Middle East

Haramain Railway to cost SR42 bn

By P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: The Haramain Railway, which will link the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah with Jeddah, will cost about SR42 billion, according to a report circulated by the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO). The high-speed rail project will bring about dramatic improvement in transportation of pilgrims between the two […]

Editorial: Fighting phantoms

Every time the US intervenes in a Muslim country, it ends up helping the extremists As if the mind-numbing mess created by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan wasn’t enough, it had to turn its attention to Yemen. Yemen is in the midst of an unprecedented popular revolt […]

Compassion wins seconds before execution

By ARAB NEWS MADINAH: A murderer was saved seconds before he was due to be beheaded after his victim’s father decided to pardon him. According to a report by local Arabic daily Al-Madinah on Wednesday, Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim Al-Anzi was brought Tuesday to the execution square in Madinah in […]

Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel

If Google Earth maps the trees, the oceans, and the annals of history, why is a country, Israel, so hard to make out? An article from Mother Jones explores how U.S. policy makers have pixelated Google Earth and why that might change in 2013. Israel’s low-resolution e-presence can be traced […]

Westerwelle warns of Mideast peace problems

Berlin believes unilateral moves – such as declaring Palestinian independence – would be “very counterproductive” to the Middle East peace process, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned on Tuesday.   Westerwelle, who spoke after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, did not specifically refer to Palestinian plans […]

Fund to address south district woes

By Mohammad Ghazal TAFILEH – His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday ordered the launch of a JD15 million fund to implement a series of development and income-generating projects in the southern Governorate of Tafileh. The fund, called Tafileh Development Fund, will be affiliated with the King Abdullah II Fund for […]