Terrorism ruled out in Riyadh shooting

October 15, 2014

Jeddah, Oct 15: Police and US officials ruled out terrorism in the shooting of two US citizens in Riyadh on Tuesday, saying the gunman was a former co-worker of the victims who was fired by their employer for misconduct.

Terrorism ruledMaj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the attacker has been identified as Abdul Aziz al-Rashed, a former employee of defense contractor Vinnell Arabia, which works with the Saudi National Guard.

Al-Turki said the gunman was a 25-year-old old Saudi born in the United States. He said there was nothing in the gunman’s record that shows any affiliation with any extreme movements.

Saudi and US officials earlier said the suspect opened fire on the car of the two Americans at a gas station near King Fahd Stadium in the eastern part of Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon. One of the victims died while the second one suffered slight injuries.

Responding police operatives cornered and arrested the suspect, Riyadh police spokesman Col. Fawaz Al-Maiman said.

A statement released by the Riyadh police also confirmed the death of one American and said another was “lightly injured” in the attack.

Johann Schmonsees, spokesman of the US Embassy in Riyadh, confirmed that the two shooting victims are employees from Vinnell Arabia.

“We are in close contact with the Saudi government as we continue to gather details about the shooting and motive,” he said.

He added: “Our embassy is issuing a security message to US citizens to advise them on the situation and any safety precautions they should take.”

He said the security advisory would be used to communicate information about personal security threats of a general or systemic nature, such as crime trends, demonstrations, peaceful actions intended to disrupt normal activity, or localized events not likely to affect large numbers of US citizens.

Police and US Embassy officials did not release the names of the shooting victims.

Vinnell Arabia, which is partly owned by US-based Northup Grumman Corp., has helped to train Saudi National Guard troops since 1975. It says it has more than 1,250 employees, some of whom are former US soldiers. More than half of the employees are Saudis, the company says on its website.

According to reports, Vinnell Arabia employees have been attacked in the Kingdom before, most notably the May 2003 truck bombing at its compound in Riyadh that killed 10 Americans and three Filipino workers.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Dubai, May 7: The holy month of Ramadan is expected to be a 30-day month this year, said Ibrahim Al Jarwan, member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences.

According to Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm, he said that Sunday, May 24, will mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the beginning of Shawwal.

Additionally, he said that the crescent of Shawwal will occur on Friday, May 22, at 9.39pm, after sunset, and will be visible on Sunday, May 24, the beginning of Shawal, which makes Ramadan a 30-day month this year.

He added that the next Ramadan is expected to start on April 13, 2021, and the one after that on April 2, 2022.

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Agencies
May 1,2020

Saudi Arabia has initiated refund of work visa fee to foreigners unable to travel to the Kingdom due to the suspension of international flights in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.

Several work visas were cancelled, following which the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced the refund. The cancellation and refunding of the stamped visas will be considered effective from the date of issuance of the royal decree on March 18, reported Saudi Gazette.

As a precautionary measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Kingdom suspended all international flight. The ministry of health in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced 1,325 new Covid-19 coronavirus cases and 169 recoveries. With this, the total number of cases in the Kingdom now stands at 21,402, while recoveries stand at 2,953, as on Wednesday reported KT.

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News Network
May 5,2020

Dubai, May 5: A Saudi ministerial decision issued on Monday allows companies in the private sector to reduce salaries by 40 per cent and allows termination of contracts owing to the economic hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to daily newspaper Al Sharq Awsat.

The new decision was still not published by the cabinet according to the newspaper.

The decision which the newspaper saw a copy of was signed by Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to regulate the labour contract in the current period, allows employers to reduce the employees salaries by 40 percent of the actual effective wage for a period of 6 months, in proportion to the hours of work and allowing the termination of employee contract after 6 months of the COVID-19 circumstances.

The new decision has also included a provision in which the employer would be allowed to cut wages even he or she benefits from the subsidy provided by the goverment, such as those for helping pay workers wages or exemption from government fees.

The decision also stressed that employers are not allowed to terminate any employee, unless three conditions are met.

1.            First the passing of six months since the measures of salary cut has been taken

2.            Reducing pay, annual leave and exceptional leave were all used

3.            Company proves that its facing financial troubles due to the circumstances.

The memo, which goes into affect as soon as its published in the government’s official newspaper, ensures that the employee will receive his/her salary if on annual leave within the period of 6 months.

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