RIYADH, 19 July 2006 — A Saudi retail giant, Al-Othaim Holding Company, has announced plans to open an additional 30 stores at a cost of billions of riyals within the next four years to take advantage of the growth in the retail sector. These stores including 10 supermalls to be opened by 2010 that will allegedly provide jobs to over 1,300 Saudi youths.
RIYADH, 7 July 2006 — An art exhibition focusing on the Kingdom’s desert life entitled “The collection of the Desert Dew” is currently under way in Riyadh. The second day of the three-day exhibition featuring some 114 high-value pieces of art by Dr. Nada Abdul Rahim Farhat drew a big crowd yesterday. The artist has portrayed desert life using an array of artistic talent.
RIYADH – More than 420 passengers were left stranded for nearly 27 hours at the King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) and later in a city hotel after their Air-India flight bound for Bombay was canceled on Wednesday evening. The ordeal of the angry passengers ended 5.30 p.m. yesterday, when an A-I flight carrying these passengers took off from KKIA for Bombay.
RIYADH – Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal will visit Tehran today to discuss a host of regional and international issues including Iran’s nuclear program, issues related to Iraq and the Middle East peace process, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said here yesterday.
RIYADH, 11 June 2006 — New Zealand has deported a pilot it believes was directly associated with one of the Sept. 11 hijackers in the United States. Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali was deported to Saudi Arabia on May 30, because he posed a security threat to that country and the people, New Zealand Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday.
RIYADH, 6 June 2006 — Saudi Arabia is among a group of seven countries experiencing a depletion of water resources because of climate change, which is also threatening its vast arid lands and deserts. “The deserts, however, can be used as a key resource if urgent action is taken to protect them on regional and global levels,” said a report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).