“Architecture of Prophet’s Mosque” Exhibition Is Important Tributary to Enrich Visitor’s Experience Through Valuable Collectibles, Modern Tech

Madinah– The architecture of the Prophet’s Mosque, which spanned for more than 1,400 years, is a witness to the beauty and accuracy of Islamic architecture with its engineering designs and exquisite urban decorations, in addition to the historic heritage and precious possessions that the Prophet’s Mosque contains, amid the great services being provided by the Kingdom’s leadership.

Therefore, the Agency for the Affairs of the Prophet’s Mosque worked for taking care of the exhibition of the architecture of the Prophet’s Mosque from the first building block until its opening by Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Madinah region to be an important tributary to the exhibitions and museums in the Agency as well as to enrich the visitor’s experience and contribute to highlighting the care, attention and presentation exhibition enjoys of the best services for its visitors.

The exhibition is located south of the Prophet’s Mosque on an area of 2200 square meters, and reviews the history of the architecture of the Prophet’s Mosque since its first construction by the Prophet (peace be upon him) – and his companions – may Allah Almighty be pleased with them – through the first expansion that was in the 7th year of Hijrah, and the subsequent historical expansions in the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs – may Allah Almighty be pleased with them – and then the successive states after them until the historic expansions of the first, second and third Saudi states.

The exhibition focuses largely on the Saudi expansion from the era of late King Abdulaziz and his righteous sons after him, late Saud, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd and Abdullah until the prosperous and auspicious era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and what the Prophet’s Mosque witnesses right now of great care with great integrated services being provided to visitors and worshipers..

The exhibition includes a number of modern technologies and interactive screens with visitors, which talk about architecture and information related to the Prophet’s Mosque, in addition to TV films and a cinema hall.

It also contains a special hall for valuables, which includes a number of the rarest and most valuable possessions of the Two Holy Mosques and ancient artifacts preserved through the ages.

The exhibition aims to enrich the experience of its visitors by talking about the features of the Prophet’s Mosque, such as the pulpit, mihrab, domes and canopies, doors, Adhan, muezzins, minarets, beacons, squares and a number of other services being offered to visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque.

In addition to the interest in the architecture of the Prophet’s Mosque, the exhibition doesn’t neglect the aspects of glorification of the Two Holy Mosques, as it directed its visitors to the importance of venerating the Two Holy Mosques, preserving their sanctity, glorifying their position and investing their presence in the holy sites, by reciting a lot of remembrance, prayer and reading the Holy Qur’an, while the visitors of the exhibition will watch before leaving a (movie) honoring the Two Holy Mosques in the cinema hall.

The exhibition also presents its content in several languages through wall panels and interactive screens, and is keen to serve all visitors in various languages.

It is worth mentioning that all exhibition outputs are in Arabic and English languages, while its content has been translated into 12 languages, with audio translation through the latest technologies that enable the visitor to listen to all content through the devices designated for this.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Weather Forecast for Friday

Riyadh– The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has issued its daily forecast report for the weather in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The report said that duty surface winds will continue in some parts of Hail, Northern Borders, Al-Jouf, Riyadh, and Eastern regions, extending to parts of Makkah and Medina regions. The report added that the chance of thunderstorms is high in the heights of Jazzan, Assir, and Al-Baha.

The report showed that the surface wind movement in the Red Sea will be northerly to northwesterly at a speed of 15-45 km/h, while the surface wind movement in the Arabian Gulf will be northeasterly to easterly at a speed of 15-40 km/h.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

KACST President: Saudi Arabia has taken great steps to harness science, technology and innovation; achieve sustainable development goals and sustainable recovery from Coronavirus epidemic

New York– The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia participated today in the ministerial session of the Seventh United Nations Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) being held in New York, which aims to innovate technical solutions to address the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and promote sustainable development.

The Kingdom was represented in the forum by the President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), who supervised the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority, Dr. Munir bin Mahmoud El-Desouki.

Dr. El-Desouki stressed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken great steps to harness science, technology and innovation and achieve sustainable development goals and sustainable recovery from the Coronavirus epidemic through its contribution of half a billion dollars to support efforts to combat the epidemic globally, as well as its development and dissemination of effective digital tools and platforms that ensure the continuation of business and government operations during and after the pandemic.

KACST President indicated that the Kingdom has established a higher committee and an authority specialized in the development of research, development and innovation to accelerate the Kingdom’s transformation towards an economy based on innovation and to enhance the role of the private sector in solving development challenges.

He explained that the Kingdom has launched many important initiatives to support research, development and innovation in the areas of the digital economy, circular carbon, and health. It also launched “The Line” city project in NEOM as a modern model for future cities that relies on modern technologies, with zero carbon emissions by 100%. The city will include interconnected cognitive communities enhanced by artificial intelligence, stretching over 170 km, within an environment without noise or pollution, and free of vehicles and congestion.

Dr. El-Desouki referred to the Kingdom’s launch of the Green Saudi Initiative and the Green Middle East Initiative, which will chart the direction of the Kingdom and the region in protecting the land and nature and put it in a road map with clear and ambitious landmarks and will contribute strongly to achieving global goals by planting more than 50 billion trees to displace 130 million tons of carbon emissions.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Israeli forces open fire on agricultural lands in southern Gaza Strip

Gaza– Israeli occupation forces targeted today with heavy machine guns and tear gas canisters agricultural lands, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

According to local sources and eyewitnesses in Gaza, the occupation soldiers stationed in military towers, east of Khan Yunis opened extensive fire towards agricultural lands, east of the town of Khuza’a, east of the governorate, and forced the farmers to leave their lands.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Four astronauts splash down off Florida after six months in space

Washington– A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts splashed down off the coast of Florida in the early hours of Friday, ending a six-month mission at the International Space Station, dpa reported.

NASA’s Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, along with German astronaut Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency, arrived back on Earth about 24 hours after undocking from the station.

The Crew Dragon capsule could be seen streaking across the night sky before four parachutes were deployed to slow down the spacecraft’s re-entry.

“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth,” SpaceX tweeted. Elon Musk’s SpaceX began flying crews to and from the space station in 2020. SpaceX brought four astronauts – three from the US and one from Italy – to the human outpost last week to replace the four that returned on Friday.

Maurer is only the twelfth German to have been to space and his trip has been closely followed in the country since the blast-off on November 11 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The 52-year-old is due back in Germany by Friday evening.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

U.S. Stock Market Closes Lower

New York– The U.S. stock market indices recorded a decline on Thursday night, after the closing of the trading session on New York Stock Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1063.09 points to 3.12% to close at 32,997.97 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed down 153.30 points to 3.56% to 4146.87 points.

The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 647.17 points to 4.99% to 12317.69 points.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Israeli forces arrest 4 Palestinians

Ramallah– Israeli occupation forces arrested today 4 Palestinians in the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah.

According to local sources and eyewitnesses in the town, the Israeli forces arrested the Palestinians after raiding and searching their homes.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

KSrelief Mobile Medical Nutrition Clinics in Al-Khawkhah District, Yemen, Provide Treatment Services to 11,721 Beneficiaries during One Week

Al-Hodeidah– The mobile nutrition clinics of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) in Al-Khawkhah District, Yemen, have continued to provide treatment services.

During the period spanning between April 13 and 19, 2022, the clinics received 11,721 patients with various health conditions in different clinics and departments and provided them with necessary medical services.

The clinics also provided 3,829 individuals with medications.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Supported by KSrelief, Kidney Dialysis Center in Al-Ghidhah Continues Providing Medical Services to Beneficiaries

Al-Muhrah– Generously supported by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), Kidney dialysis center in Al-Ghidhah District in Al-Muhrah Governorate, Yemen, continued offering medical services to beneficiaries.

The Kidney dialysis center in last March received 110 patients, including 45 who received 402 sessions of kidney dialysis, 398 of which were scheduled sessions and four emergency sessions, while 65 patients received inspection and medical tests services in the kidney diseases clinic, where 73% of the beneficiaries were males and 27% females. Of the total beneficiaries, 89% were residents, 9% were displaced people and 2% were refugees.

This is part of humanitarian projects offered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the KSrelief, to increase the capacity of the medical sector and alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Announces New Investments Worth over USD32 Billion

Riyadh– Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef stressed that the ministry seeks to attract investments worth USD32 billion in the mining and mineral sector through nine new projects aiming to support the export of mineral products to local and international markets, where the ministry is currently studying 145 applications to receive exploration licenses by foreign companies.

He noted that the projects that are currently being implemented, as part of the targeted investments, include a factory for steel plates with an investment exceeding USD4 billion, which aims to provide factories for building ships at King Salman Global Maritime Industries Complex in Ras Al-Khair; and a factory for inputs of electric vehicle batteries with a value of USD2 billion; in addition to other projects to produce minerals, such as aluminum and steel plates, and a refinery for copper and zinc, which is expected to witness an increasing demand locally thanks to manufacturing trends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Khorayef pointed out that these investments are part of the Kingdom Vision 2030 in cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Energy that seeks to make the mining sector the third pillar for the national industry as per the targets of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), noting that these schemes will provide more than 14,500 job opportunities.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Saudi Team for Science, Engineering Leaves to USA

Riyadh– The Saudi team for science and engineering left Riyadh today to the United States of America (USA) to compete for awards in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2022), which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia between May 7 and 23, 2022.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be represented in the fair by King Abdullah and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) and the Ministry of Education, where the Saudi team comprises 35 students from 11 educational administrations that are participating with qualitative projects in promising fields, such as: artificial intelligence, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, and environment, where they were chosen from 49 winners of the grand prizes at the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity “Ibdaa 2022”, which is considered one of 19 various programs that Mawhiba offers annually for talented students who are discovered every year in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

UN Calls on Israeli Occupation to Stop Demolitions, Evictions in Occupied Palestinian Territory

New York– The United Nations Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland called on the Israeli occupation to stop the demolitions and evictions in the occupied Palestinian territory.

For her part, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Lynne Hastings warned – in a separate press release – that the Israeli occupation’s refusal of petitions against such eviction orders resulting in displacement could amount to forcible transfer, in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions and international law.

She said that since all local legal solutions had been exhausted, the community was now unprotected and at risk of imminent displacement.

She also renewed the call of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which he addressed to the ruthless Israeli occupation to stop the demolitions and evictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in line with its obligations under international law.

Source: Saudi Press Agency