Middle East

Jeddah, Jul 11: A total of 4.8 million pilgrims performed Umrah up until Tuesday, the last day of Shabaan, according to a senior government official. Hatem Al-Qadi, deputy minister of Haj and spokesman for the ministry, said 4.5 million pilgrims have already left the Kingdom. “We now have only 300,000 people who have not left so far.” He said the recent extension of applications for Umrah until

Makkah, Jul 10: Three floors of the newly constructed annex of the Grand Mosque have been opened to accommodate 400,000 more worshippers this Ramadan. The opening comes upon directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who initiated the new expansion project to increase the mosque’s capacity to more than two million. Apart from the basement, first and mezzanine floors, the mosque

Cairo, Jul 8: Egyptian soldiers and police guarding a military building opened fire on supporters of the ousted president on Monday in bloodshed that claimed over 50 lives, officials and witnesses said, and plunged the divided country deeper into crisis with calls by Islamists for all-out struggle against the army. The carnage outside the Republican Guard building in Cairo — where toppled

Dubai, Jul 8: A Saudi-based Indian businessman has secured the release of a compatriot serving a jail term in the Gulf Kingdom for killing a local resident in Jeddah by paying blood money to the family of the victim. Indian businessman Mohammed Alungal paid a sum of Rs 36,13,000 on behalf of Vinish Pappachan, who had been ordered to pay the money as diyah (blood money), it is said. Pappachan, who

Riyadh, Jul 8: The Directorate General of Passports will switch over to online passport services for firms with 100 or less employees from Sept. 7 (Dhul Qaada 1). Col. Khaled Al-Saikhan, Director of IT Department at the Directorate, said that all passport offices across the Kingdom will stop issuing or renewing residency permits (iqama) or issuing or canceling exit and re-entry visas directly from

Washington, Jul 7: U.S. national security advisor Susan E. Rice had told deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s team that the president would leave office an hour before his ouster by the military, a report says. An Arab foreign minister had called Morsi as an emissary of the United States to give him one final chance to make changes to his cabinet to end the standoff with the military, The

Jeddah, Jul 7: The SR 62 billion new Makkah public transport system, including a metro with four lines and 88 stations and a fast bus service network, will bring about dramatic improvement in transport of pilgrims and citizens in the city, said Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar. He said the first phase of the project, costing around SR 25.5 billion, would begin by the middle of next year. It will be

Cairo, Jul 6: Thirty people have been killed and over 300 injured across Egypt in clashes between opponents and supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and in clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and security forces, according to Egyptian Health Ministry officials. In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the fierce clashes between rival protesters erupted after Friday prayers over this week

Cairo, Jul 4: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has sent a cable of congratulation to Chancellor Adli Mansour, President of Egypt. On Wednesday evening, Egypt’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ousted President Muhammed Mursi and declared the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court caretaker leader. In his message to Mansour, King Abdullah appeal to God to help him "shoulder the

Jeddah, Jul 4: Saudis are now working in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries particularly Kuwait. In contrast, very few GCC citizens work in the Kingdom. In 2012, a total of 4,854 Saudis worked in GCC countries, 2,825 if them in Kuwait, according to a report from the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). The report said that 3,191 Saudis worked in the public sector in GCC