RIYADH — The first day of the fasting month of Ramadan will be Thursday, June 18, a Saudi astronomer told Al-Riyadh on Tuesday. Mulhim Mohammed Hindi, a researcher at King Abdulaziz University's faculty of astronomical and space sciences, said the Ramadan moon this year will be born at 5.05 p.m. local time Tuesday, June 16, and disappear before sunset the same day. “There is no possibility of the crescent being sighted anywhere in the Kingdom on Tuesday,” he said. Hindi said the moon will go down 13 minutes before sunset in the eastern regions and nine minutes in the western areas. He said in this case the month of Shaaban will be 30 days, making Thursday the first day of Ramadan. — SG