OSN brings ‘Come Dine with Me’ to Mideast as original production
The OSN original production will be filmed in the UAE this year
Updated 25 June 2020
Zaira Lakhpatwala
OSN has signed with ITV Studios for the exclusive rights and production of the Arabic version of the British reality TV show “Come Dine with Me.”
The ongoing series has been a nationwide favorite for over 15 years in the UK, with the format having been replicated to great success in 10 countries worldwide including Australia, Canada, Greece, Ireland and South Africa.
The OSN original production will be filmed in the UAE this year, where episodes will run exclusively on OSN.
A casting call for residents to apply for a chance to take part in the reality TV show will be announced in the coming weeks.
The OSN production will follow the same format as the UK show, where every week a different group of four strangers take turns to host a dinner party in their home, with the other guests rating the evening out of 10.
Each contestant believes that they are the ultimate host, but at the end of the week, only one can be crowned the best host and walk away with a valuable prize.
The series combines elements of authenticity, humor and fascinating guests, making the show one of the most relatable series to a wider spectrum of audience.
The 45-episode series will run weekly from Sunday to Thursday, with a new group of contestants every week.
Each host will cook a starter dish, a main course and a dessert, followed by a grading session by the three guests of their hosting skills and the overall experience.
Contestants will come together from all walks of life and include various nationalities such as Lebanese, Saudi, Emirati, Kuwaiti, Egyptian, Bahraini, Omani and Western expats.
“OSN is thrilled about the upcoming OSN Original, Come Dine with Me, which will be the first original production of the extremely popular show that comes to our region,” Rolla Karam, vice president of acquisitions and head of Arabic programing at OSN, said in a statement.
“This production further cements our commitment to providing curated content and bringing the best in entertainment to our audiences in the Middle East,” she added.
“We believe that Come Dine with Me will be as huge a success in the Middle East as it is in the United Kingdom and are very excited for what’s to come in the pipeline in terms of original productions.”
MenaML hosts 2026 Winter School in Saudi Arabia to boost AI education, collaboration in region
Second edition of Winter School will be hosted in partnership with KAUST
Updated 16 January 2026
Zaira Lakhpatwala
DUBAI: The Middle East and North Africa Machine Learning Winter School will host its second edition in Saudi Arabia this year, in partnership with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
The non-profit held its inaugural edition in Doha last year in partnership with the Qatar Computing Research Institute.
The initiative began when like-minded individuals from Google DeepMind and QCRI came together to launch a platform connecting a “community of top-tier AI practitioners with a shared interest in shaping the future of the MENA region,” Sami Alabed, a research scientist at Google DeepMind and one of the co-founders of MenaML, told Arab News.
Along with Alabed, the core team includes Maria Abi Raad and Amal Rannen-Triki from Google DeepMind, as well as Safa Messaoud and Yazan Boshmaf from QCRI.
Maria Abi Raad
Messaoud said that the school has three goals: building local talent in artificial intelligence, enhancing employability and connection, and reversing brain drain while fostering regional opportunity.
AI has dominated boardrooms and courtrooms alike globally, but “AI research and education in MENA are currently in a nascent, yet booming, stage,” she added.
Launched at a pivotal moment for the region, the initiative was timed to ensure “regional representation in the global AI story while cultivating AI models that are culturally aligned,” said Rannen-Triki.
The school’s vision is to cultivate researchers capable of developing “sophisticated, culturally aligned AI models” that reflect the region’s values and linguistic and cultural diversity, said Messaoud.
This approach, she added, enables the region to contribute meaningfully to the global AI ecosystem while ensuring that AI technologies remain locally relevant and ethically grounded.
MenaML aims to host its annual program in a different city each year, partnering with reputable institutions in each host location.
“Innovation does not happen in silos; breakthroughs are born from collaboration that extends beyond borders and lab lines,” said Alabed.
“Bringing together frontier labs to share their knowledge echoes this message, where each partner brings a unique viewpoint,” he added.
This year, MenaML has partnered with KAUST, which “offers deep dives into specialized areas critical to the region, blending collaborative spaces with self-learning and placement programs,” said Abi Raad.
The program, developed in partnership with KAUST, brings together speakers from 16 institutions and focuses on four key areas: AI and society, AI and sciences, AI development, and regional initiatives.
“These themes align with the scientific priorities and research excellence pillars of KAUST as well as the needs of regional industries seeking to deploy AI safely and effectively,” said Bernard Ghanem, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at KAUST and director of the Center of Excellence in Generative AI.
The program will also highlight efficiency in AI systems, with the overall goal of equipping “participants with the conceptual and practical understanding needed to contribute meaningfully to next-generation AI research and development,” he told Arab News.
For KAUST, hosting the MenaML Winter School aligns with Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a global hub for AI research under Vision 2030.
By attracting top researchers, industry partners, and young talent to the Kingdom, it helps cement the Kingdom’s position as a center for AI excellence, Ghanem said.
It also aligns closely with Vision 2030’s “goals of building human capital, fostering innovation, and developing a knowledge-based economy” and “contributes to the long-term development of a world-leading AI ecosystem in Saudi Arabia,” he added.
Although the program accepts students from around the world, participants must demonstrate a connection to the MENA region, Abi Raad said.
The goal is to build bridges between those who may have left the region and those who remain, enabling them to start conversations and collaborate, she added.
A certain percentage of spots is reserved for participants from the host country, while a small percentage is allocated to fully international students with no regional ties, with the objective of offering them a glimpse into the regional AI ecosystem.
Looking ahead, MenaML envisions growing from an annual event into a sustainable, central pillar of the regional AI ecosystem, inspired by the growth trajectory of global movements like TED or the Deep Learning Indaba, a sister organization supporting AI research and education in Africa.
Boshmaf said MenaML’s long-term ambition is to evolve beyond its flagship event into a broader movement, anchored by local MenaMLx chapters across the region.
Over time, the initiative aims to play a central role in strengthening the regional AI ecosystem by working with governments and the private sector to support workforce development, AI governance and safety education, and collaborative research, while raising the region’s global visibility through its talent network and international partnerships.
He added: “If TED is the global stage for ‘ideas worth spreading,’ MenaML is to be the regional stage for ‘AI ideas worth building.’”
The MenaML Winter School will run from Jan. 24 to 29 at KAUST in Saudi Arabia.
