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'Expats' pay went up 25% under Nitaqat'

July 18, 2014

Nitaqat ExpatsJeddah, Jul 18: The salaries of expatriates in the private sector rose by 25 percent while those of Saudis declined by 1 percent during 2013, according to a report published by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily on Thursday, quoting figures released by the Labor Ministry and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).

“The salaries of expats during the year rose by 25 percent or SR236 from an average salary of SR1,341 in 2012 to SR1,808 in 2013,” the report said. The average salary received by Saudis in the sector fell by one percent from SR4,801 in 2012 to SR4,748 in 2013.

Speaking with Arab News, Ibrahim Badawood, managing director of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Services, voiced his doubts about the accuracy of the salary hikes for expatriates. However, he said that if this was the case, it might be due to three reasons.

“First, it is very difficult to get visas to recruit foreign workers. Second, red-category firms have to increase salaries if they want to keep their foreign workers. Third, Saudis are not ready to do certain jobs and those expats doing these jobs may be asking for higher salaries,” he said.

Saudis receive more than double the salary received by expats in all job categories. For secretarial jobs their average salary is SR4,300 against SR1,640 for expats, sales jobs SR3,200 against SR1,200 for expats and assistant engineering jobs SR4,800 against SR1,000 for expats.

Expats contacted by Arab News expressed their astonishment over the huge salary divide between Saudis and expats, saying it’s unfair. “Salaries should be based on productivity rather than nationality,” said one expat.

According to the SAMA report, the average salary of employees in the private sector is SR2,962. However, the ministry’s statistics put it at SR2,134, a difference of SR828.

The report stated that the number of Saudis working in the private sector rose by 29 percent or 332,200 in 2013 with Saudi women taking 85 percent or 182,700 jobs, with Saudi men at 16 percent or 149,500.

The total number of Saudi women working in the sector rose from 215,800 to 398,500 in 2013 while that of Saudi men jumped from 918,800 to 1.1 million.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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Agencies
July 19,2020

Occupied Jerusalem, Jul 19: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday.

Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witchhunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.

The trial opened in May. Just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and flanked by his party members bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.

Netanyahu was not expected to appear at Sunday’s hearing, which is taking place at an occupied Jerusalem court and is mostly a procedural deliberation.

The trial resumes as Netanyahu faces widespread anger over his government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

While the country appeared to have tamped down a first wave of infections, what’s emerged as a hasty and erratic reopening sent infections soaring. Yet even amid the rise in new cases Netanyahu and his emergency government — formed with the goal of dealing with the crisis — appeared to neglect the numbers and moved forward with other policy priorities and its reopening plans.

It has since paused them and even re-impose restrictions, including a weekend only lockdown set to begin later this week.

Netanyahu’s government has been criticized for a baffling, halting response to the new wave, which has seen daily cases rise to nearly 2,000. It has been slammed for its handling of the economic fallout of the crisis.

His trial thus comes at inopportune timing. Netanyahu had hoped to ride on the goodwill he gained from overcoming the first wave of infections going into his corruption trial, but the increasingly souring mood has affected his approval rating and may deny him the public backing he had hoped for. The anger has sparked protests over the past few weeks that have culminated in violent clashes with police.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

Jerusalem, May 17: The Chinese ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home north of Tel Aviv on Sunday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said.

No cause of death was given and Israeli police said it was investigating.

Du Wei, 58, was appointed envoy in February in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. He previously served as China's envoy to Ukraine.

He is survived by a wife and son, both of whom were not in Israel.

Israel enjoys good relations with China.

The ambassador's death comes just two days after he condemned comments by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who denounced Chinese investments in Israel and accused China of hiding information about the coronavirus outbreak.

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