Middle East

Jeddah, Jun 10: King Abdulaziz University has conducted a successful experiment with a solar-powered unmanned aircraft. The project was initiated last year as a cooperative research project with Tokai University to design and build a drone aircraft powered by solar power to be used for civil defense and other peaceful purposes during the holy rituals. The aircraft can also be used to conduct

Jeddah, Jun 9: A businessman here has urged the state to overhaul the country’s education system so Saudis could be trained for jobs needed. He also called on the government to set up a statistics agency that could provide “accurate” data on the Saudi labor market, including the number of Saudis without work and their levels of education. It was recently revealed that there are 40,000 medical and

Jeddah, Jun 9: The Haj Ministry has decided to limit the validity of Umrah visas to only 14 days because of the ongoing work to expand the mataf — the cicumambulation area. According to a circular sent to Umrah agencies in the Kingdom and Saudi missions abroad two days ago, the new rule becomes effective Monday. “Yes, we have received a circular from the Saudi Embassy in New Delhi informing us

Jeddah, Jun 7: Nearly 240,000 expatriates have so far corrected their work status by transferring their sponsorship to companies where they presently work or to new employers, since the announcement of an amnesty for illegals two months ago. “A total of 239,883 expat workers have corrected their status so far,” the Ministry of Labor said in a statement, adding that 34,262 workers on average across

Jeddah, Jun 5: Hundreds of expatriate housewives who overstayed their Haj and Umrah visas are now becoming domestic workers in name only so that they can stay in the Kingdom with their husbands, Arab News has discovered. They are exploiting a Saudi government concession that allows Umrah or Haj pilgrims who came to the Kingdom prior to July 2008, to become domestic workers. In reality, they do not

Tehran, July 4: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the upcoming presidential election in Iran should create a political epic in the country. The most important matter in the [presidential] election is to create a political epic and the enthusiastic participation of the people in the polls, the Leader stated. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks while addressing a

Jeddah, Jun 4: The Shoura Council yesterday lambasted the Ministry of Culture and Information for presenting a weak annual report to the consultative body and said the report failed to meet its expectations. “The ministry’s report gave poor coverage of cultural events as its main focus was on media activities,” said Fahaad Al-Hamad, assistant president. Some Shoura members had the impression that

Jeddah, Jun 3: Passengers using King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah can now enjoy free Internet services. The General Authority of Civil Aviation yesterday launched the service at departure lounges of KAIA’s Northern and Southern Terminals. GACA’s IT Department has set up 42 Wi-Fi systems at the airport to provide the much-awaited service with the support of a specialized company. The

Jeddah, Jun 2: The Labor Ministry has made it mandatory for any organization, whether schools, companies or offices, to reserve vacancies in 19 job categories for only Saudis. These are: Executive HR manager, HR manager, labor affairs manager, staff relations manager, staff relations specialist, staff relations clerk, recruitment clerk, staff affairs clerk, attendance control clerk, receptionist

Dubai, Jun 1: The Ministry of Labour (MoL) has issued an administrative order specifying exemptions from the recently-announced midday break rule for labourers who work in the sun. Workers can continue in banned hours if they are working on outdoor projects that cannot be postponed for technical reasons, such as repairing damages to water pipes, petrol pipes, sewage pipes, or on disconnected