Middle East

Jerusalem, Jan 6: The head of the world’s largest Islamic organization on Monday paid a rare visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, urging Muslims to follow suit and come to the city in a bid to strengthen Palestinian claims to the holy site. The visit by Iyad Madani, secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, came at a sensitive time following months of tensions and

Jeddah, Jan 5: According to sources, Jeddah is likely to attract more than 1 million domestic tourists for the Historic Jeddah Festival later this month. More than 536 families reside in Jeddah’s historical district. The district, which has nearly 1,866 houses and buildings, was declared last year a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. Property owners and residents of the district, called Balad, say

Dammam, Jan 4: The Eastern Province municipality has begun renting out shops at the newly established Dammam Women's Market following the completion of all major construction work. Ziad bin Abdul Karim Al-Suwaidan, the EP Investments general manager, said that the project is set to make way for various commercial activities covering over 17,500 square meters. He said that the women's market

Jeddah, Jan 2: The multibillion-riyal expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah has seen several hotels demolished, resulting in the loss of 12,000 jobs, a local Arabic daily newspaper reported Thursday. Ghani Al-Ansari, the head of the tourism committee at the Madinah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying that the government must address the issue of men and women losing their

Cairo, Jan 1: An Egyptian court Thursday accepted an appeal against the sentence handed out to three Al-Jazeera journalists and a retrial will be scheduled, media reported. The three journalists -- Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste -- of the Qatar-based news network in English were sentenced in June last year. Fahmy and Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mohammed got

Jeddah, Dec 31: Major modifications will be made to the Saudi Payment Network System (SPAN) in 2015 to increase efficiency and reduce costs for banks, merchants and consumers, and counter the smuggling of cash. It would eventually also allow for withdrawals at point-of-sale (POS) terminals, and getting money from ATMs without cards. The new system, to be renamed Mada, will connect ATMs and POS

Jeddah, Dec 29: Expatriate workers pay nearly SR100 million for their dependents’ medical insurance as some employers only cover their staff and not families, according to an insurance expert Abdullah Al-Banawi, a member of the insurance committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), told Arab News that the new decision to provide medical insurance to families of the expatriate

Jeddah, Dec 26: The Passport Department has issued new regulations stating that family visitor visas would now be limited to only six months, or 180 days, an online paper said, quoting an official spokesman. The period would start once a visitor arrives in the Kingdom and registers on the passport department’s computerized system, Lt. Col. Ahmed bin Fahad Al-Luhaidan was quoted as saying. He said

Jeddah, Dec 22: The Jeddah municipality closed down this month more than 100 restaurants and eateries across the city due to poor hygienic conditions as part of a campaign to ensure compliance with hygiene and safety specifications, Assistant Mayor for Branch Municipalities Nasser Al-Miteb said. “The most common violations noticed were the sales of rotten food, items with expired validity dates or

Jeddah, Dec 21: Saudi security forces killed four terrorists in a clash in the Awamiyah region on Saturday, according to the Interior Ministry. The troops raided a terrorist hide-out in Awamiyah town and killed the four in an exchange of fire. The dead were behind the killing of a member of the security forces and wounding of another last Sunday, a ministry spokesman said, quoted by the SPA. They