuals are showing great generosity during Ramadan, according to many people polled here recently by Arab News. Monther M. Tayeb, a press relations and communications director of a multinational company in the Saudi capital, said: “Local companies and individuals show it during Ramadan. Companies give free food to their fasting employees, and non-Muslims, for

Jeddah, Jul 18: The salaries of expatriates in the private sector rose by 25 percent while those of Saudis declined by 1 percent during 2013, according to a report published by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily on Thursday, quoting figures released by the Labor Ministry and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). “The salaries of expats during the year rose by 25 percent or SR236 from an average

Dammam, Jul 17: The best time to exercise in Ramadan is an hour before breaking the fast or two to three hours after it for 30 minutes, says a local expert. Raida Al-Habib, a therapeutic and physical nutritionist, said that healthy eating at night and in the morning was also important. “Each meal should have a variety of small amounts of food such as cooked vegetables, the main dish and fruits

Jeddah, Jul 17: Civil Defense officers have evacuated all 256 guests from a hotel in Misfala district of Makkah in the early hours of Wednesday after a fire broke out in one of its rooms, sabq.org reported. Three firefighting teams took part in putting out the blaze and rescuing the hotel guests. The fire started from a room in the first floor of the nine-story building. Civil Defense officers

Makkah, Jul 16: Cleaners at the Grand Mosque in Makkah are facing tough time cleaning the mosque’s courtyard because of the large amount of food brought in by visitors to break their fast. Speaking on the issue, an official at the mosque, said: “Pilgrims and visitors at the Grand Mosque don’t need to bring in their own food as authorities are supplying over a million iftar packs to them daily,”

Jeddah, Jul 15: Prince Saud bin Musaed bin Abdul Aziz, president of the Gammon Group, has highlighted the strong relationship between Saudi Arabia and India. “We hope the Saudi-Indian relations would reach greater heights in the coming years,” he said while addressing an iftar party organized by the group. He said many major Indian companies are interested in doing business in Saudi Arabia to make

Gaza City, Jul 14: Some 40 more Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours. This comes after Israeli warplanes targeted several residential areas of the besieged enclave. Palestinian officials say at least three people including a woman were killed on the seventh day of Israeli airstrikes on Monday. Two of the victims died of

Jeddah, Jul 14: Saudi Arabia has criticized the UN Security Council for not taking effective action to prevent the Israeli military aggression against Gaza. “The Security Council statement on Israel’s attack on the Gazans was not up to the expectations of its members and the stature of the international body,” said Abdullah Al-Muallami, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN. Al-Muallami

Gaza City, Jul 13: Palestinian families flee their homes in northern Gaza Strip as the Israeli military is preparing to unleash large-scale bombardment of the besieged territory. The displaced families have sought refuge at a United Nations school in Gaza City. “What has happened to us is that we didn’t want to leave the house. But they threw bombs on us, firing with their tanks, from the sea

Abu Dhabi, Jul 13: The girl, who was one year and seven months old, died due to suffocation and tiredness caused by high temperatures. An Emirati girl suffocated to death after her parents “forgot” her in their car in Al Ruwais City in the Western Region on Thursday night. The girl, who was one year and seven months old, died due to suffocation and tiredness caused by high temperatures. Colonel