Saudi Arabia

Umrah packages galore as Ramadan nears

By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS RIYADH: With two weeks to go before the holy month of Ramadan, attractive weekend Umrah packages starting from SR100 are being offered by travel operators in the capital. The beginning of the Umrah season on June 29 this year coincided with the summer holidays, […]

Arab culture in London’s limelight

By SHEYMA BUALI, LIFE.SYLLE@ARABNEWS.COM London’s three-week long Shubbak festival of contemporary Arab culture opened on Monday on a strong note from Tamer Abou Ghazaleh, Zeid Hamdan and Maryam Saleh, performing together for the first time in Europe. The first week of Shubbak sped by with music, history, film and literature […]

OIC’s role in the islamic world

By MAHA AKEEL, LIFE.STYLE@ARABNEWS.COM This book answers the question: What has the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), recently renamed as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, done in the past 40 years of its existence? It courageously addresses some existential questions of its relevance and place in today’s complicated, interconnected […]

Makkah realtors cash in on ‘jinn’ rumors

By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS MAKKAH: There are widespread rumors among Makkawis claiming some abandoned buildings and estates are possessed by jinns. According to the widely circulated gossip, residents of these buildings located in various districts of the holy city, especially on the outskirts, say they vacated their […]

Jeddah one of world’s cheapest cities

By KHALIL HANWARE | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: Jeddah has been ranked as one of the top 10 cheapest cities in the world, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living (2011) survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Karachi was the cheapest, while Tokyo was the most expensive. Jeddah came […]

Murdoch’s muddle

Let’s hope phone-hacking scandin the UK will finally help rein in his evil empire Is this Britain’s own Watergate with consequences that could prove as disastrous for Cameron as they had been for Nixon? The prime minister may try hard to put up a brave face, pretending to be outraged […]

Picture of the Day

A three-week long camel race was opened at the Orfa Race Course in Taif on Friday. This is part of the National Festival for Heritage and Culture currently being celebrated in Taif. The winners in various items will be awarded 25 prizes,director of the festival Saud Al-Romi said on Saturday.  […]