Saudi Arabia

Khalid al-Qahtani stood in the arrivals hall at Riyadh's main airport on Monday, waiting to see his sister almost four years after a diplomatic rift with neighbouring Qatar split his family apart, reports Reuters.

Other relatives from other families clustered around him waiting for the passengers to get off the first flight from Doha allowed into Saudi Arabia since a U.S-backed deal reopened travel routes.

10 Jan 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's king received his first vaccine dose of the novel coronavirus Friday, according to state media, Anadolu Agency reports.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) posted two pictures and a short video on Twitter showing a healthcare professional injecting Salman Bin Abdulaziz with the vaccine.

Saudi Arabia reported a total of 363,582 infections and 6,282 fatalities linked to the coronavirus so far.

RIYADH, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday the lifting of the ban on all international flights as well as land and sea entry, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The two-week ban was part of the precautionary measures against the spread of a mutant variant of coronavirus detected in a number of countries.

The lifting decision becomes effective from 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) on Sunday, according to the Interior Ministry.

01 Jan 2021; MEMO: A Saudi court has sentenced preacher Yousef Al-Ahmad, who has been detained since September 2017, to four years in prison.

The ruling also included a travel ban for four years following the preacher's release from prison.

28 Dec 2020; MEMO: Yemen's new government was sworn in Saturday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, before Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

RIYADH, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday the discovery of four new oil and gas fields, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said that the Saudi Aramco's discoveries are in different parts of the kingdom.

Non-conventional oil has been discovered in al-Reesh oil field, northwest of Dhahran, and in al-Ajramiyah Well No. 1, northwest of the city of Rafhaa in the Northern Borders Province.

22 Dec 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman are closing their borders and suspending commercial flights over fears about a new coronavirus strain, the three Gulf Arab states said.

Saudi Arabia shut its land and sea borders on Sunday and suspended international commercial flights for a renewable week although foreign flights already in the country can leave, the Interior Ministry said.

RIYADH, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia started on Thursday the COVID-19 vaccination process.

The Health Ministry tweeted that Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah received the vaccine.

Al-Rabiah tweeted, "In the last nine months, I was observing with concern the number of cases, today I will happily observe the number of people who will get the vaccine."

The kingdom received on Wednesday the first shipment of the vaccine. More than 150,000 individuals registered to receive the free-of-charge vaccine.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is detaining hundreds of mainly Ethiopian migrants in squalid conditions in Riyadh, Human Rights Watch said, quoting some as saying they had been tortured or beaten, and that at least three had died since October.

14 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Saudi Arabia has invested $3.75 billion in its flagship tourism project, The Red Sea Development Co (TRSDC) which it says will provide 70,000 jobs.

The project's Chief Executive, John Pagano, said discussions are underway with local and regional investors to involve them in building resorts, hotels and entertainment facilities in NEOM.