Day: September 6, 2022

Riyadh, September 6, 2022, SPA — The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, met the first graduates of “RISING” program, implemented by Academy for Developing Administrative Leaders at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in partnership with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The meeting was held in the presence of Director General of IPA Dr. Bandar bin Asaad Al-Sajjan, Singapore’s Ambassador Wong Chow Ming, and CEO of the Academy Dr. Abdullah Hafez.

During the meeting, the minister reviewed the leading experience of Singapore in the field of human capital development and leadership development. The meeting is a part of the Academy’s efforts to link graduates’ network with global leaders, addressing a number of issues on leadership development.

The “RISING” program is a part of the leadership development programs that will be implemented in partnership with Lee Kuan Yew School until the end of 2023.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Muscat– The Muscat Stock Exchange (30) index closed trading today at 4,544.54 points, losing 75.3 points, or 1.63 per cent, compared to the last trading session, which amounted to 4,619.79 points.

The trading value amounted to two million and 284 thousand and 505 Omani riyals, 0.13% higher compared to the last trading session, which amounted to two million and 281 thousand and 475 Omani riyals.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Harare– President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the Republic of Zimbabwe received today at the Presidential Palace Advisor at the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Qattan.

During the meeting, Advisor Qattan conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, to the President, and their wishes of steady progress and prosperity for the government and people of Zimbabwe.

For his part, the President sent his greetings and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HRH the Crown Prince, and the government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

During discussions, they reviewed the bilateral relations and ways to enhance them, in addition to discussing regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The President expressed his country’s support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh and holding the “First Saudi-African Summit” and “the Fifth Arab-African Summit”.

For his part Advisor Qattan expressed Saudi Arabia’s appreciation for this support.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Abu Dhabi– Speaker of the Shura Council Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh held an official session of talks here today with Speaker of the Federal National Council of the UAE Saqr Ghobash.

This session comes within the current visit of the Speaker of the Shura Council in which he is leading a delegation from the Shura Council at an official invitation from the Speaker of the Federal National Council of the UAE.

During the talks session, the two sides stressed the importance of the effective coordination and cooperation on various issues of common concern between them in various international and regional forums in line with the strategic and solid relations between the two countries and their leadership. They also stressed the need to strengthen the joint parliamentary work between the two councils and permanent coordination on all international and regional issues.

The Speaker of the Shura Council stressed the depth of the Saudi-UAE relations, under the directives of the leaderships of the two countries, pointing out that this visit reflects the keenness of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH the Crown Prince to support the march of the joint GCC work.

They also reviewed a number of issues of common interest between the two countries, especially the parliamentary relations between the Shura Council and the Federal National Council of the UAE, and ways to enhance and strengthen them.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh, September 6, 2022, SPA — The Saudi Venture Capital Company (CVC) has announced investing in the Propellers Ventures Fund that focuses on investments in startups that own an expandable initial prototype with high possibility of growth, in their first stages in the software field, such as SaaS service and company software and cloud infrastructure.

The investment agreement was signed by CVC CEO and Board Member Dr. Nabeel Koshak and Propellers Venture Managing Partner Tambi Jalouqa.

Dr. Koshak said the investing in Propellers Ventures is part of the company’s program to invest in funds and is an extension of a series of the company’s investments and is in implementation of its strategy concerned with stimulating and sustaining funds for startups, mainly those in their first stages.

He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the volume and quality of startups deals as a result of having several innovative business entrepreneurs, capital venture funds, angel investor groups, and the availability of a developed organizational and legislative environment, where this speedy development is attributed to the capital venture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and launching several government initiatives to realize the Saudi vision 2030.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– President of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad received here today Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Kingdom of Bahrain Mohamed El Zarkani.

During the meeting, they discussed a number of issues of common interest and ways of enhancing and developing them.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Seoul, Sept. 6, 2022, SPA — Half of schools in South Korea were closed or shifted to online classes Tuesday in the aftermath of Typhoon Hinnamnor, the Yonhap quoted the education ministry as said.

The typhoon forced a total of 2,615 elementary and secondary schools nationwide, or 13.2 percent, to close on the day, while classes were conducted online at 7,348 schools, or 37 percent, the ministry said.

It noted 1,317 schools, or 6.6 percent, shortened school hours, while class proceeded normally at only 8,566 schools, or 43.2 percent.

By region, all schools in Busan and the adjacent South Gyeongsang Province, which were hit hardest by the super strong typhoon, switched to online classes.

In the nearby city of Ulsan, 383 schools, or 89.9 percent, were closed and online classes were conducted at 43 schools, the ministry said.

In Seoul, all kindergartens and elementary schools were closed for the day.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Dammam Valley in partnership with other investment partners, supported by Ministry of Investment, announced to acquire a majority stake in Arcensus GmbH/Germany.

The initiative for the take-over comes from the Kingdom’s aim to improve the global speed in implementing genomic testing for the early diagnosis of genetic diseases, mainly in cancer and rare genetic disorders. The financial investment led by Dammam Valley will allow Arcensus to speed up the penetration of the worldwide markets with its innovative solutions. It will be the backbone for developing a comprehensive multi-omic strategy.

CEO of Dammam Valley Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Olayan said, “This is an important step in our global healthcare strategy for Saudi Arabia, as we believe that the early diagnosis and preventive testing based on real-life genomic expertise with Whole Genome Sequencing is a key ingredient to accelerate the development of, and access to, new future treatments. As a leading technology company in genomic testing, Arcensus GmbH, founded by the visionary multi-entrepreneur, Dr. Arndt Rolfs, is best positioned to provide a deep understanding of bioinformatic technologies and data analytics infrastructure needed not only for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but for medical research and development efforts across the globe. A key principle of this is to preserve Arcensus´ autonomy. We are delighted that the founder of Arcensus, Dr. Arndt Rolfs, will continue to manage operations, sit on the board and remain a significant shareholder.”

Dr. Arndt Rolfs, Arcensus founder and CEO, said, “Dammam Valley will be a tremendous partner for the global expansion to us and shares our vision for building a worldwide healthcare platform in modern preventive medicine as well as early diagnostics of all genetic diseases. This important partnership will allow us to increase the investments in our modern technology and services platform, as well as our knowledge-based data extraction of the genomic data.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Dammam Valley along with other investors will make a double-digit million Euro payment on a fully diluted basis. The parties agree Arcensus to continue its current business model, a network of partnerships and overall objectives following the transaction’s closing. The integrity of the proprietary patient data will be maintained, as will the dedicated sales, marketing, and life sciences business activities.

Established in 2021, Dammam Valley is a semi-government Investment company, solely owned by Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University. It strives to be a source and destination for biotechnology innovation and healthcare in the Middle East and is the Nation’s premier hub for evaluating and incubating biotech innovations. Aiming to stimulate investment, support projects, and forge quality partnerships in the fields of Health & Biotechnology, in addition to focusing on numerous other sustainable investments in various fields of interest.

Arcensus, founded by Dr. Arndt Rolfs, a multi-entrepreneur in biotechnology, CEO and founder of several innovative biotech companies, is a digital health and diagnostics company providing comprehensive genomic diagnostic services based on Whole Genome Sequencing. With a cross-functional, international team of geneticists, medical experts and data scientists, Arcensus, one of the world’s most innovative genetic biotechnology companies, offers its knowledge and bioinformatic expertise in genomic interpretation together with cutting-edge medical and preventive health applications. The management of Arcensus is convinced that with the worldwide implementation of Whole Genome Sequencing as the first line of genomic testing, the genomic era will start quickly and will conquer the molecular medicine market in a short time.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh, September 6, 2022, SPA — The second phase of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for Developing Historical Mosques renewed mosques of Al-Qassim and Hail regions and restored their original values through renovating them according to old historical bases through rebuilding them with the latest architectural methods to protect them from old age and collapse.

Al-Ruwaibah Mosque in Bridah City in Al-Qassim Region is among top mosques targeted by the development through maintaining its material and spatial features that grant it a unique historical pattern and allow implementing additions and amendments that do not affect its characteristics and features.

The pre-renovation area of mosque, built according to the Najd pattern more than 130 years ago, was 203.93 square meters and will increase after renovation to 232.61 square meters, where its capacity will go up from 60 to 74 worshippers.

In the southwestern area of Hail Region, Faidat Athqab Mosque will be developed with the use of modern technologies and unseen methods that guarantee preserving the historical look of the mosque’s structure and its internal and external hallways.

The mosque is considered among the oldest in the region and was built at the Faidat Athqab center in 1365 Hijri by Sheikh Muhsen bin Shuwaile.

The pre-renovation area of the mosque stood at 403.43 square meters and will increase to 461.12 after renovation, where its capacity will stand at 199 worshippers after prayers were halted in it for 24 years.

The Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s project to develop historical mosques aims to rehabilitate and restore 130 historical mosques in various regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to highlight their civilizational and cultural dimensions by preserving their original urban characteristics.

A total of 30 mosques will be included in the second phase of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for Developing Historical Mosques that covers all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where these mosques will be developed according to modern mechanisms that guarantee the quality of good material and architectural designs after conducting an accurate assessment of the history, characteristics and features of every mosque.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

SUMMER RAINS CONTINUE IN MANY AREAS

KEY POINTS

• Current situation: calm in all regions

• August: moderate to heavy rains continued summer breeding areas

• September: small-scale breeding will occur in summer breeding areas with above-normal rains

• October: potential locust increase in African Sahel, western Eritrea, Yemen, Indo-Pakistan border

________________________

The Desert Locust situation continued to remain calm during August.

The Desert Locust situation continued to remain calm during August. Only low numbers of solitarious adults were seen in a few places in southeast Mauritania, Niger and Yemen. The seasonal rains continued in August in the summer breeding areas from Mauritania to Eritrea. Heavy rain fell in southeast Pakistan and in parts of the Red Sea coastal plains in Yemen and southwest Saudi Arabia as well as a few places in Sahel. Vegetation became green from the beginning of August in most places. During the forecast period, small-scale breeding will occur in the northern Sahel from Mauritania to western Eritrea and along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border. It be also occurred near the Red Sea coastal of Yemen. This will cause locust numbers to increase slightly, but remain well below threatening levels.

Vigilance and regular surveys should be maintained in the summer breeding areas.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Jeddah– The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Dr. Muhammad bin Sulaiman Al-Jasser, received yesterday, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha.

The two sides discussed a number of issues in developing countries, such as climate change, food security and poverty alleviation, in addition to another important issues.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Amman– Minister of Culture of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Dr. Haifaa Al-Najjar visited today the pavilion of Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance participating in Amman International Book Fair which is being held from 1 to 10 September 2022.

During her visit, the Jordanian Minister of Culture was briefed on the efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in serving Islam and Muslims, as well as its efforts in spreading moderation and confronting extremism.

It is worth mentioning that Amman International Book Fair is organized by Union of Jordanian Publishers in cooperation with Jordanian Ministry of Culture and Greater Amman Municipality.

Source: Saudi Press Agency