Middle East

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan has been chosen to chair the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) for a period of three years effective from January 4, 2024. Al-Jadaan will succeed Nadia Calviño, Spain’s first vice president and minister for economic affairs and digital …

The grandfather of Sidal Abu Jamea, a Palestinian girl from Khan Yunis, mourns over her body after she died overnight while sleeping in a tent from a shrapnel fragment that hit her in the head following Israeli bombardment on a nearby position, at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah in the …

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said that Saudi Arabia will create as many as 250,000 jobs during its hosting of Expo 2030 in Riyadh. He also highlighted the importance of sustainable jobs that the Kingdom will generate and these include jobs related to 1,000 hotel …

Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The Interior Ministry, represented by the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat), has issued more than 1,400,000 Saudi electronic passports in 2023. This comes as a continuation of the Interior Ministry’s efforts toward digital transformation, which is considered as one of the Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives. …

Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO) has announced the award of a duty-free contract on Wednesday for Terminal 1 and the North Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport. This contract has been awarded to a Joint Venture comprising a mix of national and international experts in the …

NEW YORK — Tesla is recalling more than two million cars after the US regulator found its driver assistance system, Autopilot, was partly defective. It follows a two-year investigation into crashes at the firm owned by billionaire Elon Musk, which occurred when Autopilot was in use. The recall applies to …

Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The field tours of the Jeddah Governorate Municipality started removing the waste and effects resulting from the rain condition that the governorate witnessed on Tuesday. The municipality also worked to open the main axes and roads in the city within the scope of 16 municipalities …

TBILISI — In early November, 50 Georgian opposition MPs addressed Nato and EU member states calling for a unified stance against Russia’s plan to establish a permanent naval base in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. The Kremlin’s plans have raised fears that the base could drag EU-hopeful Georgia into …

Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Some members of the Saudi Shoura Council have tabled a draft Medical Evacuation Law before the council. The draft law, proposed by Atta Al-Sabti, Dr. Latifa Al-Shaalan, Assaf Abu Thanin, and Ayyub Al-Jarbou, contains several provisions aimed at improving the quality and standard of the medical …

Saudi Gazette report TEHRAN — Iranian pilgrims will start arriving in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Dec. 19, to perform Umrah after a hiatus of eight years. This was announced by Abbas Hosseini, head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization. Addressing a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Hosseini said that …