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  • Senate confirms Barbara Leaf to lead State Department’s Middle East bureau

    Barbara Leaf, the Biden administration’s pick to head the State Department’s Middle East bureau, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday after more than a year of being blocked by Republican lawmakers. US President Joe Biden nominated Leaf, currently the White House Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa Affairs, to be the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs in April 2021.

  • Iraq’s Minister of foreign affairs meets his Saudi counterpart

    Iraq's minister of foreign affairs, Fuad Hussein, met today, Thursday, with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, in Marrakesh. A statement by the Ministry said that the two sides discussed bilateral relations between Baghdad and Riyadh, and the importance of regional and international cooperation to achieve security and stability.

  • KAUST and Monsha’at Sign Partnership to Advance Saudi Economy by Creating Opportunities for Small & Medium Sized Enterprises

    A new program, KAUST SME Maharat helps small and medium organizations develop technical skills in vital areas such as AI, IoT, intellectual property and design thinking. The program has seen over 1,300 small business professionals enroll in the last two years. Additionally, a new Knowledge Partnership Program also seeks to transfer knowledge from KAUST’s research and innovation base to SMEs through consultancy.

  • This Former Girls’ School In Saudi Is Now A Hub For Artists

    In 1964, this building was Saudi’s first girls’ school. Today, Madrasat Addeerah is an arts and traditional crafts hub. Taken over by the Royal Commission for Alula in 2019, the school is now a thriving art space, with over 70 students perfecting their skills in spaces including ceramic, jewellery, pottery, wicker making and more.

  • To see Saudi Arabia, start with this ‘magical’ gateway to Mecca

    Along with its vast deserts and remarkable archaeological ruins, Saudi Arabia has Jeddah—the maritime gateway to the country’s sacred sites—to show off. In all, 650 18th- and 19th-century white-plastered, coral stone buildings. in Al-Balad (Old Jeddah), a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2014. Now is the time to visit, during a magical interlude after it has been refurbished but before the holiday hordes arrive.

  • Heart And Soul – Vignettes from Ali Al-Baluchi’s Memoir: Part III – At Work

    February 15, 1949 was the date I started working for Aramco, on the grand salary of 90 riyals per month. Once the formalities were completed, I was assigned to the office of the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Don Richards, as an office boy. His secretary, Mrs. Marsha Naylor, was my immediate supervisor. Initially, I worked in the office for four hours a day, spending the remaining four hours with the study program.

  • Saudi Arabia witnesses spike in women in tech startup than Europe: Report

    This came in a report released by Endeavor Insight. The report also found that the percentage of women in tech is higher than that of men. According to reports, the participation rate of women in the tech sector stood at 28 percent in the third quarter of 2021, above the European average rate of 17.5 percent.

  • How will the UAE’s new venture capital fund help overcome obstacles in the nation’s startup sector?

    Approved on Thursday by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the fund is expected to bolster and sustain startup projects and entrepreneurs in the emirate.

  • Heart And Soul – Vignettes from Ali Al-Baluchi’s Memoir: Part II

    In the 1940s, a good education was not widely available to the majority of the Saudi population. Realizing the advantages of a literate local workforce, Aramco built a small evening school in Al-Khobar to enable the learning of English. From amongst the students who attended on a voluntary basis, the company could select those showing potential to further their training at the company’s ‘Jebel School’ in Dhahran. In this second extract from his Memoir, Ali Al-Baluchi recounts the excitement of being selected whilst facing the subsequent challenge of proving his age to Aramco.

  • Saudi Royals Are Selling Homes, Yachts and Art as Crown Prince Cuts Income

    Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and artwork in the U.S. and Europe since the kingdom’s de facto ruler tightened the purse strings of the ultrawealthy ruling family. The transactions represent a radical change of fortune for senior princes who funneled windfalls from oil booms in the 1970s and 1980s into some of the world’s most exclusive markets. The vast sums of money were spent largely on hard-to-sell assets or drained by spending that reached $30 million a month for some royals with large staffs and lavish lifestyles, making them vulnerable to recent changes in government policy.