Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Riyadh Metro to begin partial operations next Wednesday: Report    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Downing Street indicates Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters UK    London's Gatwick airport reopens terminal after bomb scare evacuation    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    

Articles of the author Al Madina
No rest in rest houses
A CITIZEN recounted to me his bitter experience with some of the rest houses on the outskirts of Jeddah. He said the rent they charge for a day is as high as the Himalayas. The rent, according to him, may exceed SR2,000 per day during normal seasons (...)

30 - 04 - 2019
Why was the woman teacher's car burned down in Taif?
A FEW days back, a Saudi man deliberately set the car of a woman schoolteacher in Taif ablaze. He had been closely watching the car until he completed his heinous crime. The car was peacefully parked outside the woman's house when the man poured (...)

29 - 04 - 2019
Working hours vs. productivity
IN one of my trips to the US, I met with a number of Arabs who worked for a big American company. During the conversation, I asked them about their work hours. They told me that there were no fixed hours but the whole matter was decided by (...)

24 - 04 - 2019
Let us be soft on our children during exams
ABOUT 2.7 million of boys and girls of intermediate and secondary school started their final exams. The schools all over the Kingdom made tremendous preparations for annual exercise. The teachers and administrators were keen to prepare the (...)

24 - 04 - 2019
Why do our shops reject payment by credit cards?
IN a growing phenomenon, a large number of shops are categorically refusing to accept credit cards as a method of payment and ask consumers to pay in cash or through mada-linked debit cards. I asked a sales clerk in one of the shops why he was (...)

22 - 04 - 2019
SR800 for a medical consultation?
I LOGGED into a website that contains a database of Saudi and expatriate doctors practicing in Saudi Arabia. Patients can make appointments for consultation with any of them at the hospitals they work or their private clinics. Then I noticed that (...)

21 - 04 - 2019
Seven divorces every hour!
ACCORDING to figures released by the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) recently, there were 58,000 divorces in the Kingdom last year representing about 24 percent of the total number of the marriage contracts, which was put at 158,000 during (...)

10 - 04 - 2019
Reward for whistle-blowers
WITHOUT doubt, fake products exist in our market. They include clothes, perfumes, watches, bags, shoes and electrical equipment and products. Some products are not only imitations, but they also do not conform to the approved standard specifications (...)

09 - 04 - 2019
Compulsory enlistment
AMOUNG us there is a group of young men that we are proud of. Though I like to write about the initiatives being carried out by our youth, here I will dwell upon something more important. We are proud of the youth's contributions to serve their (...)

04 - 04 - 2019
Water bills again
I AM used to writing about people's sufferings in this column. This time I will write about an unbelievable story of a man in Madinah who received an exorbitant bill from the National Water Company. This old man lives in a small villa with his wife. (...)

03 - 04 - 2019
Fine for smoking inside campus
THE Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah warned students and staff against smoking inside the campus, saying violators, including faculty members, would be slapped with a SR200 fine as of next month. The university will implement this positive decision (...)

01 - 04 - 2019
E-commerce and retail trade
LAST July, the Council of Ministers approved the formation of the Kingdom's first e-commerce council. The council will recommend policies and legislation related to e-commerce, motivate it and eliminate hurdles before it. This step came as part of (...)

25 - 03 - 2019
Terrorism has no religion
IT was extremely painful to remember what happened in Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday. It was a terrorist crime by all means, which led to the death and injuries to scores of innocent men, women and children, who were inside a mosque waiting (...)

20 - 03 - 2019
The murder of an innocent girl
TWO weeks ago when I was in Riyadh, I came across a story, which was also narrated to me by my granddaughters. It was about a horrible accident that one of their friends at school met with. Muneera was returning with her mother on the school bus. (...)

18 - 03 - 2019
When citizens are the victim
DURING a seminar on private-public sector cooperation and the role of contractors organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Jeddah Chamber for Commerce and Industry, the newly appointed mayor of the city warned (...)

13 - 03 - 2019
A classroom in the kitchen
A FEW days ago, I met one of my friends, who is a teacher. I asked him if he had any input on the recently announced plan to improve the quality of general education in the Kingdom. With a broad face, he replied that he had heard and read about the (...)

11 - 03 - 2019
A stranger in one's own country
WHAT does it mean to live an isolated life in the middle of a crowd? How does it feel to be able to sit among friends yet secluded because your Absher account is suspended and you cannot get any of the government services done? Such a life is (...)

25 - 02 - 2019
An open letter to the labor minister
TO His Excellency, the Minister of Labor. Dear minister, you know my appreciation for your wonderful efforts aimed at solving the problem of unemployment among Saudis. Now I want to convey to your excellency the opinion of the people, who wish that (...)

24 - 02 - 2019
Power company is ruining our streets
MOST streets in Jeddah used to be paved in a way that allowed people to use them without any problem. For years now, global warming has been contributing to climate change and every region is affected one way or other. Our city too receives rain on (...)

24 - 02 - 2019
Credit card fraud in Turkey
TWO months after I returned from a trip to Turkey, my Saudi bank gave me a surprise. It sent me an automated message notifying that a certain amount was debited to my credit card from Turkey. The amount was reimbursed earlier as tax deduction by a (...)

20 - 02 - 2019
Tougher punishment needed
A SENIOR official from Makkah police commented on a previous article I wrote about Saudi society. I talked about the bloody street fights that occur in the country in the context of the recent fight in Al-Hamadaniya, where a man was stabbed to death (...)

18 - 02 - 2019
Is the Labor Ministry against the interest of Saudi citizens?
MANY citizens have failed to recruit domestic workers including housemaids and drivers to help their families. So they started hiring domestic workers who live in the country illegally, instead. Each year during the month of Ramadan, the demand for (...)

05 - 02 - 2019
Newspapers that never die
IF you have traveled on London's Metro, then you might have noticed the colorful newspaper in glossy print and with no less than 50 pages, which is distributed free of charge at all metro stations. Readers are attracted to this newspaper. The first (...)

04 - 02 - 2019
Saudis stuck in debt traps
SAUDI newspapers recently published a report saying that the number of requests to enforce court orders in the first quarter of the current Hijri year reached 219,476. The requests were worth a total of SR70.7 billion. This is an increase of 40 (...)

27 - 01 - 2019
Our children and our money
IF we have a chance to sit with an elder who started his business from the scratch and worked his way up, and listen to his stories of struggles in life and the great efforts he made to earn a living and to build a future for his family, we will (...)

22 - 01 - 2019
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