Middle East

Jeddah, Jun 26: The new King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah will open in the middle of 2015 with an increased capacity, a leading official said here on Tuesday. Abdul Hamid Abul Ora, director of the airport said: “The new airport will have a capacity of 30 million passengers in the first phase, 45 million in the second phase, and up to 80 million in the final phase.” The airport

Abu Dhabi, Jun 25: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the timings for services during the holy month of Ramadan covering customer service centres, car parks, public buses, Dubai Metro, marine transit modes, driving institutes, and vehicles testing and registration centres. “The customer service centres will deliver services at different times from Sunday to Thursday where Umm Al

Jeddah, Jun 23: Saudi authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle 526 kg of cocaine into the Kingdom through the Jeddah Islamic Port. The cocaine consignment came from a South American country, said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry. He said the police had taken necessary measures to foil the attempt to bring a huge amount of high-quality cocaine into the Kingdom

Jeddah, Jun 22: Kingdom's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh warned the Saudis against temporary marriages being promoted by marriage brokers abroad, stressing that this marriage is not approved in Islam. In his Friday sermon at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, he said that some Muslim youth are tricked into marriage with a legal contract and abuse its use. While traveling outside

Riyadh, Jun 21: The Shoura Council is studying a proposal to allow Saudi women to apply for international driving licenses in the Kingdom, which would allow them to drive abroad but with the ban still in place in the Kingdom. Latifa Al-Shaalan and Haya Al-Manei, two of the 30 women members of the council, have called for the council to consider this proposal, according to a report in a local

Abha, Jun 20: Nine people died and eight injured in two separate traffic accidents in the southern region on Thursday. In the first accident, eight people lost their lives and three injured when their vehicle hit a camel in Rijal Al-Mae, Asir region, said security sources. The early-morning crash took place on Jandalat Wadi Reem, said Ahmed Ibrahim Aseeri, spokesman of the Saudi Red Crescent

Jeddah, Jun 19: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility toward halting the dangerous Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people. “Israeli forces have been committing horrendous crimes against the Palestinian civilians under the pretext of the disappearance of three Israelis,” Deputy Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Salman

Jeddah, Jun 17: Saudi Arabia rejected Monday the idea of any foreign interference in Iraq and blamed Baghdad’s “sectarian and exclusionary” policies for the worsening security situation in the country. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have seized several Iraqi cities, threatening to split the country down sectarian lines, a deeply worrying prospect for the region and

Washington, Jun 16: The United States ordered an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf and laid out specific ways for Iraq to show it is forging the national unity necessary to gain assistance in its fight against insurgents. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday ordered the USS George HW Bush from the northern Arabian Sea as President Barack Obama considered possible military options for Iraq

New Delhi, Jun 15: Amid escalation in violence in Iraq, India today asked its citizens not to travel to the troubled-torn country and set up a 24-hour helpline to offer assistance to those living there. The government also asked Indians residing in Iraq to consider leaving the country in view of the "precarious" security situation there. "In view of the precarious security situation prevailing in