Middle East

Dubai, Jan 28: Emirates passengers could be next in line to avail of the American pre-clearance customs procedures in the UAE following the opening of a post in Abu Dhabi last week. Passengers began using the region’s first United States pre-clearance customs checkpoint at Abu Dhabi International on January 24. The post, manned by US customs officials, enables passengers to skip long queues on

Dubai, Jan 27: The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) has called on the motorists to be cautious on roads due to low horizontal visibility in Abu Dhabi. Dubai Police also tweeted: "We call on all drivers to be cautious and to drive safely and leave enough distance between vehicles due to heavy fog and unclear vision." The NCMS said in a statement that: "As a result of the

Taif, Jan 26: Employers involved in fake Saudization will face 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to SR10 million, according to a draft regulation prepared by the Ministry of Labor. Violating businesses will be deprived of recruitment, government loans as well as blocked from participating in government bids and transferring sponsorships, according to the draft regulation, a section of the

Dubai, Jan 25: Qatar was urged to stop a cleric from continuing to insult the UAE, following a televised Friday prayer sermon in which he accused the UAE of being “against Islamic rule”. The Egyptian-born Yousuf Al Qaradawi, speaking live on Qatari state TV from a Doha mosque, was talking about the developments in Egypt that followed the ouster of former president Mohammad Mursi, a Muslim

Abu Dhabi, Jan 24: The UAE Ministry of Labor has so far issued 11,000 part-time work permits since the scheme was introduced in early 2011. Humaid bin Dimas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs, said: "The part –time work permit scheme was started in early 2011 with the aim of achieving greater flexibility in the labour market and meet urgent labour needs of employers to

Sharjah, Jan 23: An Indian worker who could not go home even once in the past 12 years because he did not have a valid residence visa, has died in Sharjah. The 52-year-old Thekkummale Lakshman, from Karimnagar near Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, was found suffering from chest congestion on a street near Rolla and was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead. Heart

Dubai, Jan 20: The New Year is clearly lucky for two Indian friends, who won two Infiniti cars – QX60 and G25, and cash of Dh100,000 at the mega Infiniti raffle draw. The duo - Naushad Mavullaparampat and Rajesh Modokandiyil - had pooled in and bought the Dh200 raffle ticket during the Dubai Shopping Festival. They had decided to put down 32-year-old Naushad’s name on the raffle ticket. Both hail

Jeddah, Jan 20: In a heart-warming gesture rarely witnessed, a Saudi businessman in Buraidah celebrated the wedding of his Indonesian driver and, what is more, handed over the keys of his personal car to the groom as a wedding gift that has been applauded by Saudis and expats alike. Rashid Al-Shallash, the businessman, not only footed the wedding bill of Solikin Abu Ahmed, but also paid his salary

Jeddah, Jan 18: Aisha Al-Otaibi, CEO of fashion wear company Danat Valia, recently announced that she is opening an academy specialized in art and fashion design. The college, to be opened in Alkhobar, will be the first in the Kingdom to specialize in these fields and will open its doors to students for the academic year 2015/2016. Al-Otaibi: “We carried out a feasibility study” and reserved “a

Jeddah, Jan 16: The US National Security Agency (NSA) has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world allowing it to carry out surveillance on those devices and also provide a digital highway for cyber attacks, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia is among the countries where such surveillance software has been covertly installed, according to The Times which