GAZA CITY: All banks in the Gaza Strip temporarily shut down on Thursday after Hamas-affiliated men forced a local branch to cash some $500,000 in checks.
RIYADH: Experts in the Saudi job market attribute the extremely low percentage of Saudis working in retail showrooms, grocery stores and automobile service stations to the lack of an effective national strategy to combat unemployment, according to a recent report in Al-Riyadh daily.
ABHA: Marketing research is a new field of work that opens up a significant number of job opportunities for young Saudi women graduates. A major attraction of the job is that women can earn a living in the comfort of their homes. These women carry out research studies about consumer preferences, their opinions about a specific product and spending habits, among others. A large number of qualified young Saudi women are in this vocation, which gives them money and entertainment as well as something to do while they search for a job. A number of young women shared their experiences with Al-Madinah newspaper.
JEDDAH: US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman visited Jeddah on Thursday to participate in a meeting of the International Contact Group on Afghanistan at the headquarters of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
MADINAH: The Health Affairs Department in Madinah has ordered an investigation into the death of a four-year-old girl after allegedly being misdiagnosed at a private hospital in January.
JAZAN: A Yemeni was killed and 27 other passengers injured when a bus carrying detained illegal migrants overturned on the Habas mountain road close to the Yemeni border in Jazan province Wednesday morning, said Border Guard spokesman Col. Abdullah Mahfouz.
MADINAH: Civil Defense teams here recovered the body of a 17-year old Saudi girl out of a well in Al-Ola, the spokesman of the Civil Defense Major Khaled Al-Johani told Arab News.
THE national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines has started imposing cancellation fees of SR50 and SR250 on anyone who dares to change his or her reservation on domestic and international flights respectively. You cannot escape the fine even if your reservation is months away.
JEDDAH: Three Umrah pilgrims and a driver were killed when a bus collided with a truck on the Makkah-Madinah Expressway near Khulais, a town located about 85 km north of Jeddah, Thursday.
QURAYAT: An Arab traveler attempted suicide on Wednesday when Customs inspectors discovered many contraband pills hidden in his car. The pills were kept inside a fire extinguisher in the boot of the traveler’s car.
JEDDAH: Thursday’s news of the resignation of the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq — who was appointed by Hosni Mubarak in a failed attempt to quiet the anti-government protests — has been welcomed by Egyptian expatriates in the Kingdom.
BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber struck a group of soldiers collecting their paychecks Thursday in a western Iraqi city, killing nine people, police said.
ALGIERS: Ahmed Gotari, a 28-year-old unemployed man from the Algerian capital, has grown accustomed over the years to being treated dismissively when he calls on local officials to ask for a job.
BEIJING: Chinese police have told foreign reporters to stay away from spots designated for weekly protests, threatening them with loss of their work permits and other punishments if they don’t comply, journalists said Thursday. Mysterious online calls for Chinese rallies inspired by Middle Eastern demonstrations — with another called for Sunday — have fallen flat, though foreign media have flocked to the proposed rally sites to see if anyone would show up. Although no large protests have occurred, at least one activist was detained for being present at a suggested demonstration spot.
KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s president has warned President Barack Obama that civilian casualties in the war are a serious problem that needs to be better addressed by the US -led coalition. A statement issued Thursday by the Afghan government says President Hamid Karzai and Obama held a video conference call on Wednesday.
JEDDAH: A bidding group led by Mustang Al-Hejailan Engineering, a Wood Group company, said it had been awarded a general engineering services (GES+) contract by Saudi Aramco.
CAIRO: Egypt’s military rulers said Thursday the prime minister appointed by ousted President Hosni Mubarak has resigned, meeting a key demand of the opposition protest movement.
BREGA: Muammar Qaddafi’s forces struck at rebel control of oil export hubs in Libya’s east for a second day on Thursday as Arab states weighed a plan to end turmoil Washington said could make the country “a giant Somalia.”
SANAA: Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh will respond “positively” to an opposition plan for him to step down from power and reform politics, a senior aide said on Thursday, as nationwide protests against his rule continued.
MILAN: Global food prices hit a record high in February, the United Nations said Thursday, warning that fresh oil price spikes and stockpiling by importers keen to head off popular unrest would hit already volatile cereal markets.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Finland have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of higher education that will boost partnership between Saudi and Finnish educational institutions. The agreement will also provide opportunities for Saudi students to pursue higher studies in Finland, which has topped the list of global rankings in terms of quality of education and the best-rated educational system.
SAN FRANCISCO: Baker Hughes, the world’s third-largest oilfield services company, warned that disruptions from North African unrest and a North American cold snap would cut into first-quarter profit.
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast: More than 200,000 people have fled a suburb in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital amid days of heavy street fighting that has left dozens dead and spread fears the country will slide back to civil war, the UN said Thursday.
MANANA, Bahrain: Thousands of anti-government demonstrators streamed toward the headquarters of Bahrain’s state television Friday after sectarian clashes between Sunnis and the majority Shiites leading protests in the strategic Gulf nation.
SANAA, Yemen: Soldiers opened fire at anti-government protesters Friday in northern Yemen, killing four people and wounding seven as demonstrations against longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh again turned deadly.
