RIYADH/JEDDAH, 2 November 2004 — The number of foreigners recruited to work in the Kingdom has dropped by more than 50 percent last month compared to the same period last year, according to figures just released by the Ministry of Labor. Regional labor offices last month issued 31,965 work visas for foreigners to come and work in the Kingdom compared to 65,096 visas issued in the same period last year, said Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Humaid, deputy minister of labor for planning and development. This is a 51 percent drop over the same period and is the result of the ministry’s policy to curb recruitment of foreign workers as part of the Saudization drive.
RIYADH, 27 October 2004 — Car rental companies have cautioned customers about a new trend in automobile thefts. In one incident, Budget Rent-a-Car Company lost a brand-new Lumina driven by a customer only a few days ago when thieves adopted a novel technique to steal it. Budget alone lost three vehicles in one day. Similar incidents have been reported by other car rental companies.
RIYADH, 24 October 2004 — Saudi Arabia will expand its network of earthquake monitoring centers by adding three high-powered digital seismic stations within six months. The Riyadh-based King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the central scientific organization to monitor seismic activities with a mandate to report any tremor or aftershocks directly to the Saudi government, is working on the expansion project.
RIYADH- Saudi Arabia will release 5,500 prisoners, mainly convicted Asian and African workers serving prison terms in different jails. Only those foreign workers, whose cases are unrelated to such serious crimes as terrorism and drug-trafficking, will be released and deported during Ramadan following royal clemency to be granted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd.
RIYADH, 29 September 2007 — As part of efforts to integrate orphans into mainstream society, the Charitable Society for the Care of Orphans (Insan) has announced plans to build two major facilities. The total cost of the two projects, which include a special social club for orphans in Al-Kharj and a central Insan office building in Riyadh, will exceed SR69 million.
RIYADH, 27 September 2004 — The successful conclusion of the world’s largest Islamic financing transaction was announced here yesterday by senior officials of Ettihad Etisalat and commercial banks of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The move by the UAE’s Etisalat to enter the expanding Saudi GSM market has generated the $2.35 billion Islamic transaction setting a benchmark for Islamic financing deals in the years to come.
RIYADH, 13 September 2004 — It seemed like a scene from a sci-fi movie enacted at King Saud University (KSU). The robot moved slowly across the room toward 13-year-old Saudi girl Sheikha Al-Ajazi maneuvering over her motionless body. Three gangly arms slowly descended, penetrating the abdomen of the girl, whose weight exceeded 102 kg at the time of operation with major BMI (body mass index) inconsistencies and ailments reported to a panel of doctors and surgeons because of morbid obesity
RIYADH, 10 September 2004 — With some 90 percent Saudi households having satellite TVs, the Kingdom has a much larger Al-Jazeera viewership base than US-sponsored Al-Hurra, a new survey reveals. Al Hurra’s credibility ratings were also found to be quite poor all over Saudi Arabia in contrast with the high scores of Doha-based Al-Jazeera and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya.
RIYADH- A Pakistan International Airlines plane bound for Riyadh with 229 people on-board caught fire after taking off from Lahore airport in eastern Pakistan. “PIA’s flight No. PK-643 made an emergency landing after one of its engines caught fire,” said an official statement released by the airline. All passengers were safe, it added.
RIYADH – Prisoners will be able to take part in the upcoming municipal elections. Gen. Ali Al-Harithy, director general of prisons, said prisoners would be allowed to vote in the Kingdom’s first nationwide elections due later this year, as the chance – to participate “is open to everyone with no exceptions.