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RIYADH – The number of recruitment visas in the Kingdom lowered last year by 21 percent to stand at 1,241,960 job visas while the number of visas approved during the same period was 982,420, a decline of 22 percent, Hattab Bin Saleh Al-Anzi, Director General of Public Relations and spokesman of Ministry of Labor, said here Tuesday.

At a press briefing to explain media reports on the recruitment visas, Al-Anzi provided the exact figures available with the government.

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RIYADH – The Ministry of Commerce and Industry intends to create a mechanism to ensure the availability of foodstuffs and consumer goods and prevent unjustifiable price hikes.
The ministry’s plan on prices comes in the wake of demands from consumers for monitoring of markets and action on unreasonable increases. 
A ministry official said the plan was drawn up in cooperation with various government agencies. It involves 80 teams of inspectors and the launch of a study on the reasons for price hikes. The teams will cover large and small markets and record their observations on price increases and commercial fraud.
The official said the plan will include grocery stores. – Okaz/SG     

ISLAMABAD: A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane carrying members of a medical team arrived here Wednesday to run the two Saudi field hospitals that were set up in Pakistans flood-hit areas.

The medical team members were greeted at the airport by Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz Alghadeer and Dr. Tarek Al-Arnous, a senior Health Ministry official, and military officers.

Speaking to reporters on the occasion, Alghadeer said more than 500 Saudis including doctors are currently in Pakistan to assist the countrys flood victims.

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RIYADH – Gathering in front of ministry building is not the right way to seek appointment or redressal of any grievance, Dr. Saad Bin Saud Aal Fuhaid, Undersecretary for School Affairs in the Ministry of Education, said here Saturday.
The official’s reaction came as reports emerge that 200 unemployed Saudi university graduates staged a rare protest outside the ministry building in the capital demanding the state give them jobs.
Aal Fuhaid said that the ministry acknowledges the need of Arabic language graduates for education or non-education jobs. However, he said, the Ministry of Education is not the body responsible for appointment; it only determines the number of teachers it needs in accordance with the jobs available.
Unemployment hit 10.5 percent last year, according to official data, and creating jobs for a fast-growing native population of more than 18 million is one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s leadership.
Several Arabic newspapers carried pictures of graduates from state universities gathering on Saturday in front of the education ministry building to demand jobs as Arabic language teachers.
“Enough injustice,” read one slogan carried by the protestors in front of the ministry building.
With a population officially at 27.1 million, Saudi Arabia offers its nationals social benefits but these are below those granted by other Gulf Arab oil producers such as Kuwait and Qatar, which have much smaller native populations.
Many Saudis are forced to work as taxi drivers, private security guards or other low-paid jobs to make ends meet.
Nayef Al-Tamimi, a spokesman for the protesters, said they had graduated from university but were unable to find work, according to the daily newspaper Al-Hayat.
“I was surprised about the lack of opportunities despite the need for teachers but the ministry was not interested in this,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. – Okaz/SG

DAMMAM – The National Recruitment Committee has given authorities a list of 15 recruitment companies that did not comply with the new agreement between officials in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia specifying recruitment charges for female Indonesian domestic helpers, an official said here Sunday.

Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the National Recruitment Committee, said his organization was informed about the violations, including payment of money to brokers and middlemen “in violation of the agreement.”

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TAIF – Private schools need more than 2,000 teachers in Islamic education and social subjects, said Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Haqbani, deputy chairman of Private Education and Training in the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The situation is all the more challenging because there is not a broad awareness that it exists and there are limited options for hiring qualified teachers, he said.

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MADINA – Six women in their 30s in Madina are preparing to file a lawsuit against their father for not allowing them to get married.
The women allege that their father always turns down their suitors claiming that there was no woman in his family to negotiate the marriage terms.
In a letter received by Sultan Bin Zahem, chairman of the Advocacy Committee, the women alleged that their father has rejected many suitors despite the fact that they were pious men and of good conduct.
The women demanded in their letter that they be given the authority to get married after despair has filled their hearts.
Bin Zahem said the women can file a lawsuit against their guardian and the judge will summon him to ask him why he has not allowed his daughters to get married.
If his justifications are convincing, the judge would prevent marriages, but if they are not, the judge would use his authority to approve their marriages to appropriate men.
The official added that the girls’ complaint cannot be considered as disobedience of parents because they are demanding the right to their private social lives. – Okaz/SG

BEIJING – The economies of China and Japan are interdependent and their close cooperation has helped two-way trade rebound above the levels before the world financial crisis, a top Chinese economic official said Saturday.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan made the remarks to delegates from the two countries – the worlds second and third largest economies – who were meeting in Beijing to discuss ways to recover from the crisis and foster regional cooperation.

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JEDDAH: The Supervisor General of the National Society for Human Rights in Jazan, Ahmad Al-Bahkali, said the health conditions of many inmates in the main deportation center in Jazan was poor.

Five Ethiopian detainees died of suffocation in the center last week due to overcrowding. Hygienic conditions have deteriorated as well.

“The disease-breeding situation in the center persists,” Al-Bahkali told Arab News on Saturday by telephone. “The situation in the detention center should be reviewed. Basically the facility was meant for the detention of illegal foreigners for a limited number of days before their deportation to their native countries. But now many inmates who entered the country illegally have to stay in the center for longer periods because of various reasons.”

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WASHINGTON – The United States on Thursday announced plans to toughen rules against what it sees as unfair foreign trade practices, proposing a number of changes likely to irk China, its biggest import supplier.

“The Obama administration is committed to aggressively enforcing our trade laws to ensure a level playing field for US companies and their workers – the engines of our economic growth,” US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. “Todays announcement is another demonstration of our continuing efforts to sharpen our trade enforcement tools.”

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