Source : Arab news / 01 Sep 2014

The Makkah Municipality is finalizing Haj operational plans to ensure public health and hygiene standards in the holy city and pilgrimage sites during the busy and crowded upcoming season.

Source : Arab news / 30 Aug 2014

Couples are being urged not to spend thousands on a wedding and advised to opt for cheaper weddings to escape from heavy debt. A forum highlighting how families can ease the financial burden on the groom was held recently in a local function hall in Jeddah. Several wedding planners and families with aspiring couples attended the forum.

Source : Reuters / 20 Aug 2014

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday opened new courts focusing on family disputes, the first of a series of specialized tribunals aimed at making the kingdom's legal system faster, more transparent and predictable.

Source : Arab news / 08 Aug 2014

Saudi Arabia has banned smoking in sports stadiums across the country as part of efforts to encourage its young population to quit the bad habit, which has been costing it billions of riyals in terms of treatment for tobacco-related diseases.

Source : Arab news / 16 Jul 2014

The black cloth used to cover the House of God at Makkah costs SR22 million and takes eight full months to make, Abdullah Bajawda, Kiswa Factory manager, told a local daily.

“The ‘kiswa’ used to be previously bought abroad, but in 1927, the late King Abdulaziz ordered the construction of a special factory for manufacturing the cloth in the Ajyad district in Makkah, which was later relocated to the Tayseer district.”

Source : Arab News / 10 Jul 2014

The Kiswa, or covering of the Kaaba, has been featured as one of the most important symbols of Islamic society in a new publication launched in Sharjah on Monday. 

The book is entitled “Islamic Textiles from the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.”

Source : Arab news / 02 Jul 2014

A Saudi charity organization aims to revive the Siqaya service, an old tradition that has become obsolete by time where pilgrims, guests and visitors of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah were offered water during the holy month of Ramadan as a gesture of good will by the natives.

Source : Arab News with Unesco.org / 22 Jun 2014

Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), announced on Saturday that the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has decided to include the historical sites in Jeddah in the World Heritage List during its meeting in Qatar.

Source : Arab News / 21 Jun 2014

The Shoura Council is studying a proposal to allow Saudi women to apply for international driving licenses in the Kingdom, which would allow them to drive abroad but with the ban still in place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Source : Arab News / 06 Jun 2014

Jeddah is building the first marine park at Dhahban on the shores of the Red Sea, 40 km from the city. The groundbreaking project, which was under study for the last four years, was announced by the Jeddah Municipality on Saturday.