An estimated 23 percent of abused children have also suffered from sexual abuse, an official from the National Family Safety Program (NFSP) said Saturday.

The Ministry of Commerce, in cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), is launching a campaign to enforce a rule stipulating that retailers, including supermarkets and groceries, keep small denomination coins and to give them to shoppers as leftover change.

The state-owned Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has signed an agreement with the Tanzanian government to support a major drinking water supply project in the East African country, according to Arab News.

Senior officials of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) met here yesterday to coordinate sanctions against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement over its support for the Syria regime.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced July 8 (Shaban 29) as the last date for seeking Umrah visas. All Saudi diplomatic missions across the world will continue issuing Umrah visas until the “end of Shaban,” said Osama Nugali, a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, here.

A labor official working at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh has been recalled by Manila to face an inquiry for alleged sexual exploitation of distressed Filipino women workers.

Riyadh police yesterday arrested two men who opened fire at Romansiya Restaurant in Al-Suwaidi district on Monday.

Saudi Internet users topped the list of those who share their public and private lives online, according to a US report on the Internet and computing trends.

Businessman and philanthropist Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Khalid M. Al-Saud, who has been extensively involved in a number of charity projects and organizations including King Faisal Foundation (KFF), was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at this year’s Arabian Business Saudi Achievement Awards.

The Shoura Council has accepted a petition that calls for holding fresh discussions on the issue of women driving in a historic move that may eventually facilitate the mobility of women. The petition, signed by 3,000 Saudi citizens including academics, scholars, writers, as well as young Saudi boys and girls, calls for the ban on women driving to be lifted.

The Riyadh-based King Saud University (KSU) in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior embarked on an ambitious rehabilitation program for prisoners and ex-offenders here yesterday.

The Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has announced final plans to change the current 9-digit landline telephone number to 10-digit system by adding the digit 1 to the six geographical zone codes.

Eight people, including a Saudi citizen, have been arrested following Sunday’s bomb attack on a Catholic church in Tanzania. “Those detained by the Tanzanian police include a group of people from Tanzania, a few from Arab countries and other foreign countries,” said Osama Nugali, a spokesman at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday.

Three Filipino workers were detained by Riyadh police yesterday for protesting outside the Philippine Embassy. Later they were released. The three workers were among a group of about 150 workers who gathered in front of the Philippine Embassy yesterday morning to protest against the alleged inability of the Filipino diplomatic missions to help illegal workers go home.

Female education supervisors will carry out inspections of private and international girls’ school buildings to ensure their safety, according to a directive from the Ministry of Education.

Energy security will top the agenda of talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, and high-ranking Saudi officials in Jeddah today.

The Kingdom must take precautions to ensure more online protection to its financial institutions, key industry executives and investment experts said yesterday.

Mexico's business tycoon Carlos Slim, the world's richest man with a net worth of $73 billion, is planning to invest billions of dollars in a range of projects in Saudi Arabia. Slim is considering plans to invest in lucrative petrochemical projects in Jubail, the industrial city in the east of the Kingdom, as well as in other projects in undisclosed sectors, according to Saudi and Mexican sources.

Thousands of people ran from their homes and offices in the Eastern Province yesterday after tremors were felt from a massive earthquake in Iran.

King Saud University (KSU) plans to build a train network on campus to ease transport difficulties for its staff and 40,000 students. The campus network will be linked to the upcoming Riyadh Metro.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah blasted the Syrian regime for frustrating all attempts to end the bloodshed through peaceful means.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the February assassination of Saudi diplomat Khaled Al-Anizi in Sana’a. Yemeni Interior Minister Brig. Gen. Abdulqader Qahtan said authorities at Al-Hodeidah Governorate seized the car that was used by the alleged terrorists. He said the duo using the car is being interrogated.

In a move that will further isolate the embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Arab League — backed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar — has taken a decision to give Syria’s seat at the Arab League to the country’s official opposition bloc a day before the crucial Arab summit kicks off in Qatar on Tuesday.

A glitch in the computer network of the Immigration Department caused travel chaos at the two busiest airports of the Kingdom yesterday morning.

A computer glitch caused travel chaos at the kingdom's two busiest airports yesterday. Hmndreds of fliers were delayed and airlines faced trouble as a result of the computer outage at airports in Riyadh and Jeddah.