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JEDDAH – The first-ever higher education institute for students with hearing disabilities, offering recognized university degree courses, will be established soon.

The institute will be set up in cooperation with the Saudi Society for Hearing Disability, Makkah branch, the General Establishment for Technical and Vocational Training and the private sector, Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily reported on Thursday.

Dr. Abdul Moniem Bin Hassan Al-Sheikh, Director General of the society, announced the establishment of the institution at a function to launch the national campaign for the eradication of illiteracy and the promotion of sign language in Makkah.

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MAKKAH – A total of 952 student graduates from the Quran Memorization Charitable Society in Makkah, along with its former chairman, the late Ahmad Muhammad Salaah Jamjoum, and teachers of more than 25 years, were honored at the Grand Mosque, Tuesday.

Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Khudairi, Undersecretary of the Makkah Emirs Office, who attended the event, said the Central Haj Committee is currently studying plans to ensure that the recitation of the Holy Quran during Taraweeh starts and finishes at the same time at all mosques in the country. He said this study is taking place with the cooperation of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance.

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BEIJING – Auto sales in China, the worlds biggest car market, rebounded in August as subsidies for energy-efficient vehicles and a stronger currency spurred demand, while sales in the US faltered.

Sales rose 55.7 percent over a year earlier to 1.21 million vehicles, up from 1 million vehicles the month before, the Cabinets China Automotive Technology and Research Center said Wednesday.

The increase compared with 17 percent year-on-year growth in July and 19.4 percent in June.

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JEDDAH – Adel Fakeih, Minister of Labor, has pledged his ministry will work with the private sector to help boost the economy.
Fakeih made the comments during a meeting with members of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry at his office here on Wednesday.
Fakeih thanked them for their good wishes and stressed the importance of working together to achieve the aspirations of the country’s leaders.
The chamber’s chairman and members also expressed their readiness to cooperate with the ministry in the interests of the nation. – Okaz/SG 

JEDDAH – Advertising expenditure in the first six months of this year increased by 23.6 percent to reach $3.77 billion compared to $3.05 billion for the same period last year.

The Pan Arab media share, mainly satellite TV, saored 24 percent to $1.57 billion, Pan Arab Research Centre (PARC) said.

According to Arabian PR managing director Walid Karanouh, based on recent industry report, Saudi Arabia is one of the major advertising and PR markets in the Gulf region. The GCC media share was $1.7 billion for newspapers and $1.6 billion for TV, he added, citing the report.

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JEDDAH: The National Committee for Lawyers plans to organize a national meeting in Jeddah in October. The major topic of discussion would be the King Abdullah Project to develop legal facilities and the Court of Grievances.

It will also discuss how the reforms will affect the courts, the relation between the lawyers and the security departments, the impact on human rights and the future of commercial courts and importance of the spreading the culture of law abiding, said Majed Qarub, chairman of the committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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DUBAI – Better market prospects will emerge as the UAE construction market poises for rebound, said Danube Building Materials, the leader in construction, building materials and shop fitting industries.

With a recent report from the Dubai Chamber revealing that $714.8 billion worth of construction projects are either at design stage or already underway in the UAE, the company is seeking to leverage the anticipated growth in local demand. Following the opening of its 22nd global store in India in July this year, Danube also revealed expansion plans toward Qatar and other parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman, as well as in China.

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JEDDAH: A single individual, Scott Ragsdale, connects the unlikely pastimes of falling off a cliff, collecting Cuban cigars and running across the Sahara Desert. As chairman of the Naseba Group in Dubai, his organization promotes and hosts commercially oriented summits targeting executive level attendees across multiple industries, Ragsdale admits to being something of a driven man.

For his latest physical challenge, he is taking on the English Channel, hoping to swim the 33 km from Dover to Calais Thursday (Sept. 2). The first successful cross-channel swim was in 1875 by Englishman Captain Webb. Since then many have attempted the feat. However, 70 percent or more have been defeated by the combination of cold water and strong tides that necessitate the challenger actually means has to swim up to 40 km in the attempt.

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MAKKAH – About 12 consultative and planning bodies are putting finishing touches to a new map of the Central Area in Makkah which takes into account all the changes over the past few years.

The new map is also going to be used to help with future developments. It takes into consideration all the topographic changes in the Central Area.

The map has been designed as a link between executors of field plans and service sites. The map also takes into consideration the density in certain areas of pilgrims during the Haj and Umrah seasons.

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said on Sunday the US economy was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no “magic bullet” that will fix its problems.

Obama said in an NBC interview that the batch of grim economic data over the past few weeks was something his administration had anticipated.

Gloomy reports on gross domestic product and housing have raised fears the fragile economy could slip back into a recession or face a lengthy period of growth that is too slow to make much of a dent in the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.

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