Saudi Arabia to reduce reliance on foreign workers

Saudi Arabia to reduce reliance on foreign workers

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to reduce its reliance on foreign workers by recruiting only highly-technical workers and monitoring investments closely, reports Arab News. “The Kingdom will now be more selective in hiring foreign workers,” said Ibrahim Al-Assaf, finance minister, while giving highlights of the annual budget announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman here Monday. Al-Assaf said that the Kingdom had made substantial progress in training and absorbing qualified Saudi professionals and workers in different sectors. “Hence, the plan to reduce its reliance on overseas workers is quite logical,” said the minister, while pledging to facilitate implementation and completion all “projects in the pipeline like Riyadh Metro and other mega transport projects.” To this end, he said that the government has announced several measures to meet the financial shortfall because of the falling oil prices. He, at the same time, allayed fears of expatriates and rejected rumors, saying that the Kingdom has no plans to introduce individual income tax in the country. There is no intention and no plans to impose taxes on the income of expatriates. The Kingdom is home for over 10 million foreign workers.

Saudi Arabia hospital fire: Dozens killed

 At least 25 people have been killed and 100 injured in a hospital fire in southern Saudi Arabia, officials say. The blaze started at the intensive care and maternity departments of the Jazan General Hospital in the south of the kingdom, the civil defence agency tweeted. Reports say the agency tweeted again to say that the "Jazan hospital accident is now over". It says an investigation is under way to find out the cause of the blaze. Those injured in the fire are reported to have been transferred to private and general hospitals in the area.

The San Bernardino attackers began their relationship online and then met at the 2013 Hajj pilgrimage, according to a visa application. According to Syed Farook's fiancee visa application, he and Tashfeen Malik made contact on a website, emailed and then decided to meet. The pair's parents met in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the annual pilgrimage. They got engaged the day their parents met and planned to marry within a month of Malik arriving in the US. The US House Judiciary Committee has released visa documents. detailing Malik's processing into the US, after some lawmakers criticised the progress. Authorities say the two opened fire at a work luncheon for Farook's colleagues in the San Bernardino public health department on 2 December, killing 14 people.