In a major move to cut down reliance on foreign workers, the government has rolled out a skills and training action plan that promises to meet the shortfall of skilled workers in the local market.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived here late Sunday to hold wide-ranging talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on the new challenges facing the region and the world at large.

The Ministry of Labor has ruled out an extension of the amnesty period and warned illegal workers and Saudi employers that countrywide raids would start on Nov. 4.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has stepped up efforts to boost defense cooperation, align security initiatives and face security challenges, said Abdullateef Al-Zayani, GCC secretary general, while speaking at an international conference in Bahrain on Tuesday.

As controversy continues to encircle the American surveillance program, Cryptome, the digital library host that was created by the US as a repository for secret documents and material, revealed that the CIA spied on 7.8 billion calls in Saudi Arabia.

The Oct. 26 campaign of Saudi women activists to drive fizzled out Saturday as the government's threat of arrests appeared to take effect.

James E. Rothman, the American professor who won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday, said that the King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) has become a “gateway for winning the Nobel Prize.”

The GCC has defied global trends of recession, with the economic bloc projected to expand by 4.1 percent in 2014, Nemat Shafik, deputy managing director of the IMF, said on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia has endorsed Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan as a candidate for the post of assistant secretary-general from the Asian region at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Khan is Pakistan’s permanent representative to the OIC in Jeddah.

Member states of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which enjoy better conditions for manufacturing and, in turn, have great potential for job creation, are heading for a “manufacturing renaissance,” said Abdullatif A. Al-Othman, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). Al-Othman expressed optimism on manufacturing sector's growth and said the “great manufacturing renaissance isn’t limited to one continent.”

Saudi Arabia has unveiled a new vision for agriculture through collaboration, which aims to deliver food security, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity.

Movenpick Hotel Al Khobar is lining up several surprises for guests, fun-filled evenings for all and recreational programs for a large number of needy children to mark the 83rd Saudi National Day.

A large part of Riyadh’s 500,000-strong Indian expatriate community have found itself in the grip of election fever as they go to the polls Saturday to elect members of the managing committee of the International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR).

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) urged the international community on Saturday to intervene immediately to “rescue” the Syrian people. The appeal came as Arab foreign ministers flew off to Paris to hold talks Sunday with their Western counterparts on key regional issues.

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf will lead a high-profile Saudi delegation to the G20 leaders’ summit that is set to begin in the Russian city of St.

Saudi Arabia is working to finalize key agreements with four countries, including the United States, on the peaceful use of nuclear power.

The state-owned Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) has enrolled more than 100,000 young Saudi boys and girls for vocational training as part of a comprehensive plan to reduce dependence on foreign workers.

Foreign ministers of the six- nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will hold consultations with their counterparts from Arab League countries on Syria within the framework of an Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo on Sunday. The Arab League foreign ministers were due to meet on Sept.3, but moved up the meeting in light of advancing plans for a possible US-led strike on Syria. 

Saudi Arabia has renewed its resolve to fight drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and other forms of cross-border crimes.

Some Indian expats have started taking personal loans from banks and approached their respective companies for borrowings in a bid to take advantage of a record fall in the value of the Indian rupee against the Saudi riyal. “The Indian rupee touched an all-time low of 16.38 against Saudi riyal and 63.13 against the US dollar on Monday,” said Farid Khan, a local banker.

Norway has restricted public access to 15 of its embassies in the Middle east and Africa (MENA), including its embassy in Saudi Arabia, said Norway's Foreign Ministry spokesman Frode Andersen via telephone interview from Oslo, on Tuesday.

The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) on Monday announced the signing of a shareholders agreement to jointly develop an SR26 billion fully integrated phosphate production facility in Saudi Arabia with partners — The Mosaic Company and the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).

Journalist Tahir Hussain Ansari, 64, who had the distinction of being the longest-serving Indian journalist in Saudi Arabia, died following a heart attack on Friday night.

RIYADH: Citing a “credible and serious” terror threat, the US State Department has ordered several US embassies in the Middle East to shut down on Sunday.

Riyadh Gov. Prince Khaled bin Bandar, chairman of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh, unveiled the $22.5 billion Riyadh Metro Project at a grand ceremony late Sunday.