Beirut - 22 July 2011: Syrian security forces swept through neighborhoods in a restive central city on Thursday, firing machine guns and pulling people from their homes in a series of arrests, activists and residents said. Smoke billowed from at least one area in Homs, which has experienced some of

Jeddah - 16 July 2011: At 12:27 p.m. on Saturday, the sun will be directly above the Ka'ba during its return from the Tropic of Cancer to the Equator. The sun will cast no shadows in the Grand Mosque. Eng. Majed Abu Zahra, Head of Jeddah Astronomy Society, said, "This phenomenon can help us determin

Jeddah - 13 July 2011 (AN): Expatriates face many hurdles while having their iqamas (residence permits) renewed, especially having their bank accounts frozen during the renewal period. As the iqama renewal period approaches, the most common practice for expatriate workers is to withdraw all their fu

Jeddah - 10 July 2011 (AN): The Labor Ministry has issued guidelines for establishing new labor recruitment companies as part of its efforts to regulate the hiring of foreign workers. A recruitment company can be set up after the merger of a minimum of five existing recruitment agencies. There will

Dubai - 08 July 2011: Muslims who fast during Ramadan this year will experience the longest day of the fasting month in 26 years, according to a calendar expert here. "The first day of Ramadan will be the longest day as Muslims will have to fast for 14 hours and 50 minutes," said Ashraf Nourul Ha

Riyadh - 05 July 2011: A Chadian man died while praying in a packed mosque in Saudi Arabia a day after he performed Umra (mini pilgrimage) in the holy city of Makkah, a newspaper in the Gulf kingdom reported on Monday. Ahmed Adam Hassan bent down along with scores of Muslims at a mosque in the west

Dubai - 04 July 2011: A 30-year oldIndian nationalhas won a brand new 2012 modelBMW 3-seriesas the first lucky winner of alocal promotionhere.Fahd Abdullah, a resident of UAE, won the Dubai Shopping Malls Group (DSMG) promotion, which gives 10 lucky winners the chance to win BMW cars during Dubai Su

Dubai, June 29,2011 (Gulf News): A group of Indian businessmen has called on residency authorities to ease restrictions on people living, working and visiting the country which would help in boosting economic activities.The businessmen also urged the authorities to reconsider the decision to reduce

Jeddah - 23 June 2011: Any expatriate worker involved in a legal battle with his employer or sponsor will not be deported from the Kingdom without receiving his rights, Lt. Col. Badr Al-Malik, spokesman of the Passport Department in Jeddah, said on Wednesday. Al-Malik made this comment while talki

Jeddah - 23 June 2011: A number of expatriates, especially laborers, drivers, masons and salesmen have said they would cancel their plans to travel home this summer following strong rumors that exit and re-entry visas would be converted into final exit visas at the airports. Though passport officia

Abu Dhabi: Embassies in the UAE will not be allowed to deal with Visa Licensing Offices (VLOs) unless they fulfil licensing requirements set by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Chambers of Commerce. VLOs help embassies with visa regulations in times when embassies are

DAMMAM, June 21,2011 (Arab News): Rumors of expatriates having their exit-re-entry visas switched to exit-only visas at airports have no basis, said Passport Department officials across the Kingdom."There is absolutely no truth to it," said Mohammad Al-Husayn, spokesman for the Passport Department i

Damascus - 21 June 2011: President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday ordered a new general amnesty, a day after an offer of "national dialogue" to end Syria's deadly unrest and as a huge crowd rallied in Damascus in his support. "President Assad has issued a decree granting a general amnesty for crimes c

JEDDAH, June 15,2011 (Arab News): Private schools in the Kingdom are anxiously waiting for a meeting in Riaydh on Monday between the National Committee for Education and Training and the Ministry of Education. They come together to discuss the implications of the decision to introduce a minimum wag

Dubai - 14 June 2011: A number of students and labourers were injured in a traffic accident at Shaikh Zayed Road opposite the American University in Dubai around 7:30 am. The accident occurred after a school bus with 30-50 pupils collided with a mini bus carrying staff from a Jebel Ali Free Zone-bas

Jeddah - 14 June 2011: The Labor Ministry has fixed the minimum Saudization level at 49 percent for banks that employ 500 or more people as part of the second phase of the Nitaqat program that will start on Sept. 10. Under Saudization rules, different sectors have different quotas. In the ministry

Riyadh - 13 June 2011: Saudi Arabia has imposed new quotas on companies in the kingdom to employ local staff, with cuts in permits for foreign workers if they fail to comply, even as Kuwait plans residency caps on expatriates to bring down their number in the country to 45 per cent of the populatio

Riyadh - 08 June 2011: Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has suffered much more serious injuries than first reported in a rocket attack on his palace, a US official says. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Saleh has burns covering over roughly 40 percent of hi