RIYADH, 28 March 2008 — Prince Bander Ibn Khalid Al-Faisal, chairman of the board of directors of Sama airline, promised continued operations of the low-fare Saudi carrier here yesterday, while contradicting rumors that the carrier would close down its service and end operations in near future because of the soaring aviation fuel prices. “The reports about the closure of the airline are highly misleading and untrue,” said the prince.
RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at his palace here yesterday. The talks focused on key regional and international issues, including Iran, Iraq, Palestine and Sudan. Addressing a press conference, Kouchner said his talks with the king dealt with the arrest warrant against Sudan’s President Omar Bashir, Palestinian reconciliation, upcoming Lebanese parliamentary elections and the G-20 meeting in London.
RIYADH: Prince Naif, second deputy premier and minister of interior, called for greater international efforts to fight terrorism. “The Kingdom has imposed tight restrictions to dry up the resources and funds of terrorists in order to curb the spread of this evil,” said Prince Naif, who renewed his pledge to stop the spread of militancy with the help of the government, the media and members of the public. Prince Naif said “propaganda and yellow journalism” were encouraging Saudi youths to join militant organizations. “The media, whether it is the state media or private, should be realistic and objective,” he said.
Riyadh: In an effort to explain the role of the Gulf states with special referance to the global economic downturn, Saudi Arabia has announced it will participate in a high-profile meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors due to be held in London tomorrow.
RIYADH: A Saudi scientist has been appointed as associate editor of prestigious BMC Genomics, an online journal published by the UK-based BioMed Central. Dr. Khawla Al-Kuraya, principal scientist and director of King Fahd National Center for Children’s Cancer and Research, said it was “one of those rare recognitions that scientists aspire for.” “I’m truly flattered by the fact that the works we’ve been doing locally for the past few years have received such international recognition,” she added.
RIYADH: An Argentine cyclist on a world tour arrived in Riyadh a few days ago after pedaling some 70,735km. Cyclist Pablo Garcia said at a press conference at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel yesterday that his mission was to “promote global peace and cultural exchange as a process for building peaceful relations all over the world, especially in the Middle East. “Cultural integration is a dynamic process of fostering peace among diverse nations.”
RIYADH: King Saud University (KSU) has announced plans to start courses in Chinese, Urdu, Swahili and Hausa. The university’s College of Language and Translation (COLT), which has emerged as the largest language teaching facility of its kind in the Middle East, has also geared itself to start three postgraduate programs in French, English linguistics and translation. “Chinese as a language will be taught from the next academic year,” said Saad H. Al-Hashash, the dean of COLT.
RIYADH: The whereabouts of a Ugandan executive who was arrested nearly four years ago and detained in a Dammam prison is unknown despite efforts by the country’s embassy to find him. “The fate of Faheart Huling Oling, 36, is uncertain after he was allegedly transferred to an undisclosed location and the Saudi government has not responded to our diplomatic notes so far,” Abdul Noor Sekindi, the Ugandan Embassy spokesman, said yesterday.
RIYADH: Education officials in the Gulf countries are committed to developing their curriculums, according to Ali Al-Karni, director-general of the Riyadh-based Arab Bureau for Education in the Gulf States (ABEGS). Al-Karni made his comments about curriculum development while announcing that the Almarai Award for Scientific Innovation would be given to “six students from each GCC member state, including Saudi Arabia” at a ceremony in Kuwait on Sunday.
RIYADH: In a show of brilliant cricketing, Pakistan International School Naseriya (PISN), Middle East International School (MEIS) and Pakistan International School English Section (PISES) crushed their opponents in the ongoing Arab News Inter-School Cricket tournament sponsored by Arab News and organized by Riyadh Cricket Association (RCA). The matches are being played at RCA Ground in Sulay District of the capital city. The ground wore a colorful look as families of players and supporters of the participating teams swarmed the arena in big numbers, which is indicative of the fact that the event is evoking great enthusiasm and big response in Riyadh.