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  • 66 endangered species released into King Khalid Royal Reserve

    The National Center for Wildlife (NCW), in collaboration with the Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority, has released 66 endangered species into the King Khalid Royal Reserve. As part of the initiative, the NCW has reintroduced 40 Arabian Oryx, 10 addax, 6 Nubian Ibex, and 10 Houbara Bustards. This effort forms a key component of a breeding and reintroduction program aimed at enriching the reserve's biodiversity, restoring ecological balance, enhancing sustainability, and promoting eco-tourism.

  • Snowflake Expands to Saudi Arabia with New Regional Headquarters

    Customers across the Middle East have already been using Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud to discover and securely share data, as well as execute diverse analytic workloads, via Snowflake’s existing regional deployment in Dubai. With the addition of Snowflake’s deployment on Google Cloud in the KSA, regional customers have further flexibility of choice for deployment, and are able to choose a geographical region that best suits their operational needs. Organisations such as Almarai are using Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud to better access data to drive business decision making, all in a secure and governed platform.

  • Top US, Saudi military generals discuss situation in Syria and Lebanon

    The top US and Saudi military generals discussed security and stability concerns in the Middle East, specifically the situation in Syria and Lebanon, according to a Pentagon readout of the call. The Pentagon said that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, and Chief of General Staff, Gen. Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, spoke about the importance of peacefully de-escalating tensions in the region. “The two generals spoke about ways to increase the strength of the bilateral relationship between the US and Saudi Arabian militaries, including capacity building, military training, and exercises,” Joint Staff Spokesman Jereal Dorsey said. “More broadly, they expressed a shared commitment to establish a strong coalition of regional partners that presents a powerful front to deter aggression and uphold regional stability.”

  • Qatar, Jordan, Saudi officials hold key talks with Syria’s new leadership

    Top Arab diplomats met with Syria's new leadership in an attempt to discuss rebuilding the war-torn country and future cooperation, with a Qatari diplomatic delegation, headed by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, being the latest to arrive in Damascus on Monday. The Qatari delegation's arrival marks the first Qatar Airways flight to land in the country's capital since the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime two weeks ago, according to Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari. In a statement on the social media platform X, Majid Al-Ansari announced that the delegation, led by Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, seeks to reaffirm Qatar’s support for Syrian sovereignty, as well as advocating for a smooth and peaceful political transition of power and aiding in the reconstruction of the war-torn nation.

  • Databricks sets up regional hub in Saudi Arabia

    Databricks, the Data and AI company, announced it has launched in Saudi Arabia. By opening a new office, and forming strategic partnerships, Databricks will invest in the future of Saudi Arabia and enable its growing local customer base to combine data, analytics, and AI with the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform. Data-forward organisations in Saudi Arabia are already innovating with the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform, including Abdul Latif Jameel and Panda Retail.

  • Iran’s political map shifts as crises erupt at home, abroad

    Sidelined under conservative Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency (2021-24), Iran’s pro-reform camp is gaining momentum under Masoud Pezeshkian. Amid growing domestic and foreign policy challenges—including an economic crisis and a society on edge over a new hijab law—Reformists are joined by centrists and pragmatic conservatives in pushing back against hardliners. This comes as the question of leadership succession continues to loom large.

  • Saudi delegation led by Royal Court advisor meets with Syria’s Al-Sharaa

    A Saudi delegation headed by an advisor from the Royal Court met with the head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, at the People’s Palace in Syria on Sunday, according to an Al Arabiya report. Earlier this week, Al-Sharaa praised progress made by Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf countries in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. “We admire the development in Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia’s bold plans and vision, and we aspire to achieve similar progress for Syria,” he told the newspaper’s Bissane El-Cheikh during an interview the the Presidential Palace in Damascus. “There are many opportunities for cooperation, especially in economic and developmental areas, where we can align our goals,” he added.

  • Deception and Betrayal: Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime

    As rebels advanced toward the Syrian capital of Damascus on Dec. 7, the staff in the hilltop Presidential Palace prepared for a speech they hoped would lead to a peaceful end to the 13-year civil war. Aides to President Bashar al-Assad were brainstorming messaging ideas. A film crew had set up cameras and lights nearby. Syria’s state-run television station was ready to broadcast the finished product: an address by Mr. al-Assad announcing a plan to share power with members of the political opposition, according to three people who were involved in the preparation. Working from the palace, Mr. al-Assad, who had wielded fear and force to maintain his authoritarian rule over Syria for more than two decades, had betrayed no sense of alarm to his staff, according to a palace insider whose office was near the president’s. The capital’s defenses had been bolstered, Mr. al-Assad’s aides were told, including by the powerful 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Army, led by the president’s brother Maher al-Assad, the insider said.

  • Suspect in German Christmas market attack had history of troubling social media posts that grew increasingly dark

    The man accused of killing five people and injuring more than 200 others by ramming a car into a crowded German Christmas market had a history of making anti-Islam statements, which had grown increasingly dark and threatening towards Germany in recent months. The suspect, Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, was arrested at the scene of the deadly attack in Magdenburg on Friday. German authorities said they believe he acted alone. A Saudi Arabian citizen, the 50-year-old psychiatrist came to Germany in 2006. Once settled in the country, he began sharing advice online with other people about how to escape repressive regimes in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, setting up the platform wearesaudis.net.

  • 20,159 illegal residents arrested in a week

    A total of 20,159 illegal residents have been arrested from various regions of Saudi Arabia during the last week. The arrests were made during the joint field security campaigns that were carried out by the security forces in collaboration with the relevant government agencies during the period between Dec. 12 and Dec. 18, according to the Ministry of Interior. Those who were arrested included 11,302 violators of the Residency Law, 5,652 violators of the Border Security Law, and 3,205 violators of the Labor Law. The total number of people who were arrested while trying to cross the border into the Kingdom accounted for 1,861, of whom 33 percent were Yemeni nationals, 65 percent Ethiopian nationals, and two percent belonged to other nationalities. A total of 112 people were arrested while attempting to leave the Kingdom illegally.