Valentine’s Day buying guide in Saudi Arabia: What she wants, what he wants. High-tech toys or teddy bears?
Red roses or trainers? Changing attitudes in Saudi Arabia mean gift-giving has never been easier. But with a dazzling range of choices on offer, many Saudis’ preferences may surprise ... Saudi Arabia prepares for Valentine’s Day. RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has placed a temporary ban on Umrah pilgrims in an attempt to ensure public safety by preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
Most foreign pilgrims often visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah before or after the completion of their religious duties in Makkah, this has also been halted. It is one of a number of precautionary restrictions announced early on Thursday as health authorities in the Kingdom closely monitor the spread of the virus. Tourist-visa holders from countries judged to pose a particularly high risk of spreading the virus will also be denied entry.
In addition, Saudi nationals and citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council nations will not be able to use a national identity card to travel to and from the Kingdom for the time being. Health authorities at entry points will verify which countries travelers visited before arriving in Saudi Arabia and apply all necessary precautionary measures. WEF’s Riyadh summit ‘can help resolve regional, world issues’ RIYADH: Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan on Wednesday appointed Abdulrahman Al-Asim as CEO of the Libraries Authority, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Netflix buys rights to six Saudi films tackling social issues. RIYADH: Netflix is to stream six movies produced by Saudis after buying the rights from a startup studio based in the Kingdom.
US-Saudi partnership critical to confronting Iran, Pompeo says after Prince Faisal meeting. UN identifies companies doing business in illegal settlements. PARIS, ANKARA: Foreign ministers from 14 European countries, including France and Germany, demanded on Wednesday that Syrian regime forces and their Russian backers end their offensive in Idlib province and return to the terms of a 2018 cease-fire deal.
Turkey however plans to push regime forces away from its military observation posts in the Idlib region this week, despite continued advances by Damascus’s Russian-backed military. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed Turkey would not take the “smallest step back” in an escalating standoff with Damascus and Russia over the northern Syrian region of Idlib. Meanwhile, a meeting between Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is expected to take place ahead of a possible summit including EU heavyweights Germany and France to find a political solution to the Idlib crisis.
‘End offensive’ Saudi Arabia loses 120,000 hectares of trees every year. JAZAN: Efforts to draw the younger generation in the Kingdom’s Jazan region away from the harmful and addictive substance qat are succeeding, with even the crop being replaced by coffee trees to support the booming coffee business.
Qat, a plant that is native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is a stimulant that triggers excitement and alertness. But it can also cause anxiety, insomnia and aggravate pre-existing mental health conditions. Concerns rise over fake gold in Saudi Arabia. JAZAN: Efforts to draw the younger generation in the Kingdom’s Jazan region away from the harmful and addictive substance qat are succeeding, with even the crop being replaced by coffee trees to support the booming coffee business.
Qat, a plant that is native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is a stimulant that triggers excitement and alertness. But it can also cause anxiety, insomnia and aggravate pre-existing mental health conditions. Does Hezbollah pay electricity bills? I often wonder, does Hezbollah pay electricity bills?
‘Who controls Lebanon’s destiny?’ asks former president. DUBAI: Bahrain reported its first case of coronavirus on Monday, after health authorities said a citizen arriving from Iran showed symptoms of the virus.
Meanwhile, Kuwait reported three cases of the virus in people, including a Saudi national, who had recently traveled from Iran. UN fears ‘bloodbath’ in Syria. DUBAI: Bahrain reported its first case of coronavirus on Monday, after health authorities said a citizen arriving from Iran showed symptoms of the virus.
Meanwhile, Kuwait reported three cases of the virus in people, including a Saudi national, who had recently traveled from Iran. The three cases, the first in the Gulf state, were among the 700 people evacuated from the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad last week, state news agency KUNA reported. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health confirmed it was coordinating with Kuwaiti health authorities to treat the Saudi national, adding that the patient would remain in Kuwait until they were cured. Saudi Arabia plans $110bn investment in Al-Jafurah unconventional gas field. CAIRO: Egypt’s Tharawat International Investment Corp. has signed a $450 million deal with the Saudi Hospitality Development Group (HDG) to manage Swiss International. HDG owns and represents the Swiss hotel and resort brand with its three brands: Swiss Spirit, Swiss International and Royal Swiss. “Many of our investors are interested in investing in Egypt and we have started tourist projects mainly in Hurghada, Sharm El-Shiekh and Cairo,” Jamal Al-Hamed, chief development officer of Swiss International Hotels and Resorts, told Arab News.
Saudi-US bond will last another 75 years, says US State Department spokesperson. RIYADH: Few people outside Saudi Arabia grasp the scale of the Kingdom’s reform drive, especially in empowering women, a leading US diplomat has told Arab News. “I was reminded of this … by a prominent Saudi woman, who is happy and proud of the reforms,” said US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus. “She made the excellent point that Saudi women have been strong, capable and educated for a long time.”
The woman told Ortagus that Saudi women wanted their peers in the US to understand them, not feel pity for them. Saudi cleric blasts Erdogan. RIYADH: Few people outside Saudi Arabia grasp the scale of the Kingdom’s reform drive, especially in empowering women, a leading US diplomat has told Arab News. “I was reminded of this … by a prominent Saudi woman, who is happy and proud of the reforms,” said US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.
“She made the excellent point that Saudi women have been strong, capable and educated for a long time.” The woman told Ortagus that Saudi women wanted their peers in the US to understand them, not feel pity for them. Macron and Muslims. When dealing with disruptive, potentially dangerous individuals or groups within society, the dilemma lies in differentiating between the sheep and the wolves. This is what President Emmanuel Macron is trying to do in France. Muslim citizens in France are not the problem — the extremists are. The same applies to the wider population of the country; there are extremist, hostile racist groups in other sections of French society, but the peaceful majority of people from these communities are not subject to suspicion and persecution to the degree that Muslims are. Macron visited a mosque last week, where he addressed the Muslim community and made comments that did not appeal to some.
He said he would not allow separatist movements to flourish in France, as the country is one republic and everyone should coexist and accept its laws. The truth is that some behaviors are personal choices. The true problem, however, lies not with Turkey but Europe. Saudi women ‘are in no need of being rescued’ LONDON: A $110 billion project to develop a gas field in eastern Saudi Arabia will turn the global market on its head and make the Kingdom a gas exporter, industry analysts told Arab News on Saturday.
Arabnews. $110 billion Jafurah project to make Saudi Arabia a gas exporter. Arabnews. JEDDAH: The 10 Saudi students who returned from Wuhan, China, on Feb. 2 have been declared as being coronavirus-free. According to Al Arabiya, they have been receiving two check-ups for fevers and flu daily since they returned and every three days have had saliva-testing to see if the coronavirus was spreading among them. Inaction will only feed malign Iranian behavior. Saudi Arabia and US reenact Roosevelt meeting with King Abdul Aziz. RIYADH: Over 60,000 Saudi female employees have benefited from Wusool, a female transportation program that helps ease their daily commute.
Arabnews. RIYADH: Over 60,000 Saudi female employees have benefited from Wusool, a female transportation program that helps ease their daily commute. G20 media committee holds first press conference in Riyadh. RIYADH: Over 60,000 Saudi female employees have benefited from Wusool, a female transportation program that helps ease their daily commute. Ivanka Trump praises Saudi Arabia for gender equality progress at Global Women’s Forum.
DUBAI: Ivanka Trump has commended Saudi Arabia for its efforts in empowering women by changing laws to respect women’s freedom of movement and access to credit and financial services.