JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s maritime and logistics sector has absorbed nine months of regional conflict without interruption to trade, and Red Sea ports are handling record cargo volumes, the group CEO of shipping, logistics and freight company ABSA Al Barrak Group said on Wednesday. Speaking to Arab News on the opening day of the Saudi Maritime and Logistics Congress in Jeddah, Akshay Anand said the geography of the Kingdom provided options few countries in a comparable position would have. “From a
RIYADH: The Aster School has become the 11th establishment to join the Royal Commission for Riyadh City’s International Schools Attraction Program, which aims to expand educational options in the capital. According to the RCRC’s website, the International Schools Attraction Program is an initiative that creates a diverse educational ecosystem in Riyadh. The program is aimed at providing residents with “high-quality education tailored to meet both current and future needs.” The school caters to c
A coaster dares riders to be daring, with steep drops, high speeds and improbably tight curves. But safety has become a concern again after a man was thrown from his seat and died in Georgia.
Saudi Arabia is in talks with foreign governments to give state-owned Aramco access to their strategic oil storage, as the kingdom seeks to make its supplies to customers more resilient during disruptions, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said.
The fact that Trump made a comment that Israel has been “very helpful” to Saudi Arabia reveals a strategic dilemma facing Mohammed bin Salman: either to align himself with Israel and thereby offend the Arab and Muslim worlds, or to embrace regional collective security and accept the prospect of a Middle East in which Washington […]
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt’s military support for Saudi Arabia would be limited to defending the kingdom’s territory and borders and would not include an attack on Yemen, the presidency said on Wednesday, as the Iran-allied Houthis intensify attacks on the kingdom.
Sisi’s comments came as Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and intelligence chief Hassan Rashad met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi state news agency SPA said. Abdelatty delivered a written message from Sisi to King Salman, and the two sides discussed bilateral ties and regional developments, SPA said.
The letter concerned strengthening bilateral ties and affirmed Egypt’s full solidarity with and support for Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Any Egyptian military backing for Saudi Arabia could mark a significant escalation in the broader Middle East conflict, which has threatened global energy supplies and pushed oil prices higher since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Egypt would also defend the territory of any other Arab country if asked, Sisi said, but its military effort would not extend beyond Egyptian territory or that of an Arab state whose security and stability Cairo was seeking to protect.
On Monday, Egypt’s parliament delayed until October 26 a vote on authorizing the armed forces to support Saudi Arabia if requested, lawmakers said.
Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, has escalated in recent weeks, opening another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are close strategic and economic partners. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, provided Egypt with billions of dollars in aid, central bank deposits and investments after the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. Sisi became president a year later.
Egypt, a regional military power, previously joined the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 in support of the government against the Houthis, though it played a limited combat role in the civil war.
The US State Department has ordered some diplomats and family members to depart from its missions in Saudi Arabia and plans to withdraw family members from a number of other US missions in the region, US officials told Reuters.
The order came as attacks in Saudi Arabia killed at least one person and injured eight others at a civilian airport in Dammam and two people were killed in a drone attack on an oil field.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a post on X that the department ordered the departure of “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only” amid attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.
Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after many were pulled out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.
“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” Pigott said.
Four US officials told Reuters that US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave. Pigott did not address changes to other missions outside Saudi Arabia.
The latest withdrawals follow an escalation of the fighting in Yemen, opening another front in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran. The wider conflict has snarled global energy trade and hurt Gulf economies.
After the departure order, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority reported an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed one person and injured eight others. Earlier in the day, two people were killed after Saudi air defences intercepted a drone that was attempting to hit a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield, the energy ministry said.
The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.
The embassy and a CIA station hosted there came under attack by drones in early March, as Iran began launching attacks across the region.
King Fahd International Airport in Dammam has resumed normal operations following an attack on Wednesday that resulted in the deaths of a Saudi citizen and an Indian resident, as well as injuries to eight others. Additionally, a drone attack targeting the Shaybah oil field caused two fatalities and further injuries, but did not disrupt operations at the facility.
The United States and Israel have developed detailed plans for renewed military strikes against Iran following the November 3 midterm elections, as American forces build up across the Middle East and the Pentagon quietly repositions troops amid fears of Iranian retaliation, according to reports Wednesday.
In Saudi Arabia's Jazan region, the ancient oral tradition of "Tarwi’at Al-Ra’i" preserves critical pastoral knowledge, utilizing distinct herder's calls to communicate with livestock across its diverse landscapes. With over 7.8 million animals and 23,405 herders, this practice is integral to local livelihoods and food security, embodying the deep connection between herders, their animals, and the land.
JAZAN: Across the valleys, jagged peaks, and coastal plains of Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jazan Region, an ancient oral tradition known locally as “tarwi’at al-ra’i” continues to echo, preserving centuries of pastoral knowledge and seasonal land stewardship. The rhythmic herder’s call remains an essential working tool in a region home to more than 7.8 million head of livestock, serving as both a navigational compass and a shared language between herders and their animals. According to data rele
Reports emerge of similar withdrawals in UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain amid concerns about a return to conflict with Iran after US midterm elections
The US state department has ordered some diplomats and the families of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia, as the gulf kingdom faces a barrage of near-daily attacks, with at least three people killed at an airport and oilfield on Wednesday evening.
Attacks on “civilian airports and other critical infrastructure” by the Iranian-supported Houthis in Yemen were highlighted as the reason for the drawdown. State department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said: “The safety and security of department personnel and their families remain our highest priority.”
The State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Iranian-backed Houthis have continued to attack the country. “As the Department has repeatedly emphasized, the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” a State Department spokesperson told The…
The State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Iranian-backed Houthis have continued to attack the country. “As the Department has repeatedly emphasized, the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” a State Department spokesperson told The…
Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud, minister of interior, on Tuesday inaugurated the medical center and Military Medical Committee clinics at the security complex in eastern Riyadh. Both facilities are affiliated with the Ministry of Interior’s medical services. After the inauguration, Prince Abdulaziz toured the medical center’s facilities and was briefed on its equipment and therapeutic and diagnostic services, including emergency care, general medicine, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and pharmac
The US State Department is preparing to issue an ordered departure of some personnel and family members from US embassies across the Gulf region, three US officials said on Wednesday.
The move was due to a possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen, two of the US officials said.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.
Two of the US officials said the ordered departures would potentially involve the evacuation of all personnel and their families from the US Mission to Saudi Arabia.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Scholars condemned attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against civilian locations, as it accused the Iran-backed militia of terrorism and attempting to target the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. In a statement issued by its General Secretariat on Wednesday, the council said the actions of the group had fueled instability and threatened the lives of innocent people, and alleged attempts to target Islam’s two holiest sites represented a grave act of aggressi
Turkey’s ruling AKP party is reportedly seeking a mandate from Parliament to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia to protect it from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen, thus fulfilling the mutual defense obligations of the treaty signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan in August.
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