In this May 19, 2013 file photo, Saudi Deputy Labor Minister Mufarrej bin Saad Al-Haqbani (right) and Philippine Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz sign the landmark labor agreement on the hiring of Filipino household service workers (HSWs). Al-Haqbani signed on behalf of Labor Minister Adel Fakeih. The Cabinet approved the accord on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. (AN photo)

In this May 19, 2013 file photo, Saudi Deputy Labor Minister Mufarrej bin Saad Al-Haqbani (right) and Philippine Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz sign the landmark labor agreement on the hiring of Filipino household service workers (HSWs). Al-Haqbani signed on behalf of Labor Minister Adel Fakeih. The Cabinet approved the accord on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014. (AN photo)

The Cabinet has approved the domestic worker recruitment agreement signed between the Saudi and Philippines labor ministries in May last year.
A report by the Saudi Press Agency on Monday said the Cabinet gave its approval on the agreement based on a report submitted Labor Minister Adel Fakeih.
Covered by the agreement are housemaids, babysitters, laundrywomen, family drivers, cooks and gardeners.
The agreement stipulates that workers receive a minimum monthly salary of SR1,500, their own bank accounts, weekly rest days and daily rest periods, paid vacation leave, non-withholding of passports and work permits, free communication and humane treatment.
Saudi Arabia requires workers to be medically fit, with no criminal record.
Saudi and Philippine labor officials concluded the pact more than a year after RIyadh ordered a freeze on the recruitment of domestic workers amid complaints by Manila of rising domestic worker abuse among Saudi families.
The Cabinet action affirmed the agreement, which had actually been implemented since 2013, paving the way for the lifting of a ban on recruitment of Filipino domestic workers for the Saudi market.

Saudi Arabia signed similar accords with India and Sri Lanka last January.

South Asian executed in Alkhobar for drug trafficking

RIYADH: A Pakistani was executed on Wednesday for trafficking heroin hidden in his stomach into the kingdom, the interior ministry said, the latest in dozens of executions this year.
Mohammed Sadiq Hanif was arrested during his attempt to smuggle “a large amount” of heroin, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
The beheading on Wednesday in the eastern town of Alkhobar raises to 64 the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year. He was the 5th Pakistani to be executed in the Kingdom for drug trafficking in a month.
The four earlier ones were executed last month, the latest being Mohammed Gul Rahma, who was beheaded in Qatif, also in the Eastern Province, on Oct. 24.
The government “is keen on combating narcotics due to their great harm to individuals and the society,” the Interior Ministry said.

Crown prince honors winners of historical research prize

RECOGNITION: Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, honored the winners of the Research Prize on the History and Civilization of Arabian Peninsula, in Riyadh on Tuesday. (SPA)

Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense who is also the head of Higher Supervisory Committee for Prince Salman Prize for Post-Graduate Studies, honored the winners of the research prize on the History and Civilization of Arabian Peninsula, in Riyadh on Tuesday, according to the Saudi press Agency.
Earlier, the Crown Prince received the King Saud University Rector Dr. Badran al-Omar, Secretary General of King Abdulaziz Center of Research and Archives (Darah) Dr. Fahad Al-Sammari, Secretary General of the Prize Dr. Abdulla Al-Subaie, and members of the Scientific Committee of the Prize.
At the outset of the event, the rector of KSU expressed thanks to the Crown Prince for his support and confidence towards the university as the incubator of the prize.
The prize embodied the Crown Prince’s commitment to science and historic studies that documented the old history of the Arabian Peninsula in refined scientific forms, which will be beneficial to current and future generations, he said.
Some 43 researchers, 37 Saudis and another 6 from other GCC countries vied for the prize’s ten winning areas, in addition to three researchers who gave support to post-graduate students.
Al-Omar noted that the prize comes at an appropriate time from a historian (referring to the Crown Prince) who is well aware of the importance of history, as history departments in the Kingdom’s universities have dwindled.
The honored winners were as follows, Dr. Bandar bin Mohamed Al-Arwi and Dr. Talal bin Khalid Al-Tiraifi (PhD branch for Saudis), Dr. Ali bin Rashid Al-Madbouli, from Oman (PhD branch for non-Saudis), Walid Ahlil Al-Mutairi, Muna bint Saad Al-Otaibi and Jouzi bint Mohamed Al-Subaei (Masteral branch for Saudis), Samia bint Abdulla Al-Kathiri, from Yemen, and Fatima bint Salim Al-Bulushi, Oman (Masteral branch for non-Saudis), and researcher Salman bin Salim Al-Mutairi (supportive program for researches).
Meanwhile, members of the Scientific Committee of the Prize stressed the importance of the prize and its role in promoting scientific research in universities. Committee member Prince Turki bin Fahad said the prize has given enormous impetus to researches in the area of history and will remain an incentive to scientific movement and researchers.

KSA raps Zionist land grab, ‘criminal acts’ at Al-Aqsa

The Cabinet slammed on Monday the Israeli government for its illegal occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and plans to build settlements nearby.
The ministers described the actions of the Zionist regime as criminal and a provocation of Muslims worldwide, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
Khoja said the Israeli government was continuing its aggression against the Palestinians with its decision to build 1,000 housing units in the occupied city of Al-Quds.
Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, chaired the meeting in Riyadh on Monday.
Meanwhile, based on a report submitted by the Minister of Labor Adel Fakeih, the Cabinet approved the domestic worker recruitment agreement signed by the Saudi and Philippines labor ministries in May last year.
The agreement is expected to cover housemaids, babysitters, laundrywomen, family drivers, cooks and gardeners.
The agreement agreed upon last year stipulates that workers receive a minimum monthly salary of SR1,500, their own bank accounts, weekly rest days and daily rest periods, paid vacation leave, non-withholding of passports and work permits, free communication and humane treatment.
Saudi Arabia requires workers to be medically fit, with no criminal record.At the beginning of Monday’s meeting, the Cabinet was briefed about the outcome of talks on cooperation between Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jabir Al-Sabah.



Khoja told reporters that the Cabinet explored the latest regional and global developments, particularly the conference held in Germany on protecting Syrian refugees.
The Cabinet welcomed the recommendations issued by the fourth session of the anti-sea piracy conference that was recently convened in the United Arab Emirates, Khoja said. He said the Cabinet passed a series of decisions including the approval of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Timor-Leste and the Republic of Costa Rica at the level of “non-resident ambassador.” The Council approved an agreement with the Portuguese government to avoid dual taxation and curb tax evasion.
Khoja said that the Cabinet, after reviewing a report submitted by the Minister of Civil Service, ordered that all government departments must publicly announce vacancies to ensure parity between applicants.
The government agencies must announce vacancies on their websites, the ministry’s website and in two or more newspapers concerning terms, conditions and standards of the announced jobs, he said. The Cabinet approved a plan to conduct talks with the Hungarian government on telecommunications and information technology.

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Amnesty: Israel committed war crimes in Gaza war

Palestinians inspect the damage of their destroyed houses during a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood in this July 26, 2014 file photo.AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

JERUSALEM: Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of committing war crimes during the war in the Gaza Strip this summer, saying it displayed “callous indifference” in attacks on family homes in the densely populated coastal area.
The Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, including many civilians according to Palestinian and UN officials. Israel says the number of militants killed was much higher and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Amnesty said in a report released Wednesday that “Israeli forces killed scores of Palestinian civilians in attacks targeting houses full of families, which in some cases have amounted to war crimes.”
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the report’s findings, saying the London-based rights group “ignores documented war crimes perpetrated by Hamas.”
“The report does not mention the word terror in relation to Hamas or other armed Palestinian groups, nor mentions tunnels built by Hamas to infiltrate Israel and perpetrate terror attacks,” the ministry said.
Israel launched the Gaza operation in early July in response to stepped-up rocket attacks on Israeli cities by the coastal area’s militant Palestinian Hamas rulers.
The operation followed a crackdown by Israeli forces in the West Bank, where troops arrested scores of Hamas members, in response to the kidnapping and killings of three teenage Israelis in June by Hamas operatives.
Several weeks later, Jewish extremists kidnapped and burned to death a Palestinian teenager in east Jerusalem in an apparent revenge attack.
But the summer war was the fiercest conflict between the two sides in years.
“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused,” said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program.
During the 50 days of fighting, Hamas fired thousands of rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and cities, including Tel Aviv, and used a sophisticated tunnel network to carry out attacks on Israeli military encampments in southern Israel, close to the Gaza border. Some of the tunnels also had exits abutting Israeli civilian communities, giving Hamas the ability to attack them as well.
For its part, Israeli forces carried out sustained aerial, artillery and infantry attacks in Gaza, many of which the Amnesty report found to be indiscriminate.
Israel says the military was as careful as possible to avoid civilian casualties citing its system of providing warning to civilians that strikes on their buildings were coming when possible.
It argues that the heavy civilian death toll is Hamas’ fault, accusing the Islamic militant group of launching rockets — and drawing retaliation — from school yards, residential areas and mosques.
“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee,” Luther said.