Middle East

Riyadh, May 22: A Riyadh-based Saudi company has introduced an online taxi service that can be accessed via smartphones and on a toll free number. “MyTaxi Saudia” has begun providing services, with a soft launch held at the first Saudi Mobile Expo, which concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday. MyTaxi Saudia was one of the exhibitors at the expo. “The Riyadh-based company operates under the slogan ‘Any

Madinah, May 21: Madinah’s Haj Ministry branch has launched an e-communication service on several social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, for the very first time. The ministry’s branch has also provided a mobile number and a landline for addressing inquiries and complaints around the clock. Muhammad Al-Beijawi, branch head, said the move comes as part of efforts to improve Haj and

Jeddah, May 20: The Kingdom on Monday announced a temporary ban on the import of live cattle from Brazil following the discovery of new cases of the foot-and-mouth disease in one of the country’s provinces, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. This comes in addition to an existing ban on beef imports from the country. Brazil was one of the largest suppliers of beef to the Kingdom, exporting

Jeddah, May 19: A group of Asian expat workers recently fell victim to the dire language barrier that exists between themselves and authorities. The workers were caught on video allegedly whipping up soup using dog bones during inspection rounds although they were, in fact, using nothing but the bones of sheep and cows. The videoclip, which shows them cooking in filthy conditions at a residential

New York, May 19: The biggest risk that Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) will become a global epidemic, ironically, may lie with globe-trotting health care workers. “This is how MERS might spread around the world,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. It can take five to 14 days for someone infected with MERS to show symptoms, more

Riyadh. May 18: Five more deaths from the MERS coronavirus were announced on Saturday by the Health Ministry bringing the death toll to 168 since September 2012. The ministry said nine more confirmed cases of MERS have been reported in last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected cases to 629 since the outbreak of the chronic disease. The latest fatalities are three patients from a

Jeddah, May 17: The Ministry of Labor caught 500 Saudi girls involved in fake Saudization efforts in the past year. The girls colluded with business owners and some businesses to falsely represent themselves as having achieved the required Saudization percentage for the companies that will prevent them from lapsing into the red category. The human resources fund Hadaf came to know about the fraud

Riyadh, May 16: Health authorities on Thursday announced the deaths of another three people from the MERS respiratory virus, taking the country's toll to 160. The death toll rose as US reports said airline crews have also been told to be on the lookout for passengers suffering from symptoms and report them to the authorities if they appear ill. Asian transport hub Singapore said it will begin

Jeddah/Geneva, May 15: The Ministry of Health reported five deaths and 16 new cases of the MERS coronavirus, which included a two-year old infant with congenital problems in Madinah, on Wednesday. However, the WHO said the spread of the puzzling virus doesn’t yet constitute a global health emergency. The decision was made after a meeting of WHO expert group. “Calling a global emergency in a world

Riyadh, May 13: Five people died and eight were infected with the MERS coronavirus on Monday, bringing the death toll to 147 since September 2012. The new cases included five women, according to the Health Ministry. Four patients, all women, were diagnosed in Riyadh, while two were reported in Jeddah and two in Madinah. Patients in Riyadh were aged 31, 60, 74 and 80, one of whom died at a private