Travelers Beware!

The Custom authority at the King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh had been very strict checking the baggages, particularly CD’s and DVD’s containing movies, softwares and anything prohibited in the Kingdom. Anyone who happens to bring in these items may take time waiting at the Airport for the authorities to check each and every CDs they found.

That was before, when enticing piece of hardware like flask disks, memory cards and external hard drives were still not found in the market.

But with the emerging of low-priced and convenient flash disks, memory cards, cellphones and external hard drives, anyone can store data, particularly pornographic materials, pirated softwares, etc where he can bring unnoticingly inside the Kingdom.

But be warned! If you think you can get away with the law in the Kingdom, think again!

Recently, my friend informed me that his officemates were caught with pornographic movies and pictures stored in their flask disks and hard drives. The police authorities at the international airport are equipped with gadgets, card readers, etc. to inspect all the electronic devices found in your possessions. They are now detained and maybe end up in jail for this violation.

So if ever you travel back to the Kingdom, its advisable not to bring any device containing prohibited materials which may bring you problem at the immigration.

Goodnews! 1,000 'offensive' websites to be unblocked in Dubai!

Etisalat and du will be told to unblock access to more than 1,000 websites that UAE censors had deemed offensive.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will instruct web service providers to unblock the sites as part of its new “internet access management” policy.

The new policy will require the government-controlled internet provider duopoly of Etisalat and du to unblock the sites before August 29.
While TRA officials were unable to specify the websites that will be unblocked, the paper says they are likely to include internet forums and social networking sites whose administrators have removed material that TRA officials considered questionable or offensive.

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Board Member and Director General, said: "We have always considered the interests and benefits of consumers throughout the formulation of this policy, which laws are directed to protect Internet users, because we believe in the role of the internet as a primary mean of acquiring knowledge.

"Given the fact of the commercial, economic and media work environment of many governmental bodies and institutions in the country, the TRA has implemented some exceptions on blocking access to certain websites, which contents may be commensurate with the nature of their work, where they might be in dire need to know vital information via the Internet that is at the core of their work. We don't want the blocking system to have a negative impact on their work and activity."

Plight of jailed blogger exaggerated by media

According to the kingdom’s Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed, the media "exaggerated" the plight of jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan, who was released on Saturday after spending four months in a Jeddah prison, despite having no charges pressed against him.

Before his December 10 arrest, Al-Farhan wrote to friends saying he expected to be detained for his writings about a group of reformists arrested in February 2007 for alleged links to terror funding. Al-Farhan had also criticised a number of influential Saudi figures as well as religious extremism in the kingdom.

However Price Ahmed said Al-Farhan had been arrested for mistakes he had committed, according to a report from Saudi Press Agency.

“The issue [of Al-Farhan] was not that important as it represented the mistake committed by a person on himself. A man who commits a mistake should bear its result,” the agency quoted Prince Ahmed.

Prince Ahmed did not confirm whether Al-Farhan had been released after his arrest four months ago.

Generation XXL

I asked a Saudi friend about his obesity and he was very defensive about the condition - almost in a state of denial. (The more he became intimidated when I asked him if he can still see his dick while he stands straight.)
It is a fact the obesity in Gulf countries is an epidemic too late now to cure. A recent study of the children in Al-Khobar, the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. shows that a whopping 22% are clinically obese. Obesity is now an epidemic disease in Saudi Arabia.

Gluttonous among lazy youth has shaped its own downfall. The obesity problem is so endemic that it won't be fixed by jogging and sugar-free juice alone: It is not simply a matter of changing the lifestyle, the problems will mostly be treated surgically."
The Gulf is now facing an obesity crisis. Part of the problem is that children in the GCC are given too much opportunity to self-regulate their diet.

Children here are given disposable income to freely spend on food outside of the home. They are not given any guidance on what to choose, what selections are okay, and, importantly, what constitutes a meal versus a snack.

Saudi culls 50,000 birds on bird flu scare

Saudi Arabia has culled 50,000 birds at a poultry farm near the capital of Riyadh, which were found to have a deadly strain of bird flu.

An agriculture ministry statement carried by newspapers said the birds were culled at the farm in al-Kharj, 150 km (94 miles) south of Riyadh, after 1,500 birds died earlier this week.

The statement said it was not clear how the birds had become infected with the H5N1 virus. It gave no more details.

Jeddah Girl Caught Driving

JEDDAH - The District Court here made an African girl who was caught driving a car in northern Jeddah sign an undertaking not to drive in Saudi Arabia.
Women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.
A police patrol had caught the girl while she was driving a car in the company of a boy seated next to her.
The court sentenced the boy to two months in prison and 100 lashes.
A passerby who saw the girl driving had tipped off the police who arrested the two and handed them to the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
In her testimony, the girl said she tried to drive the car out of curiosity.

Desert News

Starting today, i am sharing some relevant news from the Middle East with the title, "Desert Report".

Saudi king in historic talks with Pope


King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was greeted by the Pope yesterday for an historic meeting marking the first such visit by a monarch from the Muslim kingdom.

The pair met for around 30 minutes with interpreters in the Pope’s private study to discuss Vatican-Muslim relations and prospects for peace in the Middle East.


Saudi stamps down on joyriders

Joyriders in Saudi Arabia face tough new penalties under a traffic law.

Joyriders will have their cars seized for 15 days and face a fine of SR1,000. Vehicles will be confiscated for a month with a fine of SR1,500 for a second offence. Third time offenders will be fined SR2,000 and their cars impounded.

The law aims to reduce the number of road accidents in the Kingdom which totalled 1.36 million over the past five years, causing 21,900 deaths and 122,600 injuries. Traffic violations take place at the rate of 11 per minute, with annual costs from road accidents reaching SR21 billion.


Ruler of Dubai tops Gulf Power league



Prime minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been ranked the most influential businessman in the Gulf today by The Times newspaper.

He tops the GulfPower25, published following a week of Gulf-based business coverage by the newspaper which relocated its business desk to the region for its Times Gulf Business Forum.

The league table lists the most rich, powerful, influential and entrepreneurial business leaders in the Gulf region, covering the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Times cited Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for reform as “fuelling the frenetic development of the city and spurring the transformation of the Gulf”.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia ranked second in the list. “King Abdullah is, no doubt, the most powerful man in the Middle East, but he is still to put his country’s wealth and human capital to work” The Times said.

UAE president and ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan ranked third, followed by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thaniis, chairman and chief executive of the Qatar Investment Authority, in fourth place. Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in fifth place.

Rocketing money supply adding to inflation

Capital flows generated by investors betting on revaluations of dollar-pegged Gulf Arab currencies risk raising inflationary pressure in the region.

Inflation across the Gulf region has been rising to decade highs as a quadrupling of oil prices in the last five years drives economic growth, and the supply of homes and offices fails to keep up with demand.

With the US dollar sliding to record lows, investors betting that some Gulf states will be forced to revalue their currencies are pouring cash into assets denominated in Saudi and Qatari riyals and UAE Dirhams.

Saudi Arabia's central bank raised the reserve requirement for banks last week for the first time in 27 years to prevent lower borrowing costs from fuelling inflation after it matched a US rate cut to ease pressure on the riyal.

Construction, hospitality workers to be hit by cap



Expatriates working in the construction, tourism and hospitality, and service sectors face the prospect of being forced out of the Gulf under the controversial plans to put a cap on how long unskilled workers can live in the GCC.

The proposed six-year residency cap would target expat workers in the Gulf with below secondary school level education.

The cap was necessary to stop the erosion of local culture and to stem soaring unemployment among nationals.

Source: Arab Business News