A cybercamp to train jobseekers in the field of programming has been launched in Saudi Arabia.
The Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf), in cooperation with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones (SAFCSP), will run the skills initiative as part of the Tuwaiq Cybercamp training program.
Fifty trainees will take part in the learning scheme which will provide information on iOS and Android app programming, individual mentoring sessions, and practical application with certified programming certificates.
The accord also aims to provide support toward maintaining future job security.
Saudi cybercamp to train jobseekers in programming
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Saudi cybercamp to train jobseekers in programming
How Saudi Arabia champions cutting-edge research into unique Red Sea marine environments — blue holes
- Expeditions carried out by the Saudi National Center for Wildlife and OceanX have revealed 20 blue holes
- Future exploration will further map these extremely deep underwater formations and identify diverse species
RIYADH: While Saudi Arabia has long been feted for its ancient sites, distinctive culture and sweeping desert landscapes, recent strides in marine research and exploration could soon see scientists and tourists alike flocking to the Kingdom’s bluer regions.
In just the first year of a decade-long expedition led by Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife, 20 extremely deep underwater sinkholes, known as “blue holes,” were discovered along the Kingdom’s southern Red Sea coast.
Blue holes, named for their vibrant color, have long been recognized as havens for a diverse array of marine life, attracting researchers eager to study their remarkable biodiversity and leisure divers drawn to their profound natural beauty.
Mohammad Qurban, CEO of NCW, said that the discovery of blue holes marked a significant milestone in the Kingdom’s exploration of marine ecosystems.
“The blue holes’ discovery in Saudi Arabia was a result of the groundbreaking exploration effort in collaboration with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology during the Red Sea Decade Expedition,” he told Arab News.
“Exploring the Wonders of the Red Sea: A Decade Expedition” is an unprecedented scientific research expedition launched last year by the NCW in partnership with OceanX and KAUST.
Researchers are using advanced diving techniques, remote sensing technologies, remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles to examine the geology, hydrology, biology and chemistry of the blue holes to unravel the mysteries of these unique ecosystems.
“Scientific diving allows for direct observation and sample collection, while technology enables the mapping and study of blue holes’ deeper and more inaccessible parts,” Carlos Duarte, the expedition’s chief scientist and a distinguished professor of marine science at KAUST, told Arab News.
Duarte is credited with having identified a previously unexplored area of the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast, which extends north from Jazan to Al-Lith, as an area of potential interest for marine conservation.
“This is a labyrinth of coral reefs, which I explored during a few years using a KAUST research vessel,” he said.
“Venturing through this labyrinth is a daunting task, as it has very shallow areas adjacent to deep areas. On one occasion, the bow of the vessel was just above an emerging coral reef, but the depth sounder, which is located 15 meters toward the stern of the vessel, read 750 meters.”
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Duarte said that he must have been right next to a blue hole without even knowing it, “as we did not have the necessary mapping underwater equipment at the time.
“Hence, I targeted this area in the design of the Red Sea Decade Expedition — the most ambitious exploration of the Saudi Red Sea to date, led by the National Center of Wildlife, where I served as chief scientist and we had the right platform, the advanced research vessel OceanX, to explore this region.”
As a result of this latest expedition, researchers believe they have identified the existence of two types of blue holes — blue rings and sunken lagoons.
Blue rings are cylinders of coral that rise from about 400 meters deep and are topped by a ring of coral extending to the surface, whereas sunken lagoons are formed by the collapse of carbonate platforms and can be as deep as 700 meters — or perhaps even deeper.
“We explored with an advanced vessel, submersibles, deep-water robots, a shallow-draft mapping vessel and a helicopter, coupled with advanced sequencing technology,” Duarte said.
“The National Center of Wildlife is planning a subsequent expedition to explore and map the many blue holes that we could not explore, as conserving this natural treasure must be based on the best possible data.”
Duarte said that blue holes are worthy of particular attention by conservationists because of the many endangered marine species that depend on them.
“These are unique features, a few of which have been described elsewhere in the ocean, but not in the number and size of the blue holes in the Saudi Red Sea,” he said.
“We observed marine mammals seeking refuge inside these blue holes, which they seem to be using as a nursery, with their newborns protected in their interior.
“Blue holes contribute in a multifaceted way by uncovering geological processes driving the dynamics of carbonate platforms and expressing the limits of environments for marine life through the extreme conditions they present.
“They also provide evidence of the importance of physical shelter for vulnerable marine life, thereby informing conservation efforts.”
What makes blue holes so fascinating, however, is their extreme depth, much of which is beyond the reach of even the most advanced underwater exploration methods. At those depths, some of the hardiest and least understood organisms flourish.
“At depth, they are deprived of oxygen, presenting unique biological communities that deserve further attention,” Duarte said.
“They are even mysterious for local fishermen, who do not venture inside this reef labyrinth, and their true nature can only be gathered from the air at low altitude, so even satellites cannot really accurately portray their nature.”
DID YOU KNOW?
• Exploring the Wonders of the Sea: A Decade Long Expedition has mapped more than 62,000 sq km of seabed and collected more than 800 samples.
• The expedition team reported numerous sightings of megafauna across the Red Sea, including sharks, manta rays and turtles.
• NCW is researching biological diversity and threats to these important marine environments in Saudi waters of the Red Sea.
Because of the rare characteristics of these environments and the precious species that depend on them, Qurban said that the NCW is implementing a dedicated conservation effort aimed at protecting blue holes.
“These efforts include establishing marine protected areas, regulating diving and fishing activities, and conducting scientific research to understand the ecological significance of blue holes better,” he said.
The environmental goals of these expeditions fall in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 social reform and economic diversification plan, initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016, and the Saudi Green Initiative, established in 2021.
“The National Center for Wildlife is working toward preserving 30 percent of the Red Sea waters as protected areas by 2030, in addition to closely collaborating with local environmental agencies, marine conservation organizations, research institutions and stakeholders to develop and implement a holistic conservation strategy aimed at safeguarding blue holes.”
As for the future of Saudi marine exploration in the Red Sea, Duarte said that the latest blue hole discoveries are just the tip of the iceberg.
“They have been at an ‘arm’s length’ from us for millennia, but only now we were able to explore them,” he said.
“What we found is simply the beginning, as many remain to be explored and those we were able to explore may not be the most remarkable ones.”
Saudi creative brings her late mother’s cooking to life
- Waad Janbi’s ‘Mom’s Spaghetti’ aired on MBC Academy, portrays the love language of food
DHAHRAN: In Waad Janbi’s new animated short film, “Mom’s Spaghetti,” which aired this week on MBC Academy, the Saudi creative serves the audience a universal story of overcoming grief after the loss of a loved one, and the importance of feeding your soul — and your stomach.
The animated short follows 14-year-old Amjad as he awkwardly — and delicately — navigates dealing with the loss of his mother by attempting to recreate a beloved dish she used to prepare for him.
The story starts on the first day of Ramadan and he is seen playing ball in front of his home. He interrupts the game when his grandmother gently pokes her head out from the window overlooking the street and tells him to take it easy since it is the first day of fasting in the holy month. He tells his friends he needs to step inside to help his grandmother and cheerfully goes in to support her.
Inside, the mood is somber. His father and sister also live with them. They break their fast mostly in silence.
For the next several days, along with his sister and grandmother, he attempts to re-create the favorite spaghetti dish that his mother used to make. They fail. Until one day, Amjad finds a blue notebook with drawings on the cover. It is his mother’s recipe book tucked away in a drawer. They try again. And again. Until one day, it smells and looks the way his mother used to make. Tears fill his eyes as he, and his family, enjoy the dish that their beloved mother used to serve them.
Janbi, who is a filmmaker and writer raised in Makkah and educated in the US, used some of her family’s real story sprinkled into this fictional narrative.
“The real inspiration came from my younger brother, Hamza. When our mother died, he was very athletic so she would prepare vegetables for him — healthy things. Right before she died, she told him that she made him something that she saved in the oven for him. ‘I kept it for you,’ she said,” Janbi told Arab News.
But then she died and the household was overcome with grief. During the funeral, the dish was forgotten. Eventually, Hamza went looking for it and realized that it was gone.
“It likely went bad and someone threw it out while they were cleaning. Hamza was really sad about it, sad how the last thing our mother made for him, he couldn’t taste. So, when I wrote the story, I had him in my mind. This was the last act of love that she made but he couldn’t eat that last dish. That last serving of love was untouched,” Janbi said.
The way mama showed love and what she was most proud of was food.
Waad Janbi, Saudi creative
“Mama was a phenomenal cook. She was famous for her macarona bechamel. Our relatives would flock over just to taste her food. But I guess many don’t make that normally during Ramadan so I switched it the more widely known spaghetti,” she said.
The title was inspired by an unlikely source: the US rapper Eminem, who was popular during Janbi’s youth. In his debut, and critically acclaimeded film, “8 mile,” he famously rapped a lyric where he says: “Mom’s spaghetti.” Janbi, who uses humor to cope with grief, decided to use it.
“I was being playful with the title. Eminem wasn’t ashamed of his anger, he turned it into art. And, although I’m aware that he was problematic during different times, he was a poet and that line stuck with me and it would make me snicker to myself each time I heard someone mention ‘Mom’s spaghetti’ in my short film’s title,” she said.
This film is a love letter to all the things that inspired Janbi rolled into one.
In the Janbi household growing up, they would watch MBC on the screen while preparing the food and then switch to live footage of the Haram right before Maghreb.
Fast-forward to years later, Janbi enrolled in MBC Academy’s first online cohort dedicated to screenwriting. She then took a more advanced screenwriting course and did on-site training in Dubai. Through a group chat, mentors at MBC Academy encouraged former participants to write and pitch an episode as part of a series that would air during Ramadan. They were told that seven episodes would be selected.
Janbi felt the pull of her mother and was able to scramble together her story in the nick of time. Like her mother, she used a bit of this, a dash of that, and was able to produce a story that she shared with the committee. Her story was selected and was released as the second of the seven stories.
It was important for her to write it from the point of view of a Saudi teen boy, in order to subtly shift the conversation.
“In the story, the boy was trying to learn basic skills, to feed himself and his family. I grew up with very strict rules about gender roles; me as a girl, I’d have to help with the kitchen and my brother had to help feed those fasting with father. I began to understand the pressures my brother had and wanted to let Saudi boys know that they should be active in their own lives. Helping in the kitchen is good, helping your grandmother is good. And they should learn how to feed themselves!” she said.
While food is vital to survival, certain dishes can truly make you feel alive. With curated ingredients and specific spices and herbs mixed just right, that culinary journey can turn that spoon or fork into a sort of time machine. It can bring you back to simpler times.
Janbi’s older sisters still have some of the handwritten recipes that their mother scribbled in loose notebook papers, each fragmented page tells a story of a time long gone but also serves as a treasure map to revive that magic.
“The way mama showed love and what she was most proud of was food. She would never hug us or kiss us or say ‘I love you,’ but she would lovingly prepare the dish you loved and that was her love language,” Janbi said.
Janbi was overwhelmed by the positive reception after her episode aired. Her friends flooded her inbox and tagged her on social media, praising the story that resonated deeply with viewers of all backgrounds. The storytelling was layered and complex but told in a clear way.
“Usually the artist is never satisfied with the final draft but I was happy with the way that the MBC Academy team was able to bring it to life, even though they modified some things and left things out that I was slightly upset about, like in my vision, the mother had different hair … but I also understood their decision,” she said.
Janbi especially wanted to thank MBC Academy’s Munira Altheeb, assistant project manager at MBC Academy Middle East, for her support.
But, most importantly, her family understood what she was trying to achieve. She had told her siblings about the story before it came out and when it was ready, they all watched it. Her brother, the one that inspired the story, was excited. Her older sisters cried. Her youngest sibling, a sister, was slightly upset that the story didn’t seem to include her.
“I told my little sister, ‘Don’t worry, the next film I write will feature a story from your point-of-view,’” Janbi said.
To this day, Janbi’s family have not yet perfected their mother’s green beans with shrimps dish, her favorite. But they will keep on trying.
And Janbi will keep on typing.
The short animated film, which runs just under 10 minutes, can be viewed on MBC Academy’s YouTube channel.
Saudi aid agency to deliver Zakat Al-Fitr to Yemen
- The aid is part of the second phase of the food security project in Sudan, implemented by the Saudi agency, aiming to reach 1.5 million beneficiaries
RIYADH: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has signed an agreement with a civil society organization to deliver Zakat Al-Fitr to Yemen. The agreement is set to benefit 31,333 needy families.
The deal aims to ensure that Zakat Al-Fitr is distributed to the neediest individuals in Yemen, which is suffering a humanitarian crisis.
Elsewhere, the agency sent its seventh aid shipment through the Saudi relief sea bridge to Sudan on Thursday.
The shipment consisted of 12 refrigerated trucks carrying 14,960 food baskets, weighing 524 tonnes. It arrived at Sudan’s Suakin Port after departing from Jeddah Islamic Port.
The aid is part of the second phase of the food security project in Sudan, implemented by the Saudi agency, aiming to reach 1.5 million beneficiaries. The initiative will help alleviate the ongoing circumstances faced by the Sudanese people.
It highlights the Kingdom’s role in supporting brotherly nations during times of crisis and underscores the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
Meanwhile, the agency has gifted 25 tonnes of dates to Malaysia.
In the presence of several Malaysian officials, the Saudi ambassador to Malaysia, Musaed bin Ibrahim Al-Saleem, presented the aid on behalf of the agency. Al-Saleem commended the strong bond between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
The agency also distributed 400 food baskets to the neediest families in South Africa. The initiative is part of the Ramadan “Etaam” food distribution project in South Africa.
Centuries-old mosque showcases Al-Ahsa’s rich heritage
- The mosque’s design reflects this, featuring three porticoes, an internal courtyard and an external wall. A traditional palm-frond-thatched completes the picture, alongside a single side-door
RIYADH: Nestled among the eastern villages of Al-Ahsa governorate, some 12 km from Hofuf, lies the village of Al-Tahimiya, which entices visitors with its whispers of a distant past.
Among Al-Tahimiya’s historical treasures is Al-Tahimiyyah Al-Sharqi Mosque, which stands as testament to the region’s rich heritage, according to a Saudi Press Agency report.
Believed to date back to the Ottoman era, Al-Tahimiyyah Al-Sharqi Mosque is a survivor. Its mud walls, partially cradled by the slopes of Mount Al-Qara, hint at an even older history, echoing architectural styles of bygone eras.
The mosque’s design reflects this, featuring three porticoes, an internal courtyard and an external wall. A traditional palm-frond-thatched completes the picture, alongside a single side-door.
It is named after the village of Al-Tahimiya and is located on the bank of the Al-Zuhairi River.
Al-Tahimiyyah Al-Sharqi Mosque attracts visitors not just from Al-Ahsa governorate, but from across the Arabian Gulf and beyond. Its proximity to the historically significant Mount Al-Qara adds to its appeal.
Visitors come to admire its distinctive structure and interior, often taking photos of it and the surrounding palm trees against the backdrop of Jabal Al-Qarah mountains.
The mosque can accommodate about 50 worshippers and features an ablution area outside.
Saudi center to prepare encyclopedia entry on Islamic ‘intellectual community’
- Three research bodies have also been assigned roles that will contribute to future conferences aiming to bridge Islamic sects by researching the specifics of each Islamic sect, including their origins and branches
RIYADH: Muslim scholars at the recently held “Building Bridges Between Islamic Schools of Thought and Sects” conference in Makkah have chosen the Saudi Defense Ministry’s Center for Safeguarding Intellect to compile a comprehensive study of “The Islamic Intellectual Community” for an upcoming encyclopedia, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
The decision “reflects the center’s expertise in intellectual matters aligned with the conference’s objectives,” according to the SPA.
Three research bodies have also been assigned roles that will contribute to future conferences aiming to bridge Islamic sects by researching the specifics of each Islamic sect, including their origins and branches.
The Center for Safeguarding Intellect emphasizes “the comprehensiveness, brevity, breadth, and integrity of Islamic discourse,” the SPA stated. “This approach represents an Islamic concept of moderation, embracing diversity and steering clear of exclusionism or factionalism within the sectarian coalition.”
Scholars have endorsed the center’s approach, particularly in refraining from using labels that undermine Islamic cooperation and understanding, something especially pertinent to issues such as extremism.
Participants at the conference in Makkah highlighted the specificity of each school of Islamic thought, but stressed that a unified stance on major issues, such as confronting sectarianism and intellectual extremism, would only be possible by achieving an “Islamic intellectual consensus.”
They added that institutions including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League were founded in order to help establish such a consensus.