Middle East

Jeddah, Aug 14: The Ministry of Labor has said it will not make any exceptions to its decision not to allow private firms falling in the yellow level of the Nitaqat Saudization program to keep their foreign manpower for more than four years even as top industry officials questioned the viability of the decision, which they said will be difficult to implement. "Not even the manpower with

Riyadh, Aug 12: Haj operators in Riyadh have come up with competitive travel packages for domestic pilgrims for Haj 2014. Around 200,000 pilgrims from within the Kingdom are expected to perform Haj this year. The Passport Department is expected to begin issuing Haj permits to local pilgrims soon. The Dawah Center in Rawdah is offering an eight-day package for SR2,500 for singles, which includes

Jeddah, Aug 11: The “Umrah-plus” tourism program, which will allow pilgrims to visit the Kingdom’s tourist resorts, will be implemented following the end of the upcoming Haj season, said Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). He said pilgrims from more than 65 countries would benefit from the program, which would be introduced with the

Tehran, Aug 10: A civilian airliner crashed on take-off in a residential area near Tehran's Mehrabad airport today, Iranian news agencies said, with reports that almost 50 people were killed. The plane was headed to the eastern city of Tabas, the IRNA and Fars news agencies said, and crashed at 9.18 am (0448 GMT). The official IRINN television channel said the plane crashed in the Azadi

Riyadh, Aug 10: Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, who is also president of the Council of Senior Scholars, has warned young men against perverting the concept of “jihad” (struggle) and wreaking havoc in Muslim countries by killing innocent civilians in the name of Islam. Al-Asheikh also urged youth not to fall victim to such rhetoric propagated by terror groups. “We continuously witness ugly

Riyadh, Aug 10: The Ebola virus was not the cause of death of Saudi citizen Ibrahim Al-Zahrani, who died in Jeddah on Wednesday, the Health Ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) have announced. Preliminary post-mortem examination carried out on the body confirmed the findings, according to Rana Saydalani, an official spokesman from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. “We

Jeddah, Aug 9: The Ministry of Labor has issued more than 220,000 visas to recruitment companies and establishments in both the private and public sector, said Abdulaziz Al-Harbi, director-general of employment. Around 176,000 visas were given to companies in the public and private sector, while the rest were allocated for domestic recruitment, he said. Labor Minister Adel Fakeih announced in

Jeddah, Aug 8: The Haj Ministry has instructed 62 companies to provide low-cost Haj services during the upcoming season at a rate of SR2,500 to SR5,000. The low-cost Haj program is expected to benefit 41,000 pilgrims this year. The ministry has divided companies providing the low-cost services into seven categories, with the first charging SR5,000, the second SR4,800, the third SR4,400, the fourth

Jeddah, Aug 6: Authorities are gearing up to ensure the timely departure of foreign Umrah pilgrims over the next few days as the current Umrah season draws to a close. Almost 90 percent of foreign Umrah pilgrims had left the Kingdom by the end of Ramadan, while remaining pilgrims continue to leave the country daily. The last departure date for foreign pilgrims is Aug. 11, according to officials.

Abu Dhabi, Aug 6: As the UAE’s real estate stages a strong rebound from historic lows after the global financial crisis, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is seen to be an active player in the emirate’s fast-growing industry. The legendary film star, entertainment mogul, sports magnate and the business-savvy actor is going to be back in the emirate’s property business with a bang by launching a