Middle East

Jeddah, Jun 7: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah telephoned newly elected Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi on Friday to pledge the Kingdom’s support for the country’s economic development. El-Sissi thanked King Abdullah for assisting Egypt and congratulating him on winning the elections. “This is the Kingdom’s duty based on our religion, ethics and the joint destiny of the

Riyadh, Jun 6: There has been an 80 percent decrease in the number of MERS coronavirus cases during the past six weeks due to the preventive measures, Acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih has told the Shoura Council. Fakeih enumerated the measures taken by the Ministry of Health in coordination with all local and global agencies and the ministry of agriculture. He said that the same efforts would be

Ras Al Khaimah, Jun 5: A four-year-old Egyptian boy emerged from a serious car crash in Ras Al Khaimah with slight leg injuries after he was protectively hugged by his father who was driving the vehicle, according to police in the northern emirate. The father was driving his car on Wikalat Road and his son was seated next to him when the vehicle swerved off the road because of high speed and hit

Riyadh, Jun 4: The Ministry of Health on Tuesday said the Kingdom’s death toll from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is actually 282, or 92 more than the tally recorded as of June 2. According to the Ministry of Health’s Command & Control Center, which was set up last week by Acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih, the new data came about following a thorough review by the center starting

Jeddah, June 3: The Cabinet has called on the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to assess whether it is playing an effective role in the promotion of security and stability in the world. The call was made at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Salman at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday. The Kingdom had stressed this view at the Ministerial Conference of the

Riyadh, June 2: Two people died and one person was infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 189 out of 571 cases since September 2012. The two latest victims were among previously reported patients. They were a 55-year-old man at a government hospital in Riyadh and 45-year-old woman at a government hospital in Jeddah, while the

Geneva, Jun 1: An international team of scientists say they have identified a compound that can fight coronaviruses, responsible for the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which currently have no cure. Coronaviruses affected the upper and lower respiratory tracts in humans. They are the reason for up to a third of common colds. A more severe strain of the virus, thought to have come from bats, triggered the

Riyadh, May 30: Chatting between unrelated males and females on social networking sites is forbidden in Islamic law, said Abdullah Al-Mutlaq, a member of the committee of senior scholars. Al-Mutlaq said that having one-on-one chatting sessions is a form of “khulwa,” the Islamic term for free mixing, which he said is a gateway to sin. Al-Mutlaq’s statements came in response to a question asked on a

Jeddah, May 29: Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar has warned domestic Haj service operators against increasing Haj service charges, adding that companies that impose exorbitant prices would be fined up to SR100,000. “Monitoring panels have noticed that 52 companies have hiked prices during the last Haj season,” he said, adding that their cases have been transferred to a ministerial committee for punitive

Jeddah, May 28: The sun would be directly over the Kaaba in Makkah today at midday, in a celestial phenomenon known as “zero shadow,” the Jeddah Astronomical Society said on Sunday in a statement. On Wednesday, the sun will rise at 5:38 a.m. from the northeast horizon and eventually move over the Kaaba at 12:18 p.m. The Kaaba will lose its shadow briefly. The planetary phenomenon occurs twice