RIYADH: US President Barack Obama led a heavyweight delegation to Saudi Arabia to meet new King Salman and discussed the two countries' ongoing fight against the Islamic State group. The leaders also tackled the issue of Iran's nuclear programme and human rights in the conservative kingdom, a sen

Baghdad: Bullets hit a passenger jet operated by budget carrier Dubai Aviation Corp, known as flydubai, as it was landing at Baghdad airport, the company and officials said on Tuesday. An aviation official and a security official told Reuters that two passengers were slightly injured when three o

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Labor has begun to provide services to workers with labor dispute cases via call centers in Makkah, Riyadh, Arar, Hail, Najran, and Jazan. Work is ongoing to expand services to other regions gradually, according to an official report by the Labor Dispute Settlement Department

Jeddah: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman announced on Saturday that schools and educational institutions would remain closed on Sunday to allow people to mourn the death of King Abdullah who died on Friday. Government offices will also be closed. The one-day off is for all government a

JEDDAH: ARAB NEWS Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman took charge as the new ruler of Saudi Arabia on Friday in a smooth transition following the death of King Abdullah and pledged to continue the current government policies to ensure stability and unity in the country. Addressing the

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has died, state television reported early on Friday and Crown Prince Salman became king, it said in a statement attributed to the new ruler. He was 90. King Salman has called on the family's Allegiance Council to pay allegiance to Muqrin as his crow

Jeddah: About 2.5 million foreign workers in Saudi Arabia only hold primary school education certificates, or are totally illiterate. This has been revealed by new data from the Information and Statistics General Department for the Hijri year 1434. Economic experts said such a situation is only acc

Labor Minister Adel Fakeih said on Monday that the Kingdom will soon resume the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to the Kingdom. The decision comes after a 2008 ban that prohibited laborers from being brought in from that country. During a one-hour meeting on Sunday, Fakeih met at his office wit

Dubai: Don’t ditch your umbrellas just yet as chances of rain still persist over scattered parts of the country on Tuesday but rainclouds will move northwards, the national weather bureau said. The first showers of the year saw moderate to heavy rain, accompanied by hail, over scattered parts o

Fingerprinting will be a must for all male and female expatriates for renewal and issuance of iqama from Rabi Al-Thani 1 (Jan. 21). Sources at the Passport Department said that the fingerprint of male and female expatriates will be necessary for the renewal of residence permits (iqama); the fingerp

Dismay, anger as Muslim bloggers feel betrayed by abuse, insults anama: The Council of Senior Scholars, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, has condemned the publication this week of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by French magazine Charlie Hebdo, saying that it had nothing to do with fr

JEDDAH, 14 January 2015: The Interior Ministry will soon issue visas online for families of expats without the need to visit the Passport Department or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A source said the move would save time and prevent overcrowding at visa offices for expatriates wanting to bring t

Dubai can now boast of having set the record for the longest gold chain – over five kms in length connected by over four million tiny segments linked everyday for ten hours by 100 craftsmen over 45 days. Dubai,5January 2015: Dubai is no stranger to setting records. Largest, most magnificient, tal

Employers who have failed to issue or renew electronic labour cards for their employees will have to pay Dh1,000 for each labour card. Abu Dhabi - Starting today, the federal Ministry of Labour (MoL) will implement the UAE’s Cabinet decision on the six-month grace period for settling all electron

Abu Dhabi: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a resolution revising the Ministry of Labour’s fees and fines. The Cabinet Resolution No. 40 for the year 2014, amending some of the fines and fees in the Cabi

JEDDAH: Housing prices in the Kingdom will go down 30 percent due to falling oil prices, distribution of more low-cost homes and the imposition of Zakat on vacant land, a real estate expert has predicted. “The real estate market is facing an unprecedented recession and many agents have spoken abo

Abu Dhabi: It’s good news for tenants in the capital as rents are likely to remain unchanged in 2015, realty experts told XPRESS. “In 2015, rents are likely to remain stable as demand for rental properties is well matched with existing supply of property units in the capital,” Andrea Menown, le

Manama: Expatriates apprehended barbecuing in non-allocated places in Kuwait will be deported, the head of the municipal council has said. “There is a plan to set up a new link with the interior ministry to deport the foreigners who break the municipal laws, including barbecuing on the beaches