Middle East

Riyadh, Dec 26: The Saudi-led coalition began a large-scale assault on Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday after two people died in missile strikes by the militia in the southwestern region of Jazan. The attack on the Kingdom late on Friday targeted the town of Samtah, and killed a Saudi citizen and a Yemeni. Six Saudis and a Bangladeshi were injured, and two shops and 12 vehicles were destroyed

Riyadh, Dec 25: A Yemeni rebel attack on Saudi Arabia's southern border town of Jizan killed two people and wounded seven more late Friday, Saudi state-run media reported. Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a projectile that killed a Saudi citizen and Yemeni resident in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Six of the wounded were Saudis and one was a

Riyadh, Dec 19: Saudi Arabia’s Public Health Authority (Weqaya) urged people to avoid unnecessary travel outside the Kingdom, especially to high-risk countries, as the Omicron variant spreads. Weqaya explained on Saturday that the world is witnessing a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the accelerated spread of the “Omicron” mutant in many countries. It also recommended

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched its bid to host the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh, Saudi media reports said. The Kingdom took part in a virtual general assembly meeting of the Bureau International des Expositions held in Paris to start the candidature process, Arab News reported. Fahd Al Rasheed, CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, said that Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Italy, Ukraine and

Dubai, Dec 14: Public and private sector employees will be entitled to the same types of leaves under the new unified general provisions announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation on Monday. The new provisions, under the Federal Decree Law no. 47 of 2021, aim to unify the public and private sectors to build an integrated, sustainable and competitive labour market that grants

Dubai, Dec 13: Prime Minister of Israeli Naftali Bennett has affirmed that the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement established a "new, deep and solid structure for diplomatic, economic and cultural relations" in this region based on cooperation that achieves prosperity for the societies and well-being of the people. In an exclusive interview with Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director-General of the

Against the backdrop of mosque minarets and a desert oil field, the biggest Catholic church in the Arabian peninsula opened its doors in Bahrain on Thursday. The cavernous Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, with seats for 2,300 people, will serve the majority-Muslim Gulf country’s small Catholic community. “We’re happy for this church,” Bahrain-based priest Father Charbel Fayad told AFP. “It will be

Doha, Dec 9: Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, arrived in Doha on Wednesday in an official visit during his Gulf tour. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, emir of the State of Qatar, received the Crown prince at the Amiri Diwan, where an official reception was held for him The Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council, held its sixth meeting, where the two sides

Dubai: UAE announced on Tuesday that it will transition to a four-and-a half-day working week, with Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday forming the new weekend. All Federal government departments will move to the new weekend from January 1, 2022. The authorities added that with this move, the UAE has become the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the

Riyadh, Dec 1: Saudi Arabia confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday quoting a Health Ministry source. The case was a Saudi national who has arrived from a North African country, the ministry said without giving further details. “With reference to what has already been announced on the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus