Saudi Arabia bans expatriates from 12 jobs...

Saudi Arabia has banned the kingdom’s expatriates from working in 12 occupational domains, making them available to Saudi nationals only. The decision by Minister of Labour Ali bin Nasser al-Ghafis will take effect starting September 2018, SPA news agency reported on Sunday. The ministerial decree’s objective is to grant Saudi men and women more job opportunities in the private sector, SPA said. Labour ministry spokesman Khalid Abalkhail, said the jobs were mostly in sales: sales in watches, eyewear, medical equipment and devices, electrical and electronic appliances, auto parts, building materials, automobiles, furniture stores, and more. He also noted that a committee would be formed to facilitate the project. The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia surpassed 12 percent last year as the economy grappled with the fallout from low oil prices. The move comes amid nationwide changes to revamp the economy by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On Tuesday, a high-profile “anti-corruption purge” appeared to be winding down as Saudi authorities released all remaining detainees from the Ritz-Carlton hotel, after more than two months of detention on allegations of corruption. Dozens of royal family members, ministers, and top businessmen were arrested in early November during an “anti-corruption crackdown” launched by Bin Salman. Allegations against those detained included money laundering, bribery and extorting officials. Saudi Arabia’s Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said that the kingdom had seized more than $100bn in anti-corruption settlements. The amount - 400bn Saudi riyals ($106.7bn) - represented various types of assets, including real estate, commercial entities, cash and more. The government’s Vision 2030 plan to revitalise and diversify Saudi Arabia’s oildependent economy has seen the kingdom introduce a value-added tax (VAT), which applies to a wide range of commodities, including food, clothes, entertainment, electronics, and utility bills. Saudi Arabia also halted state payments of water and electricity bills for royal family members. President Donald Trump made a pitch for national unity and strong borders in his maiden State of the Union address on Tuesday, calling for “one team, one people, and one American family” after a year plagued by acrimony, division and scandal. He also announced that he would keep Guantanamo Bay open, breaking from his predecessor Barack Obama’s lengthy and ultimately failed efforts to shutter the maligned detention facility. “I just signed an order directing Secretary Mattis to reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay,” Trump said, in his address to Congress, in keeping with a campaign promise. On the campaign trail, Trump had famously vowed he would load Guantanamo with “bad dudes” and said it would be “fine” if US terror suspects were sent there for trial. Though Obama could not closed Guantanamo, the population had dropped from 242 to 41 under his watch. During his speech, the president also said that he wanted Congress to pass a law ensuring US foreign aid goes only “to America’s friends” — a reference likely to his frustra- tion at US aid recipients that voted at the UN to rebuke his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Curbs on immigration Over the years the State of the Union address, a set piece of the American political calendar, has lost some of its impact and pizzazz. But the primetime address, watched by as many as 40 million Americans, was still a once-ina-year opportunity for Trump to speak to the nation and mend his sunken approval ratings, languishing around 40 percent. Seeking to enliven his own base, Trump spoke at length on the need for immigration reform, equating immigrants with criminals and economic tension.