Middle East

Jeddah, Mar 19: Marriage loans will be increased to SR60,000 under a new scheme approved by the Saudi Credit and Savings Bank. The new scheme also includes lowering the age requirement for applicants for family loans. In addition, these loans will be made available for employees who earn up to SR10,000 instead of the previous SR8,000 cap. “The main amendments to the regulations include raising the

Jeddah, Mar 18: America is acting like a Third World country, said Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the US, during an interview with The Financial Times. Speaking about US President Barack Obama’s latest budget proposal, Prince Turki asked: “Is there any chance of that being passed?” Edward Luce, the journalist who conducted the interview, replied in the negative. It was

Riyadh, Mar 17: The Ministry of Justice has found 10 women guilty of impersonation during court hearings related to domestic disputes such as divorce, disengagement lawsuits (known in Arabic as “khula“), alimony and inheritance. According to sources, these women would go to court ahead of proceedings pretending to be the plaintiffs in order to withdraw cases filed by women on the opposing side of

Riyadh, Mar 16: Trade and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah has said that merchants and factories that engage in the adulteration of products in either the Kingdom or China would be blacklisted. Al-Rabiah made his statement following the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Chinese Public Department for Quality Control, Test and Quarantine, to combat counterfeit and imitation goods during

Jeddah, Mar 15: The Ministry of Labor announced plans to launch a program next week to ensure the rights of domestic workers and to ascertain the responsibilities of employers toward their employees. The program will introduce and discuss the rights that domestic workers are entitled to receive from their employers, including health care, contract renewals, paid sick leaves and days off. In

Riyadh, Mar 13: Pakistanis should ensure they have valid passports to renew their residence permits as required by new Saudi legislation. Pakistan Consul General Aftab Ahmed Khokhar issued this warning here recently at a community function. He said the Saudi government recently introduced new laws making it mandatory for expatriates to have valid passports to renew their iqamas.He said many

Riyadh, Mar 12: Riyadh has been ranked one of the most polluted cities in the world, according a report released by a United Nations organization. The World Health Organization (WHO) report named Ahvaz, the capital of the Khuzestan Province in Iran, to be suffering the worst levels of air pollution, followed by Ulan Bator in Mongolia. The list also included Lahore, New Delhi, Riyadh, Cairo, Dhaka

Dubai, Mar 10: An Indian in Dubai has been jailed for six months followed by deportation from the United Arab Emirates for molesting a five-year-old girl. The Dubai Court of First Instance passed the sentence after the 23-year-old delivery man earlier admitted that he had grabbed the girl by her hand, and hugged, kissed and touched her inappropriately, the Khaleej Times reported Saturday. The girl

Dammam, Mar 9: Col. Ziyad Al-Ruqaiti, spokesman for Eastern Province police, said 32,015 expatriates have been arrested in the province’s various cities, governorates and villages for violation of residency and labor law since the launch of the inspections campaign. He said the arrested persons have been handed over to the directorate and branches dealing with illegal expatriates affiliated with

Jeddah, Mar 5: Riyadh and Jeddah are two of the least expensive cities in the world when it comes to living costs, says a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Worldwide Cost of Living is a biannual EIU survey that compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services including food, drink, clothing, household supplies, home rents, transport, utility bills