Khalaf Al-Harbi
Okaz
FOR years, I have been following the brief news reports about the trials of people responsible for the Jeddah rain and flood crisis of November 2009. At first, I used to read these reports with great interest, hoping that the court verdicts would put an end to the floods of corruption in the countr
Expatriates too are corrupt!
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I am a graduate …
Students come out in jubilation after school final examinations at a secondary school in Taif on Wednesday. The students began celebrating their summer break with graffiti tags on the thobes of classmates. Saad Abdullah, one of the students, said he would keep the thobe with tags such as “I am a graduate, don’t talk to me,” and “Farewell, f
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Egyptian expats celebrate El-Sisi’s election victory
Renad Ghanem
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Egyptian expatriates living in the Kingdom celebrated after Abdul Fattah El-Sisi was elected president, receiving 96.91 percent of the final vote.
Many said El-Sisi has a great responsibility and carries the hopes of millions o
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Ahsa’s archeological heritage faces grim future
Saudi Gazette report HOFOUF — The historic districts of Al-Koot and Al-Na’athil in downtown Hofouf, Al-Ahsa governorate, are home to hundreds of traditional homes that depict the rich architectural heritage of the region. Long abandoned, the majority of homes&rsqu
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Haj firms told to deliver what they promise
Saudi Gazette report
MAKKAH — The Ministry of Haj has warned local Haj companies against running exaggerated advertising campaigns and to refrain from using language that seemingly promotes special or VIP services.
The ministry has also banned companies from publishing
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School transport to cover 1.2m students
RIYADH — About 1,200 buses will be providing transport to about 1.2 million male and female students in various parts of the Kingdom next academic year, CEO of the company promoting the school transport project said. Sami Al-Dobaikhi was briefing Education Minister Prince Khaled Al-Faisal who inspected the buses on Wednesday. He said last ye
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2,046 domestic abuse cases last year
JEDDAH — A total of 2,046 cases of domestic violence cases were registered in various parts of the Kingdom last year, the Justice Ministry has said. In a statistical report, the ministry said Makkah topped the list of Saudi provinces with 702 cases, followed by Riyadh (476 cases) and Eastern Province (264). There were 115 cases in Asir, 97 i
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Jeddah will not drown again, says PME
JEDDAH — About 90 percent of the projects to protect Jeddah from rains and floods have been completed, a senior official of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has said. “Jeddah will not drown again,” PME’s undersecretary Abdul Basit Sairafi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. He said a total of 83 stations to monitor
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Naseef to host lectures by Dr. Shabir Ally
JEDDAH — President of the World Muslim Congress (WMC) Abdullah Omar Nasseef will host a lecture series by world-renowned Canadian orator and expert on comparative religion Dr. Shabir Ally on June 10-11 in Jeddah. The lectures will begin at 7.30 p.m. at the WMC Hall off Kayal Street in Al-Rawda district. The topics are: “How a Muslim sh
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Princess Sita launches anti-drug drive
RIYADH — Princess Saita Bint Abdullah on Wednesday attended the launch of an awareness campaign to combat narcotic abuse at King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh. The campaign under the slogan, “Our cooperation protects generations”, was organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs in cooperation with Women’s Affairs at the Sa
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Labor Ministry asks private firms to update online data
Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor has directed private companies and establishments update their data for online communication effective from Sunday. The ministry warned that firms failing to do so would be denied all online services, including services at labor offi
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Kingdom to test camels for MERS coronavirus
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia will test camels in the Kingdom for the deadly coronavirus that causes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Agriculture Minister Fahad Balghunaim was quoted as saying, a day after a study reinforced a long-suspected link between the animals and human cases of the deadly virus.
There have been 691
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Six imams to lead Taraweeh prayers
MAKKAH — The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs has announced the names of imams who will lead the special night prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the fasting month of Ramadan. The six imams who will lead the late night Taraweeh and pre-dawn Tahajjud prayers include Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, who is the head of the pres
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Employers must provide a safe work environment
Saeed Al-Suraihi
Okaz
The Ministry of Labor has reported that it received 1,132 occupational injury cases in 2012 and 2,272 in 2013, which means that the number of work-related injuries in Saudi Arabia doubled in only one year.
Although this increase in the number of injuries may be related to the increa
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When will the disgraceful, racist treatment of expats by Saudis ever end?
Suzan Al-Mashhadi
Al-Hayat
An expatriate woman friend of mine told me the following story and asked me to publish it if possible. She said she went to a health center in Al-Salamah district in Jeddah to have her children vaccinated. A senior Saudi female nurse told her openly and rather rudely that vaccination would be
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Why are you wearing a seat belt?!
Shalash Al-Dabaan
Al-Youm
There is a well-known joke in Saudi Arabia about the seat belt in cars. It goes like this: In all the countries of the world, if you are not wearing a seat belt, the traffic policeman will consider you to be either drunk or stoned. But, in the Kingdom the policeman will look at you suspiciousl
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Streamlining the gasoline sector
Saudi Gazette report SENIOR officials representing investors in gas stations in the Kingdom have called for enacting rules and regulations to streamline the functioning of this vital sector. They emphasized that companies should come forward and invest in the sector, which is currently dominated by individual investors, accor
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A culture etched in stone
Saudi Gazette report A neglected rock in Ghouwtah Mountain, 20 km east of the historic village of Jubbah in Hail, contains the history of the Thamud, an ancient Arab tribe known for carving stone buildings. The rock is the only known rock left with etchings of sacrosanct dances and names of deities worshipped by the Thamud, N
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With the spread of smartphones, privacy leaks are on the rise
Saudi Gazette report AS more and more people buy smartphones to communicate, browse the Web and use Internet-enabled applications, unprecedented amounts of personal information is being stored and shared between devices and third party websites. As a result, privacy breaches are common, leaving many users vulnerable to blackmail an
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Aircraft maintenance facility functional soon
JEDDAH — The CEO of the Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI) said a mega project for aircraft maintenance will begin operations by the end of 2015. Nader Al-Khalawi said the over SR3 billion project is the largest aircraft maintenance facility in the Middle East, and will create 9,000 jobs for Saudis. He added that SAEI seeks to achieve a high l
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