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JEDDAH: Two foreigners died of MERS in Jeddah, the Health Ministry said Saturday, as fears rise over the spreading respiratory virus in the Kingdom’s commercial hub.The ministry said five more people were infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the western city, including two foreign medics aged 54.The latest deaths of a 64-year-old and 44-year-old, whose nationalities were undisclosed, bring to 75 the overall number of people to have died of MERS in Saudi Arabia, from a total of 231 infections.Meanwhile, officials in the Philippines said the government was stepping up its defense against the deadly virus, with the large numbers of Filipino workers in the Middle East seen as potential carriers.“It is important that families, friends and members of their local communities fully understand all that must be known about the MERS coronavirus,” Health Secretary Enrique Ona told a...

Bahrain car explosion kills 2; civil defense personnel injur...

MANAMA: Two people were killed Saturday when their car exploded in a village in Bahrain, the...

Hunt for missing Malaysian jet at ‘a critical juncture’

PERTH, Australia: A robotic submarine looking for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet is expected to f...

Companies given four more months to implement wage protectio...

Companies with at least 1,000 workers are being given four more months to implement a wage protection system that was introduced by the Labor Ministry last year in a bid to ensure employees’ rights.The ministry’s decision to postpone the implementation of the fourth phase of the protection bill for companies with more than 500 workers, originally scheduled for July 1, to Nov. 1 was taken after the Saudi Arabian Monetary A...

Islamabad not to grant MFN status to India, says minister

Pakistan is “no longer” considering India for most-favored nation (MFN) status, said Pakistani Federal Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan, here on Saturday. Khan, however, said that Pakistan and India have agreed to work together and boost commercial relations by giving non-discriminatory market access (NDMA) status to each other.He said, “Islamabad will not give MFN status to India,” adding “We don’t talk about...

SAUDI ARABIA »

Singapore to train 3,000 Saudi school principals

Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) will train 3,000 Saudi school principals over the next few years, Singapore’s Ambassador Lawrence Anderson told Arab New...

Courts tackle 576 ‘khula’ cases in 5...

A total of 576 “khula” cases (where a wife asks her husband for divorce) have been reviewed by the courts in the Kingdom during the past five months of the current year. The Makkah region recorded the highest numbers of “khula” cases at 175, followed by the Eastern Province and Riyadh Region at 91 a...

Productivity low in private sector

A study carried out by the Ministry of Labor recently has revealed private sector employees in the nonoil sector have critically low productivity compared to countries such as China and India. The study looked at ways to help companies improve productivity, and increase the number of Saudis working in the private sector. T...

Haia official guilty of boarding bus...

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) has found one of its members guilty of boarding a bus transporting female students in Abha.Awad Al-Asmari, Haia spokesman for the Asir region, confirmed Friday that the man was a Haia member, and had boarded the bus on his own initiative.Al-Asmari said...

MIDDLE EAST »

Top Egypt censor quits after ‘adults only’ film pulled

CAIRO: The head of Egypt’s censorship board has resigned in protest at a d...

Diplomat’s abductors want Tunisia to free jailed Libyans

TUNIS: Tunisia said Friday that the kidnappers of a Tunisian diplomat in Tripoli...

WORLD »

Famous television host in Pakistan shot by gunmen

KARACHI: Police in Pakistan say gunmen have shot a famous television talk show h...

Vietnam battles fatal measles outbreak

HANOI: Vietnam is scrambling to contain a deadly outbreak of measles that has ki...

ECONOMY »

Ignition switch row: GM says recalled cars are safe

WASHINGTON: General Motors says that cars being recalled because of faulty ignit...

SABIC keen to raise Asia investments

Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC vice chairman and CEO, interacted with Li Keqiang, premie...

SPORTS »

Wrestling show wows fans; Cena beats Orton

The WWE matches kept the audience at the edge of their seats on Friday night as the world’s best and well-known wrestlers displayed their skills and strength at the Green...

Balotelli leads Milan to 5th straight...

ROME: Mario Balotelli set a personal record with his 14th goal of the Serie A season and set up another score as AC Milan beat visiting Livorno 3-0 on Saturday for its fifth straight win.Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter...

Ducks, Canadiens seize 2-0 series leads

ANAHEIM, California: Anaheim and Montreal both won on Friday to take 2-0 leads in their NHL first-round playoff series while Detroit took first blood at Boston in the opening game of their clash.Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf — wearing a facemask over his lacerated jaw — had a goal and an assist while Corey Perry scored his first p...

NBA playoffs looking more wide-open...

MIAMI: Before the season started, a poll suggested that the Miami Heat were the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA title, collecting a whopping 76 percent of ballots cast.The voters weren’t some know-nothings, either.No, this was a polling of NBA general managers.Things seem quite a bit different now. The Heat don’t seem...

OPINION »

Alsir Sidahmed

Putin stating Riyadh trump oil card

It is not an academic debate or even one within think tanks, but a simple statem...

Nilofar Suhrawardy

Indian polls: Careers of many at stake

The outcome of the ongoing parliamentary polls will prove to be a make or break...

Bjørn Lomborg

Upside-down narrative of global warming

When politicians around the world tell the story of global warming, they cast it...

Rasheed Abou-Alsamh

Nobody is winning in Syria

A series of recent interviews given by Syrian authorities to foreign journalists...

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ART & CULTURE »

Egyptian artist gives voice to Pakistani...

When artist Wael Shawky attended the 10th Sharjah Biennal in 2011 he became aware of something a little unsettling. This was the unintentional disconnect between the words being spoken by the art curators at the press conferences and a large part of the ‘community’ which the organizers declared it was their intention to reach. He not...

Alkhobar’s Al-Rashid Qaisariya...

Jeddah’s artworks amaze visito...

Arabic calligraphy flourishing...

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY »

Tracking posts on social media made easy

The Arab Developers Company for technology and Internet services revealed that it is now possible to operate a monitoring technology system that targets both traditional and social media in all its manifestations, positive or negative.
The technology will allow the classification and sorting out of all posts on social networking sites as p...

Flu can increase risk of autis...

‘Blood moon’ wows sky-watchers

Heartbleed Bug: Memorizing a n...

FASHION »

Skirt trunk show attracts Jeddah fashion...

In the latest event to rock J-town's fashion scene, 15 fashion designers came together with their collections of trendy skirts, especially designed for the trunk show held at Libra Boutique.
The event gathered 12 Saudi designers along with two Kuwaiti designers who were looking to test the Saudi market with their designs.
...

Shopaholism: Is it a disease?

Paraphernalia: Street-wear glo...

Cosmetic herbal recipes with a...

TRAVEL »

Heritage awareness campaign launched

The Saudi Society for Preservation of Heritage has stressed the role of the Kingdom’s heritage in shaping the Saudi identity.
"Heritage is a major factor in determining the identity of the nation. The Society attaches great importance to preserving the cultural heritage in all its diversity,’’ Executive Director of...

Explore stunning Islamic archi...

Media convoy to capture Taif...

Visitors throng Taif for mild...

FOOD & HEALTH »

Face mask can reduce coronavirus risk by 80%

Wearing a face mask can reduce the risk of being infected by the coronavirus by more than 80 percent, Dr. Hana Bakhash, a consultant in infectious diseases and viruses at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH) in Jeddah, told Arab News.“Residents are advised to maintain personal hygiene and wash their hands regularly, as well as avoid large crowds, especially at hospitals, commercial centers, malls and markets,” she said.Pharmacy owners have reported a boom in mask sales, with a 300-percent increase in a single week, indicating fear among locals that has only been exacerbated by rampant rumors on social networking sites.“I hardly used to sell any face masks in the past, but have sold more than...

Baiz: Celebrating tradition, the modern way

Ehnaini cakes, burgers made with traditional Bahraini kebabs, and fries made with ancient aromatic spices are only some of the dishes you can enjoy at the Baiz coffee shop and restaurant in Alkhobar. Everything in the restaurant, from its name (Baiz is an old local term meaning a piece of cloth used to clean surfaces) to the dishes on the menu and the antique interior design uniquely blended with modernity, end up giving a feel of the traditions of the Eastern Province. Eman Al-Bagawi is the co-founder of the restaurant together with her cousin Fai Al-Shammari. She is a marketing graduate whose study has helped her market her project, especially through Instagram and Twitter. She then...

Ohio clinic plans ultra-modern health center in Abu Dhabi

The late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan traveled 7,000 miles to get there for his kidney transplant. For decades the Cleveland Clinic has provided health care to the upper echelons of Middle Eastern society who fly halfway across the world for treatment at the Ohio-based private medical center. Soon, they can skip the trip. Early next year the Cleveland Clinic plans to open an ultra-modern, 364-bed specialty hospital on Al-Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, one of the most ambitious forays into the oil-rich country by a US health care brand. The expansion comes as the Cleveland Clinic slashes hundreds of millions of dollars off its US operations to prepare for...

OFFBEAT »

World leaders, writers pay tribute to Garcia Marquez

Colombian Nobel Literature laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (AP)

MEXICO CITY: Presidents, writers and celebrities paid tribute Friday to Nobel-winning Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Ma...

Tampa gears up for top Indian film award show

TAMPA, Florida: “Busy” is an understatement, when it comes to staff from the International Indian Film Academy or IIFA. Many have been in Tampa Bay for months preparing for next week’s celebration of Indian film. “Now is when it all comes together,” says IIFA Vice President Noreen Khan. “Stages are being built at Raymond James Stadium and the amphitheater. It’s really all systems go.” One of the main Bollywood events is free to the public. It’s called IIFA Stomp and it takes place Wednesday at Curtis Hixon Park. “IIFA Stomp is like...

Renowned Pakistani chef loses fight against cancer

KARACHI: A prominent Pakistani television personality, chef Sara Riaz, passed away on Friday. Sara had been appearing in cooking shows on ARY Zauq, politely demonstrating the recipes for the audience and nobody expected her to be suffering from a fatal disease such as cancer. She was in critical condition since last week. Sara had over 20 years of cooking experience and was a well-respected food expert. Her career took off when she began contributing recipes to media outlets. Her easy to follow recipes and personal charisma soon made her a prominent member of the local culinary community....