Category: General

Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) signed yesterday a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Poland to organize the operational framework for air transport between the two countries.

The signing ceremony, which was attended by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Poland, Saad bin Saleh Al-Saleh, was signed by Ali Rajab, the Executive Vice President at GACA -Economic Policies & International Cooperation, and from the Polish side, the MOU was signed by the President of the Polish Civil Aviation Authority Piotr Samson, at the headquarters of the Civil Aviation Authority in Warsaw.

The MOU included an agreement to open the skies between the two countries and to sign a draft bilateral agreement on air transport services. This MOU comes within the objectives of the strategy of the civil aviation sector, which aims to enhance the Kingdom’s air connectivity with more than 250 destinations worldwide and to be a global logistics platform.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Attorney General Sheikh Saud bin Abdullah Al-Mujib reiterated the Kingdom’s leading role in protecting rights per its regulations and international treaties and charters approved by relevant agencies and confirmed by the provisions of the Basic Law of Governance.

In a press statement on the occasion of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which falls on the 30th of July each year, the Attorney General said the Kingdom has legislated special regulations concerned with protecting interests in this regard, and approved legal penalties against any violations, including the provisions of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law” which organized measures to be taken to combat these crimes, the penalties against their perpetrators, and assigned special rights and guarantees to the victims.

Sheikh Al-Mujib underlined the role of the Public Prosecution concerning the protection of criminal interests in this aspect, and what it entrusts to the victims of trafficking in persons, through allocating an independent prosecution to deal with crimes of trafficking in persons, inspecting the victims’ shelters, investigating and prosecuting these crimes, and bringing the perpetrators to criminal accountability, in addition to training members of the Public Prosecution on how to investigate such crimes, as well as the financial investigations accompanying such crimes, and the mechanism for interviewing victims per the latest international methods, and the punishment of those who initiate or contribute to these crimes, and the punishment of contributors to these crimes; if the crime was committed with their knowledge, in addition to tracking and confiscating the proceeds of those crimes, and cooperating with the local and international police and judicial authorities to combat these cross-border crimes.

The Attorney General cited the Saudi efforts to combat the crime of trafficking in persons, through concerted action between government agencies, and governance measures to ensure the victims’ necessary protection, in addition to raising societal awareness on the impacts of this crime on society, adding that these measures contributed to limiting the spread of this crime.

The penalty system has introduced punishments against the perpetrators of the crime of trafficking in persons which include imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years, a fine not exceeding SR1 million, or both.

The penalty is intensified if the crime is committed by an organized criminal group, or if it is committed against a woman, a child, or someone with special needs, and other aggravating circumstances stipulated by the system, which also included several other penalties, and emphasized that the consent of the victim is not counted in any of the crimes stipulated therein and that these acts are considered major crimes that require arrest.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdulaziz , Governor of Asir Region, has received in Abha, the delegations participating in the Arab Soccer Cup Championship U20, organized by the Arab Football Federation, and hosted by the Saudi Federation from July 20 through August 6, 2022, in Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Prince Turki welcomed the Arab teams participating in the tournament from countries including Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, and Yemen, wishing best of all for all participants.

The Director-General of the championship, Moaid Al-Shehri, praised the efforts made to overcome difficulties to make this great Arab sporting event a success, to present this tournament in a dazzling image, amid the Saudi great support services.

For his part, the head of the Iraqi delegation, Mohammed bin Nasser, gave a speech on behalf of the participating delegations, where he expressed the participants’ thanks and appreciation to the Saudi government and people for the generous hospitality and warm reception, commending the great developmental process in the Asir region and its charming atmosphere and nature that dazzled everyone.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Islamabad– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed 3,000 food baskets to the people affected by floods in various areas in Balochistan province in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Wednesday, benefiting 21,000 individuals.

This aid comes as an extension of the relief and humanitarian efforts being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Center, to affected countries and peoples around the world.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk” launched in Prince Mohammed bin Salman Non-Profit City in Riyadh yesterday the “Youth Impact Council Initiative”, which is the first platform concerned with supporting the growth of youth organizations by providing an effective environment and sharing experiences and information that serves organizations in the non-profit sector aiming at making them more sustainable and effective, and in a manner that enhances the means of interconnection between workers in the sector, and creates new opportunities to maximize the impact of quality youth organizations.

The Youth Non-Profit Organizations Initiative includes non-profit associations and institutions, experts and specialists in the non-profit, governmental and private sectors, volunteers in youth programs and bodies that graduated from the Youth Non-Profit Organizations Building Program of the track “Misk for Community”.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk” also launched the Youth Non-Profit Organizations Incubator Program, which represents the launch of the second batch of the Youth Non-Profit Organizations Incubator 2022, and an opportunity for youth initiatives and newly established associations to accelerate their growth and expansion and multiply their societal impact.

Out of 226 entities participating in the program, (7) initiatives and two associations will begin their journey in the program for guidance and direction on Sunday including The Digital Games Association, the Robo Tuwaiq initiative, the Wassila platform initiative, the specific community initiative, the Rawasi Youth initiative, the Saudi initiative For Nanotechnology, Tarim Association, Hijaz Bloggers Initiative, and Theatrical Production Initiative.

The three-month program for non-profit youth organizations includes a training course on “Misk Hub” platform, with the aim of developing the services of the participating parties and building their various organizational capacities in various aspects, which include managing development projects, human resource management, governance, financial sustainability, communication, increasing impact and measuring it.

The program concludes in a closing ceremony and a presentation event that will be held next November, for all participants to measure the impact of the program and celebrate the efforts made during the journey. All parties participating in the program will give presentations for community projects that serve young people, aiming at obtaining financial support from Mohammed bin Salman Foundation “Misk” for their implementation.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Hajjah, Yemen– The mobile medical clinics of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) have continued to provide their treatment services in Wa’alan camp for the displaced in Haradh district of Hajjah governorate, Yemen.

During the period from 13 to 19 July 2022, the clinics provided medical services for 371 patients.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — Executive Director of the Quality of Life Program Center, Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Bakr, said that the “Saudi Games”, announced today, represent a qualitative leap in the efforts of the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in terms of stimulating the sports sector, discovering talent and qualifying elite athletes for regional and global competitions, through the largest national sporting event in the history of the Kingdom, adopting mechanisms similar to those adopted for the Olympic Games.

Al-Bakr said the “Saudi Games” aim to enhance exploring talents and increase the number of junior athletes, increase the representation and competitiveness of the Kingdom in regional and international sports and events, in addition to keeping pace with the sport’s development to be among the advanced countries in sports, through involving talented youth in local sporting events with international standards, evaluating their performance, testing and following up their performance to prepare them to represent the Kingdom in regional and international sporting events.

He added that the “Saudi Games” come within the Program to Develop Elite Athletes, one of the initiatives of the Quality of Life Program that the Ministry of Sports is implementing, to meet the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 related to the two strategic goals of “promoting the practice of sports activities in the community” and “achieving excellence in several sports regionally and globally.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Athens– His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, held an expanded meeting in Athens, Greece, on Wednesday, where the two sides discussed friendly relations and means of cooperation in various fields and ways to support and develop them, in addition to reviewing regional and international developments and efforts made in their regard.

The meeting also discussed ways to consolidate the economic partnership between the two countries and boost cooperation between the two sides in the political fields, increasing bilateral investments, and coordination in regional and international issues of common interest.

The Albanian Prime Minister expressed his sincere appreciation for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s decision to support his country with an amount of $50 million, and for the Public Investment Fund’s intention to explore chances of investment in Albania worth $200-300 million.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

According to Hail Health Affairs, over the first half of this year (2022), Maternity and Children Hospital has served 380,192 patients, with 76,154 emergencies and outpatients, in addition to 9,231inpatients. Also, the hospital has performed 177,651 lab tests, 24,879 radiology examinations, as well as dispensing 92,277 medical prescriptions.

Source: Ministry of Health Portal

Riyadh– The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Saudi Space Commission (SSC) are hosting a 3-day international forum entitled “Connecting the World from the Skies”. The forum aims at exploring the rapid evolution of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), which will take place in Riyadh on 8-10 November 2022.

The forum brings together global experts in radio-communication and space industry innovators, researchers, ICT and technology stakeholders, as well as spectrum policymakers from national regulators and other relevant international bodies. In addition, the forum will address the contribution of NTN, which will be deployed in atmospheric layers and outer space, to provide telecommunication services in the air, sea and land. The deployment of these networks will provide cutting-edge technologies of IoT and broadband communications, which will contribute to enhance digital transformation around the world.

The forum will include a global research competition on NTN and will discuss the most prominent services provided via Non-Terrestrial Networks, and their regulatory and scientific aspects. In addition, it highlights CITC recent technology trials in the field of NTN and its role in the adoption of 6G technology and enabling an environmentally friendly and sustainable telecommunications infrastructure. Additional information about the forum and its agenda are available via the forum website:

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The medical and surgical team specialized in separating Siamese twins, led by Advisor at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah, started this morning a surgery to separate Yemeni conjoined twins “Mauda and Rahma”.

The surgery comes in implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and is being performed at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital (KASCH).

The surgery is expected to take around 11 hours and is implemented in six surgical phases, where a medical staff of twenty-eight doctors and specialists, in addition to technicians and nursing staff, are taking part in it.

The twins are conjoined in the lower chest and abdomen, and according to pre-surgical examinations, they share the liver and intestines.

With today’s surgery, twin separation surgeries total 52 as part of the Saudi Program for Separating Conjoined Twins that included studying more than 124 Siamese twins cases from 23 countries in three continents.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Madinah– A total of 252,163 pilgrims have arrived in Madinah until yesterday from several nationalities after performing Hajj this year.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah’s statistics on arriving and departing pilgrims in Madinah showed that 169,837 pilgrims have left Madinah through Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport and the Hajj Land Center.

Statistics also showed that the number of pilgrims staying in Madinah until yesterday totaled 82,326 pilgrims from various nationalities.

Source: Saudi Press Agency