Middle East

Riyadh, Feb 3: Saudi Arabia has asked several countries to shut down their Haj missions in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah in the off-season, in a renewed bid to curb the mushrooming of illegal offices in these cities. The Haj missions would be allowed to operate during the Haj season for four months from Shawwal to Muharram every year. “A circular has been received by the Pakistani mission

Jeddah, Feb 2: Saudi Arabia is all set for a new era under Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as the newly appointed ministers and regional governors took oath of office in front of the king at Al-Yamamah Palace on Sunday. King Salman urged the new governors and ministers to give top priority for the welfare and prosperity of citizens. “May Allah help us all to serve our religion

Riyadh, Jan 31: Saudi Arabia's new King Salman ordered a lavish payout to all state employees on Thursday and reshuffled some top government jobs while keeping in place the oil, foreign, finance, defence and interior ministers. The top oil exporter will pay two months of bonus salary to all state employees and pension to retired government workers, he said in a series of decrees read aloud on

Jeddah, Jan 30: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman announced a massive Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, appointing Azzam Al-Dakhil, new education minister, Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khateeb new health minister, Adel Al-Toraifi, minister of culture and information and Abdul Lateef bin Abdul Malik Al-Asheikh new minister of municipal and rural affairs. King Salman, who ascended the throne on

Riyadh, Jan 30: Courts in Riyadh have sentenced more than 65 men to prison terms ranging from 2 days to three months for their refusal to implement court rulings in favor of their former wives, the Ministry of Justice announced. The rulings made recently said that the men either refused to pay alimony or prevented children from visiting their mothers, the ministry said. Some verdicts were also

Dubai, Jan 29: Aisha Al Marzouqi is the UAE’s first woman to work as a crane operator at Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. Aisha, a 28 year-old Emirati, operates one of the port’s super-post-Panamax cranes weighing 1,932 tonnes with a height of 126.5 metres. Her main job is to unload container vessels using the crane which has a lifting capacity of 90 tonnes. Aisha is currently in the final phase of her

Jeddah, Jan 28: A member of the Council of Senior Scholars said pledging allegiance to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman through social networking websites is allowed, especially since the monarch is the first Saudi king to have a Twitter account. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manie, a member of the council, said that any citizen can use social media to pledge allegiance to King Salman, stressing

Riyadh, Jan 28: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and US President Barack Obama pledged to work closely on a range of regional and international issues at a meeting on Tuesday, including terrorism, the Iranian nuclear talks and conflicts in neighboring states. In their first formal meeting, the talks focused broadly on counter-terrorism and regional stability with special reference to

Jeddah, Jan 27: A new era dawned in Saudi Arabia on Monday under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as citizens across the country expressed their confidence in the new king’s ability to take the Kingdom to new heights of progress and prosperity. The three-day mourning period for the late King Abdullah ended Sunday. King Salman, Crown Prince Muqrin, Deputy Crown Prince

Riyadh, Jan 25: Members of the Shoura Council and senior government officials said that the country has lost a wise leader who took the nation to great heights of peace and prosperity, “We have lost a wise leader who dedicated his life and efforts to serve his nation, and he remained the guardian of security and stability in the country as well as in the region,” Amin Al-Jaafri, deputy speaker of