Total investments in the twin industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu have reached SR 800 billion, according to Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan, chairman of the Royal Commission (RC).
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Amman, he called for the economic integration of Arab countries by carrying out joint investment projects.
He said the Saudi government’s move to promote the industrial sector, especially petrochemicals and minerals, was a strategic option to accelerate its diversification drive.
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah launched a number of new industries in Jubail and Yanbu valued at more than SR 400 billion,” he said.
He said the RC has invested about SR 10 billion for the development of infrastructure in the new Ras Al-Khair industrial city. Work on a 85-km road between Jubail and Ras Al-Khair has been completed.
He revealed plans to open new industries in Jubail and Yanbu.
Mohammed Al-Mady, vice chairman and CEO of SABIC, said the WEF was a golden opportunity for Arabs to discuss vital economic, political and social issues and find viable solutions to them. He backed Prince Saud’s call urging Arab countries to promote partnership in economic, investment and trade sectors. “Arab interest demands the need to give priority to investing in Arab countries as it would strengthen Arab economies,” Al-Mady said.
Joint investments for Arab economic integration stressed
Joint investments for Arab economic integration stressed
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Crossing Thoughts’
Author: Sultan Ayaz
“Crossing Thoughts” is a fantasy novel in English by Saudi author Sultan Ayaz, published in 2017.
Ayaz’s novel is about humans defending their homeland against demon oppression. It is about the eternal fight between humanity and demons, and the person who stands between them.
The story begins with Drake, a child who lives a peaceful life with his family in a small town. However, a demonic attack destroys the village, but Drake somehow survives.
Three characters emerge: Aria, Ray and Amber, who study the nature of elements at the Grand College of Elements in the Kingdom of Iora, one of three kingdoms suffering demonic oppression. They learn to employ elemental magic as a weapon against their demonic opponents.
Aria (wind element user), Amber (fire element user) and Ray (thunder element user) end up fighting a sea demon and are discovered by a mysterious man called Soul, who admires their powers and helps them train to become “demon slayers,” to free humans from oppression.
There are many fight scenes in the storyline using magic and elements, and the book is full of drama, plot twists and terror.
What I liked about the narrative is how easy it is to read and follow, and the development of the world building —from the village to the Kingdom of Iora.
The female characters in the novel shine brighter and have distinct styles, making them more intriguing to read about, and each possesses a particular power.
It might be confusing for some readers that the story begins with Drake’s perspective and then cuts to the story of Aria, Amber and Ray. However, the more you read, the more intriguing the female storylines become.
The book has received four-plus star ratings on the Goodreads website and is simple enough to read in one sitting.
In 2020, Ayaz became one of the first Saudi novelists to have a fiction work in English published overseas when Olympia Publishers, a British publishing house, purchased the rights to “Crossing Thoughts.”
The novel is also set to be adapted into a Manga comic by Manga Arabia.
What We Are Reading Today: When the Bombs Stopped
Author: Erin Lin
Over the course of the Vietnam War, the United states dropped 500,000 tonnes of bombs over Cambodia—more than the combined weight of every man, woman, and child in the country.
Fifty years after the last sortie, residents of rural Cambodia are still coping with the unexploded ordnance that covers their land.
Amal Clooney advised ICC prosecutor who seeks warrants in Israel-Hamas war crimes case
- British Lebanese human rights lawyer says she agreed to serve on panel of experts reviewing evidence because she believes in rule of law and ‘need to protect civilian lives’
LONDON: British Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was a special adviser in the International Criminal Court investigation that resulted in the prosecutor in the case requesting arrest warrants on Monday for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and three Hamas leaders.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, thanked Clooney in his statement announcing his decision, describing her as part of “a panel of experts in international law” who reviewed the evidence.
In a message on her foundation’s website, Clooney said Khan had requested that she assist him “with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza.”
She added: “I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task. Together we have engaged in an extensive process of evidence review and legal analysis, including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“Despite our diverse personal backgrounds, our legal findings are unanimous. We have unanimously determined that the Court has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestine and by Palestinian nationals.
“We unanimously conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence.
“We unanimously conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and extermination.”
Clooney previously faced criticism for failing to publicly criticize the war in Gaza. Many people sent messages to her on social media on Monday apologizing for their comments and praising her role in the ICC investigation.
The lawyer said she agreed to serve on the panel because she believes in the rule of law and the “need to protect civilian lives.”
She added: “The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world, regardless of the reasons for a conflict.
“As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child’s life has less value than another’s. I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law. So I support the historic step that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has taken to bring justice to victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine.”
Israeli and Hamas leaders have rejected allegations that they are guilty of war crimes, and representatives of both sides criticized Khan for his decision.
Digital wellbeing summit at Ithra to confront technology’s dangers, advantages
- Event at Ithra will have over 110 digital experts, 70 speakers from 20 countries
DHAHRAN: After a two-year hiatus, the second Sync Digital Wellbeing Summit 2024 returns to the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, this week for discussions and debates by world-leading experts.
Scheduled for May 22 and 23, Ithra will be buzzing with all things that merge technology and wellness, and will feature 110 digital experts and 70 speakers from 20 countries.
“The Sync Summit 2024 is not just another conference. It’s a platform for meaningful discussions, critical reflections, and collective actions for a better digital future,” said Wadha Al-Nafjan, head of digital wellbeing at Sync. “As we navigate the digital paradox, it is vital to recognize our responsibility in shaping the world we want to live in.”
Topics including algorithmic homogenization and identity loss, AI’s impact on the creative industries, and misinformation will be tackled under the theme “Confronting the Digital Paradox.”
The summit will be held at the Ithra headquarters in Dhahran, with a live stream available.
Day one, organized around the sub-theme “Cuts Both Ways: Wrestling with the Tensions of the Digital Era,” includes seven panels, two fireside chats and two keynote talks.
It’s a platform for meaningful discussions, critical reflections, and collective actions for a better digital future.
Wadha Al-Nafjan, Head of digital wellbeing at Sync
Day two, centering on the sub-theme “A Digital Renaissance: Shaping Our Relationship with Digital for a Better Future,” will have eight panels and three keynotes. In addition, it will have the Sync Spotlight series finale, for which creative influencer Omar Farooq will screen his new documentary, “The Dark Side of Japan.”
Although there was no summit last year at Ithra, the Sync team conducted extensive research globally that led to some compelling findings.
According to their research, 81 percent of those surveyed are concerned about the unsolicited collection of their personal data, 53 percent struggle to maintain boundaries between their work and personal lives, while 66 percent believe that the internet needs more regulation. About 73 percent of participants think social media was designed to be addictive.
Furthermore, the average time spent online daily has gone down, compared with 2021. About 68 percent claim to understand AI, 87 percent think technology is allowing people to work and study more flexibly, and 91 percent use digital devices to access resources including books and tutorials.
“Never before has the world been so connected to everything and everyone. We know technology has improved our lives, but it also has the painful potential to distract and harm,” Ithra said in a statement to Arab News. The summit’s activities are geared toward “ensuring that we as humans come together to keep digital technology in check and working towards the greater good, safeguarding its future, and our own.”
The event will bridge the gap between academic research, industry practices, and end-users regarding digital wellbeing through a variety of sessions.
Sync Spotlight
A series of sessions will run in parallel to the two-day Sync Summit stage program, offering greater interaction between speakers and audience members.
Sync Action Forum
The worldwide Gen Alpha Forum, an initiative developed by Sync Research with McCann Worldgroup, will see the community expand to include Saudi Arabia parents of Gen Alpha children, as well as educators, and other Gen Alpha stakeholders.
Majlis
In partnership with Johns Hopkins, which has a local hospital at Aramco, the Majlis will host three sessions exploring digital wellbeing with educators, researchers and students.
The Plaza
The gamified experience will dive into the findings compiled by the Sync Research team through the lens of three projects which were developed with partners Horizon Group, PSB and McCann Worldgroup.
Sync Immersive
In this interactive journey, the organizers promise to provide a three-step experience designed to impact participants’ emotions and understanding, while guiding them into navigating the complexities of digital ethics.
Podcast
The booth experience will serve both as a studio to record live podcast episodes hosted by Mo Gawdat, formerly of Google, and as a multi-functional space for hosting media interviews. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Islam, host of the English-language podcast, The Mo Show, will also be present.
Other notable speakers this year include US data scientist and AI specialist Rumman Chowdhury; Saudi Arabia athlete, FIFA World Champion and owner of an esports team, Abdulaziz Alshehri; and Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
One May 21, Ithra will host the Global Digital Wellbeing Assembly, a gathering of experts from across the Kingdom and the globe to discuss the guiding objectives and roadmap for a new digital wellbeing society.
Registration is now open and attendance is free.
Moscow ready to assist Tehran in crash investigation
MOSCOW: Russia’s state news agency RIA on Monday quoted Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, as saying Moscow could assist Iran in its investigation of the crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Iran’s new interim president as Moscow made clear its desire to preserve and build on its deepening relationship with Tehran despite the sudden death of Raisi.
The Kremlin said Putin expressed his condolences to interim President Mohammad Mokhber and to the Iranian people over Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash, describing Raisi as a “reliable partner who made an invaluable personal contribution” to bilateral relations.
“Both sides emphasized their mutual desire to further consistently strengthen comprehensive Russian-Iranian interaction for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries,” the Kremlin said in its readout of the Putin-Mokhber call.
Since the state of the war in Ukraine, Russia has moved to strengthen its political, trade and military ties with Iran in a deepening relationship that the US and Israel view with concern.
In January, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said a new interstate treaty reflecting the “unprecedented upswing” in Russia-Iran ties was in the final stages of being agreed, and Putin and Raisi were expected to sign it soon.
Putin held five hours of talks with Raisi in the Kremlin in December and had spoken to him by phone in March and April, according to the Kremlin website.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister said on Monday that Moscow expected all agreements with Iran to be implemented, state news agency RIA reported.
The Kremlin said that Putin had spoken to the Iranian ambassador to Moscow late on Sunday night following news of the helicopter crash.
