Middle East

Dec 23: I would like to know whether an employee has to pay Dh5,000 as visa charges if for some reason he has to cancel his employment visa after six months of employment. Is there any law in the UAE wherein the employer can ask for the money before cancelling the visa of his employee? Pursuant to your queries, it may be advised that where an employee seeks to terminate his employment contract

Aleppo, Dec 23: The army has said it has retaken full control of Syria's devastated second city Aleppo, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011. The announcement came yesterday after a landmark evacuation deal that put an end to a ferocious month-long offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces and allied militia. An army statement said the

Jeddah, Dec 22: Saudi Arabia’s stock market rose on Wednesday on the eve of the government’s release of its 2017 budget. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) climbed 0.4 percent, though trading volume shrank to its lowest level in two months as many investors became cautious before the budget announcement. Volumes weakened further to SR3.3 billion, the lowest in two months. The advances-declines

Makkah, Dec 21: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said listening to citizens’ demands and involving them in future plans to develop the governorates is one of the most important goals of his inspection tours. “During my tours of the governorate a few years ago, I found a majority of projects were delayed while some were under implementation with a few of them completed,” said Prince Khaled while

Ankara, Dec 20: Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated Monday night during the opening ceremony of a photo exhibition in Ankara when he took to the podium to make a speech. Turkey’s interior minister said the gunman, 22-year-old Mevlut Mert Altintas, who was killed, was part of Ankara’s anti-riot police. The assailant was on duty as a security officer during rallies by

Riyadh, Dec 19: A Saudi-British research team from the Excellence Center of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Oxford University for joint petrochemicals research has discovered a new fast and safe way to convert heavy petroleum hydrocarbons to hydrogen gas in large quantities and at high speed using a catalyst to create a chemical reaction using a developed microwave

Aleppo, Dec 18: Desperation mounted today among thousands of hunger-stricken Syrian civilians trapped in the rebel enclave in Aleppo after their evacuation was delayed by a disagreement over the fate of other besieged areas. As international alarm grew over the plight of residents including women, children, the sick and wounded, the UN Security Council was to vote on whether to send observers to

Jeddah, Dec 18: The Yemeni government and expatriates living in the Kingdom have thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for taking measures to correct the status of Yemeni expatriates holding visitor IDs in the Kingdom. The General Directorate of Passports announced an extension of the visitor identity cards of Yemeni expatriates for another six months starting Sunday in line with

The Syrian government, flush with pivotal battlefield gains and bolstered by support from Iran and Russia, is finding itself the beneficiary of an evolving regional realignment spurred by the war in Syria. Egypt and Turkey, countries that were once vocal opponents of Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, have, to varying degrees, softened their positions. Egypt, the region’s most populous Sunni country

Riyadh, Dec 15: Residents of the Saudi capital woke up Wednesday morning to a loud explosion resulting from a traffic accident that killed at least four people and injured several others. According to the Civil Defense, the accident was between a fuel truck and two trucks carrying heavy equipment, sand and rocks. The accident sparked fire in the vehicles killing four non-Saudis and injuring some