Middle East

Jeddah, Oct 25: Several Saudi women who applied for driving licenses at Dallah Driving School in Jeddah had their applications rejected on Thursday by traffic officials. Naila Attar, a Saudi businesswoman, went with two friends to apply for licenses this week at the school. She said it was a futile situation for local women, but that they had some hope that officials would grant them the licenses

Jeddah/Dhahran, Oct 24: A group of young women were repeatedly harassed Tuesday by men at a Dhahran mall, triggering an angry wave of reaction across the country against it. The two-minute video shows a group of five young women wearing black abayas and headscarves being harassed by a countless number of young men at the Mall of Dhahran. The men were making funny moves at their victims and

Abu Dhabi, Oct 23: The recent visit of American singer Rihanna to Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi drew a lot of flak especially from social media websites with people denouncing her visit when she took improper photos at the sacred place. Rihanna was in the UAE as part of her “Diamonds” world tour. A hashtag page was consequently created under the headline ‘Rihanna profanes the Shaikh Zayed

Abha, Oct 22: The Ministry of Interior has sent a strongly-worded circular to all regional governorates asking them to start taking stringent penal action against those Saudis and expatriates who performed Haj without a permit. The violators will be summoned next Sunday to the nearest police stations across the Kingdom in order to take punitive measures against them. The governorates have been

Riyadh, Oct 19: The Kingdom has won accolades from the World Health Organization for the medical services it provided to pilgrims during the Haj season. Ezz Al-Din Al-Muhsini, WHO coordinator of elimination and eradication of infectious diseases, and coordinator of the eradication of polio, said: “The well-equipped hospitals designated to serve Haj pilgrims indeed surpassed many of the world-class

Jeddah, Oct 19: The Passport Department has sent text messages to sponsors and employers to fire their expatriate employees who performed Haj illegally this year, in preparation for their deportation. The Kingdom's security agencies used new fingerprinting devices in Makkah and the holy sites this year to detect expatriates without Haj permits. Ali Massoud, who has a barbershop in Jeddah, told

United Nations (United States), Oct 18: Saudi Arabia's angry rejection of a Security Council seat one day after winning it is a United Nations first that stunned members of the body on Friday. But diplomats said there had been no official notice from Riyadh of its refusal to take up the seat on January 1. It was possible the conservative kingdom could change its mind, they added. "This is totally

Dubai, Oct 16: Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance; Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Shaikh Majed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority; Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and a

Jeddah, Oct 15: The impact of the Nitaqat campaign on the sheep and goat markets is perceptible this year, as residents across the Kingdom prepare for the ritual of sacrifice on Eid Al-Adha. Sudanese expatriates, who used to dominate the sheep markets in the Kingdom, are conspicuous by their absence this year following the amnesty. Prices of sheep and lamb usually soar with the high demand at this

Jeddah, Oct 15: Many Saudi families have already left the country looking for a fun vacation away from home, and their preferred destinations, according to Jeddah-based travel and tourism offices, are Dubai, Bahrain, Istanbul, Malaysia, London and other European countries. “It’s that time of the year when Jeddawis do not like to stay in the city because of the huge inflow of pilgrims and tourists