Gulf news

Shaikh Rashid dies of heart attack

Dubai: Shaikh Rashid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum died of heart attack on Saturday. He was 34. Funeral prayers will be held after Maghrib prayers at Zabeel Mosque. A three-day mourning period has been declared in Dubai. UAE flags will be flown at half mast during the mourning period. “We be

Free Haj for kin of martyred Bangladeshis

JEDDAH: Relatives of the four Bangladeshis killed during last month’s suicide bomb attack in the Kingdom, are to perform Haj this year as guests of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. The Bangladeshis were killed during an attack by terrorists on a mosque used by members of the Special E

Saudi Arabia denounces Israeli actions at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque

Saudi Arabia denounced on Thursday what it called violations by Israeli forces of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, which has seen days of clashes between Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians. The state Saudi Press Agency quoted an official source describing the

Makkah hotel fire: Saudi Civil Defence evacuates 1028 pilgrims

Saudi Civil Defence teams evacuated  1,028 Asian pilgrims from an eight-floor hotel in Al Azizyiah neighbourhood in Makkah, after a fire broke out in a room, in the early hours of Wednesday. Media spokesman for the civil defence forces in Hajj, Colonel Abdullah Al Orabi Al Harthy was quoted by th

Saudi Binladin Group sanctioned over deadly crane crash

JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Tuesday ordered that top officials of the Saudi Binladin Group be banned from traveling outside the kingdom after probers pinned the blame partially on the construction company for Friday’s deadly crane crash in Makkah. A royal court announ

1m Riyals compensation for Makkah crane crash victims

Saudi Arabia's King Salman sanctioned the powerful Saudi Binladin Group Tuesday over the collapse of a construction crane at Makkah's Grand Mosque, which killed more than 100 people days before the Haj pilgrimage. An investigative commission had concluded that the company "was in part responsible

SR33m: Blood money estimate by experts

JEDDAH: Insurance firms may have to pay out about SR33 million in blood money to the families of the 111 people who died in Friday’s crane collapse at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, say experts. This amounts to about SR300,000 per person, which is the mandatory coverage that all contractors working on

Makkah crane crash report submitted

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud will receive the final report on the investigation into the crane crash tragedy at the Grand Mosque that occurred on Friday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The report was referred to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, deputy premier and minister of

Saudi: Eid al-Adha to start on Sep. 24

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that Eid al-Adha, one of two important religious holidays observed by Muslims around the world, will start on Thursday, September 24, a day earlier than expected, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Sunday. The announcement was made after the kingdom’s official mo

Facilities for pilgrims: KSA investing billions of riyals

RIYADH: Making necessary arrangements each year for the growing number of pilgrims poses a real logistic challenge for Saudi Arabia, which has, since the 1950s, spent more than $125 billion to expand pilgrimage facilities in the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The Kingdom, under the leader

Number of Indians dead in Mecca mishap rises to 11

Nine more Indians were on Sunday confirmed dead in Friday’s Grand Mosque crane collapse in Mecca, taking the Indian toll to 11. The incident, which occurred ahead of the annual Haj pilgrimage, has claimed 115 lives so far. "Working with relatives of missing persons, and Private Tour Operators our

King pays visit to injured in tragic crane crash 

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman visited the Grand Mosque on Saturday and inspected the damage caused by the crane crash. He later visited the injured at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal gave the authorities concerned two days to repair the areas damaged

List of the injured in Makkah crane crash

Two Indians were among the Haj pilgrims killed in the mishap at the Grand Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen other Indian pilgrims were also injured in the mishap that was caused by a construction crane, which crashed into the crowded Grand Mosque on Friday. Moniza Ahmad from West Benga

157 ambulances readied for pilgrims

RIYADH: A fleet of 157 ambulances will be deployed during the Haj season at holy sites, a senior official from the Ministry of Health said Wednesday. “The fleet of ambulances includes 100 mini-ambulances and 57 large vehicles which will be used to ferry sick Hajis from medical clinics to hospitals

Camel slaughter during Haj banned

MADINAH: The Ministry of Health has reiterated that the ban on slaughtering camels during Haj would remain in place, with no exceptions, because of the danger posed by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. Faisal Al-Zahrani, spokesman of the ministry, said the ban covers the entire K

Iran 'ready' to talk to US and Saudi Arabia about Syria

Iran's president has said his country is ready to hold talks with the United States and Saudi Arabia on ways to resolve the Syrian civil war. Shia powerhouse Iran is a leading patron of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and accuses Sunni rival Saudi Arabia and the US of siding with anti-Assad rebe

New visa benefits for Saudi-friendly firms

JEDDAH: The recently introduced fast-track recruitment system is a reward for private firms that fulfill the Saudization quota, an official of the Ministry of Labor said here recently. The system allows firms to utilize the new system where the visa issuance and hiring of workers can be done online

King Salman center launches plan to develop youth skills

DAMMAM: The King Salman Youth Center (KSYC) has launched a new initiative called the Khattet Plan, which seeks to rehabilitate young people by training them to develop and organize their personal life skills in various areas. The initiative, which will be carried out during the next three months,