Middle East

Jeddah, Jan 29: Torrential rains and dust storms have swept the Kingdom, resulting in evacuations from wadis and other threatened areas of Tabuk and the closure of Tabuk schools on Monday. Weather forecasters are saying that the bad weather could stay around for the next couple of days. Clearly, the hardest hit area was Tabuk where schools were also closed for the week out of concern for the

Dubai, Jan 27: A man died in an accident at the Funfair Area of Global Village on Thursday evening after which the authorities decided to close rides area, according to a a press statement. “Global Village announces the suspension of the operations of the funfair rides area, which are owned and operated by Freij Entertainment, until further notice. These precautions come as a result of yesterday’s

Dubai, Jan 23: Thick fog covered most parts of Dubai and neighbouring emirates on Tuesday morning as motorists reported near-zero visibility. The fog, which continued well into the day, caused minor accidents though no major ones were reported. It also caused traffic snarls on some roads. “There were no serious accidents which required any intervention from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)

Jeddah, Jan 22: Hotels in Saudi Arabia experienced noticeable increases in occupancy rates, with Jeddah increasing by 7.0 percent year-to-date, and Madinah increasing 2.0 percent year-to-date, Ernst and Young Middle East said in its latest Hotel Benchmark Survey. Compared to November 2011, Riyadh’s occupancy rate increased by 17.0 percent in November 2012. This is accredited to the various

Dubai, Jan 21: After mobile phone texts lying to victims that they have won large cash prizes, a new phone scam appears to have just surfaced in the UAE. Several victims say they receive brief calls and when they call back, they hear obscene voices before discovering that part of their call credit has gone. While Dubai police say they are working to track the source of these calls

Jeddah, Jan 17: Calls are mounting for the government to repeal the proposed levy for businesses not meeting Saudization requirements. Analysts have said that implementing the measure will impose an additional economic burden of some SR60 billion annually on Saudi families across the country. Employers are now forced to pay SR2,400 a year for each foreign worker that pushes the work force at a

Riyadh, Jan 15: Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, has demanded the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) submit a report to him on the impact it monitored with regard to the Ministry of Labor’s decision to raise the cost of the expatriate worker in the Saudi market to SR 2,400 a year. The order came after a meeting held recently between the crown prince and the members of the

Riyadh, Jan 14: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has appointed new governors for Madinah and the Eastern Province, the Royal Court said on Monday. Named governor of Madinah Region with the rank of minister was Prince Faisal bin Salman, who is chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). Prince Faisal replaced Prince Abdulaziz bin Majed, who had earlier asked to be

Riyadh, Jan 14: The Saudi government deplored Sunday the criticism and misleading statements made by a number of international agencies over Rizana Nafeek’s execution last Wednesday. Saudi Arabia “deplores the statements made over the execution of the Sri Lankan maid who had plotted and killed her employer’s four-month-old baby by suffocating him to death, one week after she arrived in the Kingdom

Ras Al Khaimah/Dubai, Jan 13: At least six people, including two women, were killed and six injured in traffic accidents in Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah during the last two days. Two women were killed and three others sustained injuries in a horrific road accident in Ras Al Khaimah. According to the police the dead comprised a mother and daughter and the injured included three sisters