Riyadh / TNS Saudi markets imported pearls and precious stones worth SR21.8 billion in 2015, compared to SR19.2 billion in 2014, or an increase of 13 percent, local media said. Imports of pearls and precious stones represented 3.3 percent of the Kingdom’s total imports, which stood at SR655 billion in 2015, compared to 2.9 percent in 2014, with its total …

  Jeddah / TNS Car rental offices witnessed a surge in rentals during the Eid by up to 80 percent, compared to other vacation days, which contributed to the rise in rental prices of up to 60 percent. Workers in the sector in Jeddah and Makkah said some offices began to provide more vehicles, either by repairing those vehicles with problems, …

  BLOOMBERG When Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi turned a standard speech on electricity supplies into an unexpected appeal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, one man who wasn’t surprised was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The televised address in May capped months of backstage diplomacy by a group including former British premier Tony Blair. Nearly four decades after their …