A1SaudiArabia.com

JEDDAH: Final exams in Saudi public schools ended recently, much to the relief of students and families. It’s not just the pressure of pass or fail, but also the stress that is brought home, according to Mukhtar Muhammad Maulud, the head of the Reconciliation Department in the Makkah General Court, which is responsible for mediating family disputes. End-of-semester exams and Ramadan are the most testing times for family relations, he said the former due to the pressure on students and their families to ensure good grades, and the latter he attributed to the economic stress of the fasting month on Saudi families who tend to host iftar dinners and end the month by buying gifts for the children, new household items and clothes.

Busted selling ‘witchy’ books

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RIYADH: In a move to protect Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, India will shortly propose a grievance redressal mechanism that will ensure the safety of its workers and protect them from exploitation by unscrupulous employers.

The system of grievance redressal will be better than the umbrella agreement, which has been signed by a few Gulf states which the Kingdom is still reluctant to endorse, said Talmiz Ahmad, newly-appointed Indian ambassador, here.

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RIYADH: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived here Monday on a three-day official visit to hold political consultations with high-ranking Saudi officials on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues including the Middle East peace process.

Erdogan, who was declared last week winner of the King Faisal Award for Service to Islam, will hold talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah here on Tuesday, said a Turkish diplomat.

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RIYADH: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will start a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia on Monday to hold political consultations with high-ranking Saudi officials on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues including the Middle East peace process.

Erdogan, who was declared last week winner of the King Faisal Award for Service to Islam, dubbed as the Nobel Prize of the Arab world, will hold talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah here on Tuesday, said a Turkish diplomat.

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RIYADH: Key bilateral and regional issues with special reference to the plight of the Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere in the world topped the agenda on Saturday of the nearly two-hour talks between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Najib also met with Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.

The talks also focused on issues like Middle East peace process and Iran besides ways and means to further consolidate bilateral ties, said Malaysian Ambassador Syed Omar Mohammed Al-Saggaf.

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RIYADH: Finlands Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb has embarked on a three-nation tour in the region, taking him first to Riyadh on Sunday for talks with high-ranking Saudi officials including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.

In his three-day stay here, Stubb will also deliver a major talk entitled The EU and the New Global Order: The Finnish Perspective at the King Faisal Foundation auditorium on Monday .

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RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad here on Wednesday with an aim to build Arab unity on the Palestinian issue ahead of the possible resumption of peace talks.

The summit-level meeting focused on a range of bilateral and regional issues, including Irans role in the region and its nuclear program, border incursion by infiltrators and Yemens efforts to ensure peace and security.

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Malaysia will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on security policy cooperation during the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who will arrive in Jeddah on Wednesday.

The MoU will increase cooperation between Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, falsifying documents and cross-border crimes.

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RIYADH: Ahamedlebbe Sabarullah Khan, the deputy chief of mission of the Sri Lankan Embassy in the Kingdom, has been named Sri Lankas consul general in Jeddah, the Sri Lankan Embassy announced on Saturday.

Promoting economic diplomacy is my major mission since my country has entered a new era following the defeat of terror in May last year, Khan said.

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Having spent 34 years of her life as an educationist in the Kingdom, Dr. Chaman Rahim, a Bangladeshi national living in Jeddah, says her experience here has been more than rewarding. She has witnessed the gradual development of the education sector, especially with regards to girls education.

“Education for girls was officially proclaimed by King Saud in 1959 on Saudi radio. Later, King Faisal and his wife, Queen Effat, made great contributions to girls education,” said Rahim.

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