Gulf news

Saudi Arabia Supreme Court to meet for moon sighting

Dubai: The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia will meet on Tuesday evening, Ramadan 28, to hear people who might see the birth of the Shawal moon. This means that Ramadan will end in 28 days which should not be the case. Lunar months are either 29 or 30 days based on the birth of the moon on the sun

Pork, horsemeat found in Bahrain food items

Manama: Bahrain’s health ministry said that it had pulled out 22 imported products after inspection teams found them contaminated with either pork or horsemeat. The tests, by the ministry in collaboration with the national laboratory and the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), covered 172 canned mea

Dubai petrol stations accept credit cards from Sunday

Abu Dhabi: For the first time in more than five years, motorists can use their credit cards to fill up at the pumps in Dubai and the northern emirates. Beginning on Sunday, petrol companies Enoc and Emarat will accept credit cards as payment while adding a Dh2 surcharge to the transaction — Epp

Eid Al Fitr holiday announced in UAE

Federal government offices in the UAE will be closed from Wednesday, August 7, corresponding to Ramadan 29 and will reopen on the fourth day of the month of Shawal in celebration of Eid Al Fitr. Shawal 4 falls on Sunday, August 11, if Eid begins on Thursday, August 8. Work in the gover

Holy Quran Award: Bangladeshi wins Most Beautiful Voice contest

Dubai: Bangladeshi contestant Nazmul Sakib has bagged the top prize in the Most Beautiful Voice contest and is a strong favourite to win the 17th Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA), which will be announced today (Monday). Curtains will fall on the 17th session of DIHQA today in a clos

Quran competition concludes

Dubai/ 27 July 2013/Khaleejtimes The main Quran Competition of the 17th Dubai International Holy Quran Award concluded on Friday. According to an official, all the 90 contestants contacted for participation in the award, were examined twice. Ibrahim Bu Melha, head of the Award Organising Committ

UAE is a State of giving, peace and security: Khalifa

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan today welcomed the initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to mark tomorrow, the 19th of Ramadan, as the Emirates Humanitarian Work Day, wh

Quran contest reaches millions across the world

DIHQA beamed into 17 million homes across five continents By Shafaat Shahbandari, Staff Reporter Dubai: Spreading its light all over the globe, the Dubai International Quran Awards (DIHQA) is this year being broadcast across five continents through five different satellites, reaching homes

RTA bans cash transactions for firms Mandatory online registration for commercial vehicles being introduced in phases

Dubai: Making sweeping policy changes for commercial vehicles in Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has started to ban all cash transactions for commercial vehicles at its customer care centres, while pushing firms to use its recently introduced e-Wallet. The ban on cash transactio

10,000 attend Taraweeh prayer led by Saudi imam

Over 10,000 worshippers flocked to the Grand Rashidiya Mosque for the Taraweeh prayer led by popular Imam Sheikh Idrees Abkar on Wednesday night.   The Saudi scholar, known for his tuneful voice, enchanted and brought tears to the eyes of the faithful who came from across the country to t

Mentally disabled Iraq man can read Quran in reverse

Dubai: He is a man with a mental age of a three-year-old, he can’t count properly from one to ten, can’t write, has only limited reading ability and can’t locate his house if he is lost in the street. Basically, he is a man who has limited ability when it comes to everyday life. In othe

UAE residents are the happiest in the region

A new survey reveals that UAE residents are highly satisfied with life in general. The ‘Happiness and Wellbeing in the Mena’ survey conducted by Middle East job site, Bayt.com, and YouGov, an independent research and consulting organisation, also revealed that health was on the upswing, but lack

Revealed: Which Dubai Metro station is busiest?

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), revealed that the number of users of public transport means (Dubai Metro, public buses, marine transit modes, and taxicabs of the Dubai Taxi Corporation only) in the first half of this year ha

Deadline extension lets more perform Umrah

Saudi Arabia has extended the deadline for Umrah visa applications from Ramadan 10 to 15 in order to allow more faithful to perform the lesser pilgrimage during the holy month of Ramadan. “The Haj Ministry in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to extend the deadline to Ra

Umrah overstayers warned

JEDDAH: MD AL-HILALI | ARAB NEWS/AL-EQTISADIAH Sunday 14 July 2013 The Ministry of Haj has announced new measures to reduce congestion at the circumambulation area of the Kaaba during Ramadan by preventing pilgrims from overstaying their Umrah visas, said a top official. The pilgrim management st

Medical Fitness Centre opens in Karama

[caption id="attachment_38551" align="alignleft" width="475"] Image Credit: Abdel-Krim Kallouche/Gulf NewsThe Al Karama Medical Fitness Centre has opened to the public and is located in Al Fajer Building near the general post office.[/caption] Medical Fitness Centre in Karama caters to more than

Ramadan moon sighting in Saudi Arabia on Monday

The Supreme Court called on whomsoever sees the crescent of the blessed month of Ramadan by naked eyes or through binoculars to report to the nearest court and register his testimony, or report to the authority of the region’s governorate if there is no judge in the area where he sighted the crescen

NRI alert: Indian rupee plunges to record low of Rs16.66 vs Dh1; Rs61.21 vs $1

The battered Indian rupee got a fresh hammering on Friday, slumping to Rs16.666 against the UAE dirham (Rs61.21 against the US dollar) at 7.10pm UAE time (15:10 GMT), plunging below its previous historic low that it made 10 days ago, on June 26, 2013. Sustained dollar demand by importers, especia