Author: Steven Sahiounie

Director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ramesh Rajasingham, said the events of the last week alone are evidence of the unconscionable brutality of the conflict in Gaza, which so far has led to the killing of more than 32,000 civilians and the wounding of over 75,000 others. He said addressing the UNSC that the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who were killed despite informing the Israeli army of their movements and after having just unloaded more than 100 tons of much-needed lifesaving humanitarian supplies from the second World Central Kitchen maritime aid shipment to…

Poland said on Friday that the Israeli Ambassador apologized for the Israeli air strike on the World Central Kitchen that killed the Polish aid worker, Damian Sobol, in addition to six others in Gaza this week. Sobol was among the seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen who were all killed by “Israel”. During a press conference, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said, “I handed over a note of protest to the ambassador. The ambassador apologized for this event, which has no precedent in the history of the civilized world.” However, he confirmed that the…

RIYADH: Maritime connectivity between Saudi and African ports is set to improve with the introduction of a new shipping service by German container transportation firm Hapag-Lloyd. 

RIYADH: Bonds and sukuk maturing for Qatar’s government during 2024 have amounted to 20.3 billion riyals ($5.5 billion), according to the central bank.

RIYADH: The Kingdom’s leading mobile wallet, stc pay, has received approval from the Saudi Central Bank to proceed with its transformation into STC Bank.

RIYADH: China has become the top greenfield foreign direct investor in Saudi Arabia with investments amounting to $16.8 billion in 2023, a 1,020 percent rise from the previous year. 

SINGAPORE: Oil prices extended gains on Friday and headed for a second weekly gain, supported by geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle East, concerns over tightening supply and optimism about global fuel demand growth as economies improve, according to Reuters.

RIYADH: Clean hydrogen is one of the most promising ways to achieve sustainable decarbonization and combat climate change, a top official has told Arab News. 

CAIRO: Saudi startups continue to demonstrate a pioneering stance by capturing almost half of the region’s total venture funding in the first quarter of the year, underscoring the Kingdom’s growing influence in the regional startup ecosystem.  

There’s a race underway to build artificial general intelligence, a futuristic vision of machines that are as broadly smart as humans or at least can do many things as well as people can.