JEDDAH: A prominent Saudi rights campaigner, who has been detained for a year, is not on hunger strike, an Interior Ministry spokesman said in response to activists saying he was in deteriorating health and Saudi authorities were to (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi food group Savola has bought the remaining 22 percent stakes in two Egyptian companies it acquired in October as part of a regional expansion, an official at investment bank HC Securities that managed the deal said on Tuesday.
In (...)
MECCA: Future development in the Muslim sacred city of Mecca will be more in tune with traditional architecture, the mayor says, but for now residents worry that Islam's holiest sites are disappearing behind skyscrapers.
The historic city, the (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's Savola Group has signed an agreement to buy a 78 percent stake in two Egyptian firms for LE 557 million ($98 million) as it expands its regional footprint in food products, it said on Tuesday
The acquisition of the stakes (...)
JEDDAH: A few ads in newspapers and a handful of posters are among rare clues visible in Saudi Arabia that it will hold a nationwide local council election on Thursday, only the second in recent memory and one that critics say is a (...)
JEDDAH: Outside a villa surrounded by palm trees on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia's second largest city Jeddah, police cars guard an exceptional criminal court where 16 men were put on trial this year after more than four years detention.
The men (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi authorities released late on Monday a female activist who was held for 10 days after challenging the country's ban on women driving and encouraging others to follow suit, a lawyer and activists said.
Police arrested Manal Alsharif (...)
JEDDAH: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to increase its $3.5 billion sukuk program to as much as $8 billion and issue a sukuk bond worth $600 million by year end, its vice-president said on Wednesday.
Abdul Aziz al-Hinai said $2.9 (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the Internet of her driving, activists said.
The YouTube video, posted on (...)
JEDDAH: Torrential rainfall submerged streets and cut off electricity in parts of Saudi Arabia's second largest city Jeddah on Wednesday, raising fears of a repeat of floods in 2009 which killed more than 120 people.
The last floods triggered a (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's annual inflation remained unchanged from the previous month at 5.8 percent in November, state news agency SPA said late on Saturday, underpinned by rising housing and transport costs.
Monthly inflation in the biggest Arab (...)
RIYADH: Foreign banks are flocking to Saudi Arabia as the emirate opens up its bourse and rolls out the world's biggest stimulus package but they face challenges recruiting, training and ultimately retaining local staff.
Speakers at the Reuters (...)
JEDDAH: A giant clock on a skyscraper in Islam's holiest city Mecca began ticking on Wednesday at the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, amid hopes by Saudi Arabia it will become the Muslim world's official timekeeper.
The Mecca Clock, which (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia will allow BlackBerry's Messenger service to continue beyond a 48-hour deadline due to "positive progress" made with manufacturer Research In Motion, the regulator said on Tuesday.
The telecom watchdog is continuing to work (...)
JEDDAH: Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the Arab world's largest telecom company by market value, has denied a report it was discussing buying a stake in an Indian telecoms tower unit.
India's Business Standard, citing sources with direct knowledge (...)
RIYADH: The advertising business in the Middle East will bounce back this year to peak levels last seen in 2008, said Martin Sorrell, chief executive officer of WPP, the world s largest advertising group.
The Middle East is one of the key growth (...)
JEDDAH: OPEC does not need to cut output next year, according to the latest figures on supply and demand, the oil minister of top exporter Saudi Arabia told Reuters on Tuesday.
Demand for Saudi crude was increasing, and this was evidence the (...)