DUBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s stock market
declined for a second straight day on Sunday as disappointment
over third-quarter corporate earnings weighed.

Having recorded its biggest one-day drop in over four months
on Saturday, a slide of 1.8 percent, the Saudi bourse
fell once more, by 0.3 percent, to a fresh 11-week low.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Business leaders voiced frustration with Egypt’s government at an investment conference in Cairo this week, where officials pledged to revive an economy battered by political turmoil but offered few details on policy.

The new Islamist-led administration that emerged from last year’s popular uprising has secured some aid from foreign governments to head off a fiscal and balance of payments crisis.

JEDDAH/DUBAI (Reuters) – Loath to foster a new generation of militant Islamists, Saudi Arabia is trying to stop its citizens from joining what some of them see as a holy war against the Syrian government.

The Saudi public has grown incensed at the bloody images continuously broadcast of Syria’s violence alongside reports of government forces massacring civilians, and $140 million was raised for Syrian refugees in the first two weeks of a government-organised campaign in August.

JEDDAH/DUBAI, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Loath to foster a new
generation of militant Islamists, Saudi Arabia is trying to stop
its citizens from joining what some of them see as a holy war
against the Syrian government.

The Saudi public has grown incensed at the bloody images
continuously broadcast of Syria’s violence alongside reports of
government forces massacring civilians, and $140 million was
raised for Syrian refugees in the first two weeks of a
government-organised campaign in August.

JEDDAH (Reuters) – Foreign ministers at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) agreed on Monday to suspend Syria from the international body, an OIC source said, further isolating President Bashar al-Assad.

“The session just ended. The ministers adopted the resolutions, including the suspension of Syria,” the source told Reuters.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – The appearance of Saudi Arabia’s first female Olympic athletes at the Games’ opening ceremony prompted a heated online debate on Saturday, with some conservative Islamists denouncing the women as shameless but many praising them.

Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, who is to compete in the +78kg judo category, and 800 meter runner Sarah Attar marched behind the men in their national delegation during the ceremony in London on Friday.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, July 28 (Reuters) – The appearance of
Saudi Arabia’s first female Olympic athletes at the Games’
opening ceremony prompted a heated online debate on Saturday,
with some conservative Islamists denouncing the women as
shameless but many praising them.

Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, who is to compete in
the +78kg judo category, and 800 metre runner Sarah Attar
marched behind the men in their national delegation during the
ceremony in London on Friday.

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, July 21 (Reuters) – Qatar Airways,
Bahrain Air and Gulf Air are among the firms in
pre-qualified consortia bidding for a new airline license in
Saudi Arabia, an official from the General Authority for Civil
Aviation (GACA) with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on
Saturday.

This month GACA said 14 companies had applied for licenses
to operate domestic and international flights in the country,
seven of which have been short-listed.

RIYADH/DUBAI, July 18 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s push
towards an open skies policy is attracting the interest of major
airlines in the Gulf and raising hopes that poor service and
overbooked flights that have characterised air travel across the
country cou l d soon be a thing of the past.

More than 54 million passengers passed through Saudi
Arabia’s 27 airports last year, according to data from the
General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), rising 13.6 percent
from 2010.

BERLIN/JEDDAH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is to send female athletes to the Olympics for the first time, with a judoka and an 800m runner representing the kingdom in London, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.

Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani, who will compete in the 78-kg category in judo, and teenager Sarah Attar will be the first Saudi women ever to take part after talks between the IOC and the country.