RIYADH, 25 August 2007 — Osama Al-Kurdi, a Shoura Council member, has been chosen as the deputy chairman of the Inter-Parliamentarians for Social Services (IPSS) following its meeting in Seoul. Al-Kurdi, who is a versatile scholar and social scientist, was selected by the IPSS general assembly, which seeks to set up a legal and institutional framework to promote social services around the globe.
The King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has warned against a hoax e-mail claiming that Mars will look as large as the moon to the naked eye on Aug. 27 and that it will be as if there are “two full moons in the sky.” “It is misleading news… There is no astronomical event to occur as claimed. Rather, a full lunar eclipse will take place on Aug. 28,” said Dr. Zaki Mustafa, head of KACST’s Astronomy Department.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia formally established diplomatic ties with Kosovo following the signing of the protocol accord for diplomatic relations by Khalid A. Al-Nafisee, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, and Avni Spahiu, Kosovo ambassador to the United States, at the UN office on Friday. A close ally, the Kingdom has also been one of the top donors to Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia and declared its independence in February 2008.
RIYADH: A number of terror suspects including three men whose names figured on the list of 85 suspects released by the Ministry of Interior will soon go on trial in Saudi courts. “These militants, including the three who surrendered themselves before Saudi police recently under pressure from family and friends, are behind bars for plotting attacks against the Kingdom from abroad,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said on Wednesday. “Everybody will be tried in a fair manner,” said Al-Turki, referring to those who are currently in detention facing terrorism charges. Al-Turki declined to say how many of these suspects are currently in Saudi jails.
RIYADH: The case of the Canadian brothers, in which one of the young men has been sentenced to death, has taken a new turn after the victim’s family has allegedly demanded five million dollars as blood money (diyyah). The father of the brothers says the family can only afford SR500,000. “The case has also bounced back again to Jeddah General Court from the Supreme Judicial Council while family members are waiting in despondency to hear the court’s directives in the case,” said Ali Kohail, father of Mohammed Kohail and Sultan Kohail, the two brothers found guilty of a death that occurred in a schoolyard brawl, on Saturday.