OSAKA: The Saudi Arabia Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka celebrated the Kingdom’s 95th National Day on September 23.
This milestone showcased Saudi Arabia’s rich culture and heritage, as well as its dynamic transformation under Vision 2030, emphasizing national pride and achievements.
Around 2,000 VIP guests, international delegates, media, and Japanese public attended the ceremony at the Expo Hall “Shining Hat,” featuring the national anthems and addresses from dignitaries.
Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, stated, “On the 95th National Day, we celebrate our nation’s unity and the seventy years of friendship with Japan.
This partnership has strengthened our economies and ties. At Expo 2025 Osaka, we proudly showcase our heritage through the Saudi Pavilion, bridging our peoples. Guided by King Salman and Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is moving toward a prosperous future.”
Dr. Ghazi bin Faisal Binzagr, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Japan and Commissioner General of the Saudi Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, remarked, “Celebrating Saudi National Day at Expo 2025 is a proud moment for the Kingdom, highlighting our strong partnership with Japan.
“This day allows us to share our history, present significance, and future aspirations while showcasing our transformation under Vision 2030. We celebrate our achievements on a global stage and continue to foster partnerships for a peaceful and sustainable future.”
The event featured cultural performances, including the Ardah, a traditional Saudi sword dance with live music. Visitors enjoyed an engaging experience, exploring Saudi Arabian culture through sound, crafts, and performances on pop-up stages throughout the Expo site.
A capacity Expo 2025 Osaka crowd then lined the Grand Ring to witness the Saudi Arabia Parade, a vibrant display of Saudi culture and heritage. The parade, with performers starting from the Expo Hall, ‘Shining Hat,’ stopping in front of the Saudi Arabia Pavilion for a cultural performance, and continuing to the Expo Arena, ‘Matsuri,’ was a highlight of the day.
Visitors then gathered at the National Day Hall, ‘Ray Garden,’ for a special screening of Films from Saudi Arabia, produced by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra).
The screening was a unique opportunity to experience the richness of Saudi cinema and its contribution to the global cultural landscape.
The festivities concluded with an impressive evening at the Expo Arena “Matsuri.”
The National Day Concert showcased a blend of traditional and modern creativity, featuring the Ardah rhythms and performances by emerging Saudi artists.
A unique collaboration included a Japanese Noh player, a Saudi Nay player, and drummers from both cultures.
A highlight was the special National Day edition of “Tales of Water,” nominated for the World Expo award for ‘Best Presentation.’
This dynamic show combined live performance and immersive projection mapping to compare Japan’s Ama divers with Saudi Arabia’s pearl divers on a quest for the largest pearl.
Saudi National Day is part of over 700 events at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion during Expo 2025 Osaka. Visitors can explore Saudi culture, heritage, and art through programs like Ahlan Wa Sahlan and The Botanist Augmented Reality experience, as well as musical performances at the Cultural Studios.
The pavilion features immersive galleries showcasing The Evolving Cities, Sustainable Seas, Unlimited Human Potential, and The Pinnacle of Innovation, highlighting the Kingdom’s global impact.
Saudi Pavilion at Expo celebrates National Day with spectacular festivities
https://arab.news/5m5ub
Saudi Pavilion at Expo celebrates National Day with spectacular festivities
- Around 2,000 VIP guests, international delegates, media, and Japanese public attended the ceremony
- The event featured cultural performances, including the Ardah, a traditional Saudi sword dance with live music
Lawsuit challenges Trump administration’s ending of protections for Somalis
- The lawsuit cites a series of statements Trump has made describing Somalis as “garbage” and “low IQ people” who “contribute nothing.”
BOSTON: Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to stop US President Donald Trump’s administration from next week ending legal protections that allow nearly 1,100 Somalis to live and work in the United States. The lawsuit, brought by four Somalis and two advocacy groups, challenges the US Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Somali immigrants, whom Trump has derided in public remarks. Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in January announced that TPS for Somalis would end on March 17, arguing that Somalia’s conditions had improved, despite fighting continuing between Somali forces and Al-Shabab militants. The plaintiffs, who include the groups African Communities Together and Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, in the lawsuit filed in Boston federal court argue the move was procedurally flawed and driven by a discriminatory, predetermined agenda.
The lawsuit cites a series of statements Trump has made describing Somalis as “garbage” and “low IQ people” who “contribute nothing.”
The plaintiffs said the administration is ending TPS for Somalia and other countries due to unconstitutional bias against non-white immigrants, not based on objective assessments of country conditions.
“The termination of TPS for Somalia is racism masking as immigration policy,” Omar Farah, executive director at the legal group Muslim Advocates, said in a statement.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously said TPS was “never intended to be a de facto amnesty program.”
TPS is a form of humanitarian immigration protection that shields eligible migrants from deportation and allows them to work. Under Noem, DHS has moved to end TPS for a dozen countries, sparking legal challenges. The administration on Saturday announced plans to pursue an appeal at the US Supreme Court in order to end TPS for over 350,000 Haitians. It also wants the high court to allow it to end TPS for about 6,000 Syrians.
SOMALI COMMUNITY TARGETED
Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, with its latest extension in 2024. About 1,082 Somalis currently hold TPS, and 1,383 more have pending applications, according to DHS. Somalis in Minnesota in recent months had become a target of Trump’s immigration crackdown, with officials pointing to a fraud scandal in which many people charged come from the state’s large Somali community. The Trump administration cited those fraud allegations as a basis for a months-long immigration enforcement surge in Democratic-led Minnesota, during which about 3,000 immigration agents were deployed, spurring protests and leading to the killing of two US citizens by federal agents.
In November, Trump announced he would end TPS for Somalis in Minnesota, and a month later said he wanted them sent “back to where they came from.”
The US Department of State advises against traveling to Somalia, citing crime and civil unrest among numerous factors.
