Saudi Arabia will launch in coming weeks a renewable energy programme that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday. Falih, speaking at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi, said Riyadh would in the next few weeks start the first round of bidding for projects under the programme, which would produce 10 […]
Saudi Arabian Airlines’ budget carrier Flyadeal will lease six Airbus A320s, an Airbus executive said on Monday, a sign that the European planemaker might again have pipped Boeing in the race to win a big Middle East deal. Flyadeal, which is set to start services in mid-2017, is aiming to operate a fleet of up to 50 narrow body jets by 2020 and Saleh al-Jasser, director general […]
RIYADH Bahraini authorities on Sunday executed three Shi’ite Muslim men convicted of killing an Emirati police officer and two Bahraini policemen in a 2014 bomb attack, in a move likely to stoke protests in the restive Gulf island kingdom. The executions came less than a week after the country’s highest court confirmed the punishment against Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace, the first death sentences to […]
“We open a new hotel every 36 hours,” Sébastien Bazin remarks, after outlining the impressive portfolio of French hospitality chain AccorHotels, with 4,100 hotels spread across 95 countries and employing 240,000 people. The significant sum includes properties gained through the recent acquisition of FRHI, a hotel management company formerly owned by Qatar Investment Authority, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s private investment arm Kingdom Holding and Oxford […]
12 January 2017 The 2nd Gulf Arrhythmia Congress, the official scientific sessions of the Saudi Heart Rhythm Society (SHRS) and Gulf Heart Rhythm Society (GHRS) has been launched in Riyadh on the 13th & 14th of January at Movenpick Hotel. (GAC) is the result of the aligned visions of two professional societies to organize a state-of-the-science meeting in the Gulf and wider region highlighting the latest developments […]
Saudi Arabia has introduced new measures to grant business visa for foreign investors within 24 hours. An official with Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry confirmed to Arab News that the new mechanism for businesspeople and business delegations came into effect from January 1. The new rule will allow allowing foreign investors to obtain business visas electronically within a day. The official said the kingdom is also introducing a […]
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said his country’s ties with Saudi Arabia were recovering, after tensions linked to the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran led Riyadh to cancel $3 billion of military aid to Beirut last year. Aoun, an ally of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah, visited Saudi Arabia this week, trying to mend relations with the Sunni Muslim monarchy which has traditionally backed Hezbollah’s […]
Plans have been revealed for a AED1.8 billion ($490 million) development in Dubai to feature amusement parks, apartments, shops, restaurants and a cultural centre. Ento Capital Managment, an investment company licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), said it is geared to reconstruct the Wonder Land project, located on Al Riyadh Street. Hayssam El Masri, CEO of Ento Capital, said the project is slated to start […]
Pakistan’s recently retired army chief Raheel Sharif has been appointed to lead a new Saudi-military alliance to fight terrorism, Pakistani media have reported. Government officials in Saudi Arabia could not be reached on Sunday to confirm the appointment to head the coalition, the founding of which Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced at a sudden midnight press conference in December 2015. Pakistani Defence Minister […]
BEIRUT: A Syrian truce brokered by Russia and Turkey was under growing strain on Monday as opposition fighters vowed to respond to regime’s violations and President Bashar Assad said the army would retake an important opposition-held area near Damascus. Assad, in comments to French media, also said his regime was ready to negotiate on “everything” at peace talks his Russian allies hope to convene in Kazakhstan, including […]
Abu Dhabi // Rulers and officials of the GCC on Monday sent messages of condolence to the Iranian president and the family of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the senior revolutionary figure and pragmatist who had developed good relations with member states and presided over a thaw in Tehran’s relations with Riyadh during his tenure as president. Rafsanjani died on Sunday at the age of 82 after suffering a […]
DUBAI An Iranian official confirmed on Monday that Saudi Arabia had invited Tehran to discuss arrangements for the annual Muslim haj, which Iran boycotted last year after hundreds died in a crush at the 2015 pilgrimage. Most were Iranians, and the incident infuriated Tehran. Soon after, ties between the two regional rivals worsened further when Saudi Arabia executed a Shi’ite cleric, angry Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy […]
A high-profile forum co-hosted by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and European Union (EU) is to take place in Riyadh on Monday. In information carried on its website, the EU said that several GCC and EU officials would participate in the meeting aimed at expanding cooperation and encouraging bilateral investment. European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc is to lead the EU representation in the GCC along with […]
By Mehreen Zahra-Malik | ISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD Pakistan’s recently retired army chief Raheel Sharif has been appointed to lead a new Saudi-military alliance to fight terrorism, Pakistani media have reported. Government officials in Saudi Arabia could not be reached on Sunday to confirm the appointment to head the coalition, the founding of which Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced at a sudden midnight press conference […]
08 January 2017 Ixtel technologies, one of the UAE’s leading digital services provider was recently awarded as the Best SME in GCC for 2016. The awards ceremony organized by the GCC Ministers of Labor council acknowledged the ixtel’s efforts towards innovation & technology transformation initiatives. The award was presented at the 33rd GCC Ministers of Labor council summit that took place in Riyadh. The ceremony was attended […]
A year ago Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince and the power behind the throne, electrified the global energy industry by revealing plans to float the world’s largest oil producer. The ambitious proposal for an initial public offering in state-owned Saudi Aramco is the centrepiece of the hard-charging 31-year-old’s vision to overhaul an economy seen as too heavily dependent on natural resources. One year on […]
Saudi Arabia is a historically entrepreneurial country. Jeddah has been a mercantile centre for centuries. Even Riyadh and the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah began as trading stations on the spice and silk trails. What has changed since the rise of the oil industry? Not the entrepreneurial spirit of the country but the institutional environment for entrepreneurship to flourish. As we contemplate the country’s future as […]
Three women in black niqabs covering their hair and faces skateboard down a street, their scarves and colorful dresses flowing behind them. A catchy tune with provocative lyrics — “May all men sink into oblivion” and “If only God would rid us of men” — plays as the women alternately glide on in-line skates, cruise on scooters and parade down the street in vibrant outfits, all things […]
Justin Bieber’s “Let me love you!” blared from giant speakers to greet the arriving audience. Once settled, there were gasps and laughter at the antics of two American magicians before people sat back to savor some opera, mime and dance. The scene could have been from any variety performance on any weekend just about anywhere in the world, at least on the surface. But this is Saudi […]
Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has approved the organisational procedures for the General Authority of Sports in order to promote athleticism in the Kingdom. The newly approved measures also aim to organize and develop the sports sector, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Adel Al-Turaifi told the Saudi Press Agency following a Cabinet session headed by King Salman in Riyadh. Al-Turaifi said the authority would work […]
|By Matein Khalid|“Few individuals alter the course of history. Fewer still change the map of the world. Hardly anyone creates a nation state. Mohammed Ali Jinnah did all three”. Dr. Stanley Wolpert’s words still give me goose pimples two decades after I first read his book. Mr. Jinnah founded Pakistan and was also my ancestral kinsman. I too was born in Karachi, the city by the sea, […]
Saudi Arabia’s Yamama Cement Company has secured 1 billion riyals ($266.6 million) in Islamic financing to partially fund the building of a new factory, it said on Monday. The three-year financing includes 750 million riyals from National Commercial Bank and 250 million riyals from Samba Financial Group, it said in the statement. The company signed a 4.2 billion riyal contract with Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions in November […]
CAIRO Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for a New Year’s Day mass shooting in a packed Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, an attack carried out by a lone gunman who remains at large. The jihadist group made the claim in a statement on one of its Telegram channels, a method it has used to claim attacks in the past. There was no immediate comment from […]
Saudi Arabia has invited an Iranian delegation to partake in discussions over efforts to accommodate Haj pilgrims from the Islamic Republic after a dispute resulted in their absence at the religious event earlier this year. Saudi Minister of Haj, Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, said the Saudi government welcomes all pilgrims and visitors irrespective of nationality and religious affiliation. He added in comments published by Kuwait […]
