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Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are to enhance cooperation in all areas, with a particular focus on the energy and agricultural sectors, according to sources.Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met in Riyadh on Wednesday for bilateral discussions. “We give utmost importance to our brotherly ties with the Kingdom and King Salman has a special place in the hearts of Pakistanis,” Sharif said, adding that the relations remain unshakable.Sharif is currently on a three-day visit to the Kingdom on an invitation from the king. He arrived at the Royal Terminal at King Khaled International Airport, and was received by King Salman and senior Cabinet ministers. The other dignitaries present included Crown Prince Muqrin, deputy premier, Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, second deputy premier and minister of inter...

WHO declares war on hidden sugars in fight against obesity

Geneva: The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged a dramatic drop in the consumption of sugar...

Kerry, Iran FM in new nuclear talks

Montreux, Switzerland: The US and Iran ignored a passionate plea from the Israeli prime minister to...

Shariah rule ‘sovereign Saudi right’

It is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign right to implement Shariah law, said Bandar Al-Aiban, president of the Human Rights Commission.Addressing the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, he said capital punishment is imposed on murderers to protect society.“Our judicial system protects the rights of criminals and their victims,” he said. “(Since) Saudi Arabia’s rules and regulations are based on Shar...

Riyadh, Seoul eye trade expansion

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has called on Saudi and Korean businesspeople to diversify commercial cooperation with an emphasis on nuclear energy, renewable energy, education and health care. Park said she hoped the two countries would drive the development of the energy industry over the next 20 years. She was speaking at a crowded Saudi-Korean Business Forum here.The high-profile gathering was attended by severa...

SAUDI ARABIA »

Kerry holds key talks in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: US Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Thursday to ease Gulf concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and explore ways to calm instability in Yemen and other nations in the Middle East.A day after wrapping up the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations in Switzerland, Kerry wa...

Prince Faisal honors graduates in Yanbu

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman officiated a graduation ceremony at the Higher Institute for Elastomer Industries in Yanbu on Wednesday. The event saw 57 trainees passing out from the institute.Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafees, governor of Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, emphasized his organization’s efforts i...

Social upliftment gets boost from KKF, BMGF

The King Khaled Foundation (KKF), in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), hosted on Wednesday their first interaction with leaders of various Saudi foundations to help boost their social welfare work in the Kingdom.Speaking on the occasion, Princess Banderi Abdulrahman Al-Faisal, KKF’s director g...

US to relocate staff in Yemen to Jeddah

The United States government has decided to temporarily relocate its Yemeni-based diplomatic staff to Jeddah.The announcement came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived here Wednesday to hold consultations with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on the emerging nuclear deal with Iran and ways to tackle the...

Indian national arrested for blasphemous Facebook post

The arrest of an Indian national in Jeddah, for allegedly posting a blasphemous image of the Kaaba on his Facebook page, has seen experts warn that such content violates the country’s cyber laws and can mean jail time and heavy fines.Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak confirmed that the Indian national has been jailed for v...

BISESJ students excel in IGCSE, A level exams

Bangladesh International School (English Section) in Jeddah (BISESJ) obtained 100 percent passing grades in both International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and Advanced Level (A level) under Cambridge International Exam (CIE) held in May-June 2014. The result was announced in August 2014 and later in F...

Over 83% of hospitals in EP ‘not approved’ for practice

Over 83 percent of hospitals and medical facilities in the Eastern Province are not technically approved to practice medicine, local media reported, quoting data released by the Saudi Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (SCBAHI).According to SCBAHI, only 12 government and privately-owned hospitals wer...

Prince Miteb rewards boy for saving sisters from fire

National Guard Minister Prince Miteb bin Abdullah has rewarded a boy for his bravery to risk his life while saving his sisters from a fire that had broken out in their living room, in Al-Qriyat.The prince has also bore all the expenses in his treatment in the burns unit in King Abdulaziz Medical City in the National Guard b...

Shoura calls for campaign against common eye diseases

The Shoura Council recently highlighted the need for a nationwide awareness campaign on common eye diseases and the possible disadvantages of using contact lenses.The council made the recommendation to the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH) after the annual report of the medical facility was read at the 19th ordina...

Diabetes raises limb amputation rate to over 400% in 8 years

The rate of limb amputations resulting from diabetes has increased by 404 percent over an eight-year period, whereas the amputation rates resulting from traffic accidents dropped by 39.8 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Health.Madinah topped the rate of amputation cases as a result of diabetic gangrene...

Fire guts Al-Khumra warehouse

Fifteen firefighting units took part to extinguish a major blaze that engulfed a warehouse in south Jeddah. “Nobody was injured when the Civil Defense officers stormed into the fire site to rescue people trapped inside the warehouse,” said Lt. Col. Walid Abushanab, deputy spokesman of the department.He said the fire gutted...

Gambian president to visit Kingdom

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh is expected to visit the Kingdom before the end of the year, Ambassador Omar Gibril Sallah said.“In 2014, the Gambian leader also visited the Kingdom to bolster bilateral ties,” the Gambian envoy told Arab News on Wednesday. The Gambian president headed a high-powered delegation that visited t...

Riyadh book fair puts focus on South Africa

South African Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq Jaafar thanked the organizers of the Riyadh International Book Fair for having chosen South Africa as a guest of honor.Culture and Information Minister Adel Al-Toraifi inaugurated the fair on Wednesday evening in the presence of the South African ambassador. Speaking to the local medi...

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MIDDLE EAST »

4,000 Filipinos still in Libya despite growing danger: govt

Manila: Around 4,000 Filipinos remain in Libya despite the North African country...

‘Gangster’ Israel irks Palestine

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “gangsterism” on...

Briton fighting with Kurds killed

IRBIL, Iraq: A British citizen fighting alongside Kurdish forces against the Isl...

Massive Cairo convention center blaze injures 19

CAIRO: A massive fire broke out at Cairo’s main convention center on Wednesday,...

Malaysia Muslim travelers’ top choice

SINGAPORE: Malaysia is the most preferred global destination in the fast-growing...

WORLD »

Singapore sentences 2 Germans to caning for vandalism

SINGAPORE: Singapore on Thursday sentenced two German men to three strokes of th...

Merkel warns Russia of more sanctions

BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Russia on Wednesday that any se...

India bans broadcasting of film showing gang-rapist

NEW DELHI: India has banned the broadcasting of a controversial documentary in w...

Hillary Clinton under scrutiny over e-mails

WASHINGTON: Hillary Rodham Clinton used a private e-mail account for her officia...

Snowden ‘ready to return to America’

MOSCOW: Edward Snowden, the fugitive whistleblower who has been given refuge in...

SPORTS »

Rainbow Milk, Abdul Latif Jameel-CDC advance to semifinals

Rainbow Milk and Abdul Latif Jameel-CDC qualified for the semifinals in their di...

Zuhair Fayez Partnership Team 1 rules All Stars Bowling Game 2015

Dreamstar Productions organized a 1-day fun game bowling event dubbed 1st All St...

Zamil Industrial, Zamil Group set up Inter-Company A title clash

In one of the league’s major upsets, the Zamil Industrial of Meng Natividad used...

Friends and enemies as Zou, Amnat square off

MACAU: Double Olympic gold medallist Zou Shiming declared Thursday that he would...

Evans rejects spit claims, but Cisse ‘sorry’

LONDON: Manchester United center back Jonny Evans on Thursday rejected allegatio...

ECONOMY »

Gold rises after ECB inflation forecasts, US data eyed

LONDON: Gold rose on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) lifted its 2016 inflation forecast and as the market awaited key US economic data.The ECB held interes...

Hackers threaten phone in your pocket, experts warn

BARCELONA: The boom in smartphones among often careless users has made happy hunting for hackers, whose virus attacks and hijacking of unprotected mobiles are multiplying, experts warn.Security analysts and companies at the Mobile World Congress, a top wireless telecom fair in Barcelona, Spain, said phone makers and users m...

Dubai hotel income soars 9.8% in best return since crisis

DUBAI: Dubai’s hotels posted a 9.8 percent rise in revenues to $6.5 billion in 2014, the tourism authority said Tuesday, in the sector’s best annual result since the 2009 financial crisis.The Department of Tourism and Commerce and Marketing said in a statement that more than 11.6 million guests stayed in Dubai hotels and ho...

Emirates eyes 50 to 70 long-haul jets

BERLIN: Emirates Airlines is considering the purchase of up to 70 twin-engine Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s, the company president said in Berlin, which would bolster the carrier’s long-haul fleet.Tim Clark remained vague on the number and maker of twin-engine wide-body planes, but said the acquisition was part of Emirates’s...

Brent oil hovers under $61, WTI falls

LONDON: Brent crude futures pared early gains on Thursday to hover just under $61 as the euro slipped to an 11-year low against the dollar, offsetting concerns about tensions in Iraq and Libya.The euro fell against the dollar, making commodities priced in greenback more expensive for holders of other currencies, after Europ...

Lessons for US oil production from the gas industry

NEW YORK: The US produced a record 25.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2014, according to preliminary estimates published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Feb 27.Gas production has risen 27 percent since 2008 even though the number of rigs employed drilling for gas has declined by more than 80 percen...

Watches, robots suitcases: Mobile gadget highlights

BARCELONA: Tech companies showcased countless connected gadgets at the world’s biggest wireless telecom fair, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here is a selection of highlights:CURVY SMARTPHONESThe world’s biggest phone-maker, South Korean firm Samsung, stole the show for handsets, moving to compete against Apple’s i...

Build-your-own Google handset reconstructs smartphone

BARCELONA: With a smartphone that slots together piece by piece like Lego, US Internet giant Google is trying to reinvent the mobile as most phone makers are honing sleeker handsets.The company aims to challenge its rival Apple’s thin iPhones with the Google Ara project, giving smartphone aficionados the option to build the...

SEOUL: A consumer survey showed the popularity of the iPhone 6 has driven Apple’s market share in China to its highest ever while Samsung has continued to lose ground.Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said its latest survey of 15,000 people living in Chinese cities showed Apple’s market share reached 25.4 percent in the November-Ja...

Auto giants welcome Silicon Valley players but battles loom

GENEVA: It could be the battle of the titans. Auto giants at the Geneva Motor Show say they welcome the potential move of Silicon Valley players into their sector but experts warn of major disruptions.Google has long made headlines with its plans for a self-driving car, but Apple is now also reportedly readying for a plunge...

ICD and Afreximbank agree to cooperate in private sector development

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), has signed an agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to cooperate in the development of the private sector in ICD member countries in Africa.Under the terms of the...

Ambani loses India rich list top spot to pharmaceutical tycoon

MUMBAI: A fall in oil prices saw Mukesh Ambani cede his status as “India’s richest man” on Thursday to pharmaceutical tycoon Dilip Shanghvi, who edged to the top of Forbes’ list of billionaires in the country.The “real time” list of the richest Indians on the business magazine’s website showed Shanghvi with a net worth of $...

Mobily shares rise 10%

JEDDAH: Shares in Saudi Arabian telecommunications firm Mobily surged on Thursday as some investors hoped the government would indirectly support the troubled company if necessary, after last week’s shock restatement of its 2014 earnings.The stock, which had been suspended for a week until Thursday, fell as much as 4.9 perc...

OPINION »

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim

Mr. Netanyahu: Iran is not just your enemy

There is one simple way to better understand the political dynamics of the Middl...

Mshari Al-Zaydi

Mother of all evils

The US is fighting the self-ascribed Islamic State (IS), and so is Iran. At the...

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

Joint force may not be feasible

Most Gulf countries share similar enthusiasm when it comes to extending support...

Jeffry D. Sachs

Closing one’s eyes to disaster

ONE year ago, I was in Brazil to launch the Brazilian chapter of the United Nati...

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ART & CULTURE »

3-D art fest kicks off in Dubai

DUBAI: The Middle East’s first three-dimensional pavement art festival, starring works by international artists that appear to rise from the ground, kicked off this week in Dubai, its organizers said.
The Dubai Canvas Festival features 3-D artworks in chalk or paint, many of them depicting eye-catching images of the Emirati city.
Kurt...

Ba9ma Banat: Reviving the Prop...

Dubai gets its first taste of...

Saudi steals show with his art...

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY »

Dawn on Ceres: Nasa probe to visit dwarf...

PASADENA, California: A NASA spacecraft is about to reach the end of a nearly eight-year journey and make the first rendezvous with a dwarf planet.
The Dawn craft will slip into orbit Friday around Ceres, a dwarf planet the size of Texas. Unlike robotic landings or other orbit captures, the arrival won’t be a nail-biter. Still, Dawn had to...

Solar plane passes new test ah...

Dress color debate: So, it is...

Streaming fitness videos leave...

FASHION »

Wedding designers impress with innovativ...

Wedding is one of the most important events in a person’s life. It is the time when the air is filled with nothing but happiness and love. For the woman, the wedding day is usually a dream to make every single detail perfect for that one day or one night that would change her married life forever.
There are several wedding designers who al...

Warm up your feet in ‘The Moji...

All you need to know about hai...

Femininity gets a rethink duri...

TRAVEL »

Malaysia Muslim travelers’ top choice

SINGAPORE: Malaysia is the most preferred global destination in the fast-growing Muslim travel market, despite two catastrophic air disasters that hit the country’s flag-carrier in 2014, a survey showed Wednesday.
Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Indonesia followed Malaysia in the ranking of choice holiday destinations for Muslim tr...

Wonders of Arizona’s Red Rock...

Edinburgh: A city of history a...

Johannesburg: Heart of S. Afri...

FOOD & HEALTH »

Bridal beauty: How to work out a fitness plan

Planning a wedding can be a hectic time in every bride’s life. The mind is consumed with roses, tulips or peonies, the perfect shade of white, sequins or lace, short or long veil, pearls or diamonds, a day or night wedding, the guest list… the lists are endless. It’s a time consuming task until the day arrives and everything is perfect. Brides tend to lose themselves in the process and forget to take care of their mental and physical health as well, ironic actually since the most important people of the wedding are both bride and groom. A bride must find the serenity and balance in order for everything to go smoothly; exercise is always a great medication.We’ve all heard of these intense...

A taste of Lebanon in every bite

When I first heard that Em Sherif has franchised to Dubai, I couldn’t stop myself from booking a table there. The Lebanese restaurant will also open its doors in Jeddah soon. Located in the outdoor area of the Address Downtown hotel in Dubai and overviewing the Dubai Mall’s famous dancing fountain, the restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating for 300 diners at once. The outdoor seating area comprises white steel chairs and marble tables with romantic candlelight set up. Shisha is also served here. The inside decor features a Mediterranean touch, with silver blue walls, beautiful coral chandeliers and black wooden tables with velvet armchairs and black wooden chairs with blue...

Our kids’ bodies contaminated with chemicals (Part 17)

Last week, I wrote about ways to protect children and adults from everyday toxic bombardments. I also started with what Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child, Healthy World and CEO and Executive Director of the non-profit www.healthychild.org, recommends of healthy practices to parents in order to reduce toxins in their children’s lives. In the previous article, I stopped at chemicals in processed, fried, and fast foods, soda and sweetened beverages, and additives (colorings, preservatives) in foods and medicines, which have become part of our children’s daily consumption. Today I will continue with Gavigan’s recommendations:• Overcleaning and sterilizing children’s environments...

OFFBEAT »

World Press Photo award withdrawn over ‘violation’

BRUSSELS: Organizers of the prestigious World Press Photo awards have revoked a major prize after receiving “misleading...

‘Duang!’ Chinese poke fun at Chan with nonsense word

BEIJING: Jackie Chan might still be popular in China, but nowadays the pro-Beijing actor is as well-known as fodder for jokes as he is for his gritty martial arts and slapstick humor on screen. His latest contribution to the country’s mass culture and entertainment: “duang.”It’s not a word, but a sound he made in an old TV commercial meaning something like “ta-da!” A new mash-up video of the old ad has made “duang” a trending topic on China’s social media.The sound began circulating days before the rubberstamp legislature was called into session this week, and some observers see it as a way...

B-town rings in swine flu alarm

How can Bollywood be spared when disease spreads its wings? Ever since Sonam Kapoor was detected with swine flu, the team shooting ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ in Rajkot are going the extra mile to play safe.Going for a check-up at a Rajkot hospital last week, the ‘Khoobsurat’ star was diagnosed with swine flu. However, her publicist insists she is on a recovery mode now. “She’s been shifted to a hospital in Mumbai and she’s showing signs of a speedy recovery. Hopefully she should be back at work soon. We thank all her fans and the industry alike for the love and support they have shown her,” he...