Middle East

Makkah, Sep 9: Work on the demolition of two minarets close to Al-Umrah Gate of the Grand Mosque started on Sunday so as to facilitate the ongoing expansion of the mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Ka’aba). Electricity to the minarets has been disconnected. Engineers and technicians from the company, which is implementing the expansion of the Grand Mosque and the mataf, have started

Jeddah, Sep 8: The first group of 235 Indian pilgrims arrived on an Air India flight in Madinah on Saturday from Goa. According to Irshad Ahmad, consul for press and information at the Indian Consulate in Jeddah, Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao and Consul General Faiz Ahmad Kidwai welcomed the pilgrims. The oldest pilgrim is an 82-year-old woman named Aisamma, and the youngest a 24-year-old man named

Jeddah, Sep 8: Saudi Post will provide three labor-related services for expats next week. These include transferring sponsorships, issuing or renewing work permits and changing professions, said Sami Al-Owaidhi, its vice president. “We’ll also provide services such as updating information related to a private firm’s address at the Labor Ministry and registration of its national address,” he said

Dubai, Sep 6: The Central Bank of the UAE has asked banks and exchange houses operating in the country to advise their customers travelling to India to abide by the laws on carrying cash to India. In a notice issued on Tuesday, the Central Bank also asked the banks and money exchangers to warn their customers of the consequences of failing to do so. “The penalties stipulated in the new law include

Jeddah, Sep 4: Muslims should stick to Islamic teachings and shun the dowry system, Indian expatriates in the Kingdom have said in reaction to reports that the incidence of domestic violence in their country has worsened because of dowry disputes. Women’s rights activists on Tuesday, citing statistics from of the National Crime Records Bureau, said 8,233 Indian women died at the hands of their

Jeddah, Sep 4: Thirteen-year-old Reham Al-Hekami, the victim of an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion at Jazan Public Hospital, returned to her hometown in the southern region on Monday after receiving intensive treatment at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. Mazhara village celebrated her arrival with a large number of people, including friends and relatives, present at King Abdullah

Dubai, Sep 3: Nine new schools will open in Dubai this year, setting a record for the largest number of new schools to open in an academic year since the development of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in 2007. The opening of these new schools will take the total number of private schools to 159, marking Dubai’s rebound from a financial slowdown during the global economic crisis

Jeddah, Sep 3: Saudi Arabia will not be lenient with violators of Haj regulations, the Council of Ministers said Monday, reaffirming the Kingdom’s move to prevent Saudis and expatriates from performing the annual pilgrimage without Haj permits. “The Kingdom will be strict in executing punishment on violators of Haj regulations,” said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja after the

Jeddah, Sep 1: The recent ministerial decision that prohibits daughters of expatriate workers to transfer their sponsorship from their guardian to their employer and the decision that disallows them to work at all has sparked disagreement among expat families and working daughters in the Kingdom. Shabal Amri, a Jordanian national working at Al-Rajhi Bank in Jeddah, says that there is no way the

Sharjah , Sep 1: Nurses, tailors and bakers are some of the workers in 86 low paid job categories who will once again be able to drive around on Sharjah streets, after authorities overturned a 2008 decision to withhold licences from such residents. The news is not only being welcomed by those affected workers, but driving schools who are anticipating a cash injection from an influx of customers