蹤獲弝け hosts international conference to mark 3 decades of conjoined twins program
蹤獲弝け hosts international conference to mark 3 decades of conjoined twins program/node/2579899/saudi-arabia
蹤獲弝け hosts international conference to mark 3 decades of conjoined twins program
Accompanied by their mother, Khadijah and Hawaa were airlifted from Burkina Faso to Riyadh in July 2024 following the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.(KSrelief/File photo)
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Updated 19 November 2024
Rashid Hassan
蹤獲弝け hosts international conference to mark 3 decades of conjoined twins program
Families of separated twins will also attend the event
An exhibition will also be organized to showcase the programs achievements
Updated 19 November 2024
Rashid Hassan
Riyadh: Saudi aid agency KSrelief will host an international conference in Riyadh on Nov. 24-25 marking three decades of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Separation Program.
It will bring together the Saudi ministries of health, national guard, defense, foreign affairs, education and media, and representatives from international humanitarian and health organizations, institutions, specialists and researchers from various countries.
Families of separated twins will also attend the event.
The conference will witness humanitarian and scientific sessions where expertswill discuss advances in conjoined twin separation and related humanitarian efforts.
An exhibition will also be organized to showcase the programs achievements as well as the Kingdoms leadership in humanitarian and medical fields, especially excellence through the conjoined twins program.
This comes in order to achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 aimed at developing the health and humanitarian sector in the Kingdom and raising its quality and efficiency, said KSrelief in a statement to Arab News.
On the sidelines of the conference, a number of agreements will be signed with international and UN organizations concerned with children around the world as part of the humanitarian efforts of 蹤獲弝け to care for the most vulnerable groups, namely children, as well as reviewing the Kingdoms distinguished experience in this field, as it has the most experience in twins separation in the world.
The conference at the culmination will issue important recommendations that will enrich medical and humanitarian libraries and be a reference for specialists and those interested in the field of separating conjoined twins and the humanitarian field.
The pioneering initiative makes the Kingdom a world leader in one of the most complex surgical procedures in modern medicine. Since its launch in 1990, the conjoined twins program has treated about 139 cases from countries around the world. Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who heads the medical team, has conducted 61 operations on conjoined twins born to poor families from 26 countries.
Conjoined twins Khadijah and Hawaa were airlifted from Burkina Faso to Riyadh in July this year by the Defense Ministrys medevac, following the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and underwent the operation.
In June, the Saudi team led by Al-Rabeeah, separated Filipino conjoined twins Akiza and Aisha in at King Abdullah Specialist Childrens Hospital, which plays a crucial role in the program.
Equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities and advanced technology, the hospital is staffed by a highly skilled team specializing in complex pediatric care. Operations carried out under the program are fully sponsored by the Saudi government.
Food is a way to share cultures and build bridges, says YouTube star
Updated 30 sec ago
HUSSAM AL-MAYMAN
RIYADH: According to Saudi chef and food blogger Eman Gazzaz, diplomacy can be achieved through food and other cultural practices.
The daughter of a diplomat, Gazzaz is more than a home cook she is an artist and a mother of three who is turning simple dishes into soulful stories. She also wants to form cultural bridges through her work, as she explained when she appeared as a guest on the Mayman Show.
Growing up as the daughter of a Saudi ambassador, she dreamed of following the same path. In many ways, she did but her embassy was her kitchen and she chose food, rather than politics, as her language.
After a childhood spent in various continents, Gazzaz now has a YouTube kitchen that feels like home and has taken it upon herself to show the world what real Saudi food and real Saudi women are all about.
During her interview, she recalled her time living in different parts of the world and her parents creative expression.
My parents are very diverse. And theyre not just diplomats; they are creative in many ways. My dad is a gardener; he collects old antique cars, he collects old pocket watches, she said.
She has fond memories of living in Pakistan during her fathers tenure in the late 1980s: Its a beautiful country; the people are so beautiful. Living in six countries and just being exposed to the world and the different cultures they have, its just like it creates something in you as an individual. It makes you more connected somehow.
Her exposure to different cultures and the connections she made helped her become the person who is now presenting the joy of Saudi cooking to the world. She carries her experiences with her the countries, the cultures and the people and some of what she has seen means she is especially appreciative of the stability and security she enjoys in 蹤獲弝け.
Thats what made me as Eman, what changed me as somebody who lived abroad, she said. I appreciate coming to 蹤獲弝け and the safety and the security that we experienced. When I was studying in the American school in Karachi, one of my classmates got kidnapped. And he was kidnapped for six months.
Gazzaz explained that previously she traveled around with a bodyguard and in a bullet-proof car to ensure her safety and security.
Every time I come to 蹤獲弝け Im just like, We dont have to lock the door, we dont have a bodyguard, nobody is carrying a gun. That made me feel like coming back home made me feel so safe, she said.
Eman also recalls a childhood memory of making a popular Saudi dish with her father.
Every time we go outdoors, he always cooks the same dish and its actually one of my favorite dishes, which is saleeg (a white rice dish, cooked with broth and milk), she said.
I used to help him do the chicken, strain the stock and take the food out. And I grew up tasting these flavors and just eating the saleeg outdoors and being part of that experience, just me being so close to saleeg. My daughter loves saleeg as well.
Cooking was always a family affair. Gazzazs mother was known for her delicious salads, while everyone had a role to play in preparing meals.
From both sides of my parents, they were very good cooks. My dad is very good at barbecuing, she said. He loves to go to the beach every weekend. When we were living abroad, he always rented a place, and he used to make the barbecue and marinate (the food) and barbecue it.
Her own YouTube fame, Gazzaz credits to both her husband and her friend, Alia. Back in 2010, Alia visited for a month and revealed she had her own channel, Cooking with Alia.
When she came, shes like, Eman, I have a YouTube channel. Back in 2010, YouTube was like five, six years old, It was still very new, recalled Gazzaz.
Alia wanted her to present Saudi dishes on YouTube something that made Gazzaz pause. At that time, it was not common for Saudi women to show their faces on social media, so she replied that she would have to ask her husband.
His response, said Gazzaz, was: Do what you want.
He is a Miami boy, so hes very chilled, she explained.
She took it as an opportunity to show off her national dress, as well as the food.
(I thought) Ill wear my abaya, Ill put on my tarha (scarf), introduce my clothes and my outfits and things like that, and thats what we did, she said. From there, grew the first Saudi channel that introduced the world to the Kingdoms culture through food.
Gazzaz has also written a book, A Saudi Mandela, which is a meditation and coloring book for adults.
蹤獲弝け deploys drones to monitor coastlines, protect marine resources
Drones to provide live video feeds for real-time analysis
The Kingdom has a total coastline length of 2,400 kilometers
Updated 27 June 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: 蹤獲弝け's National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC), has launched a drone-based program to monitor Kingdom's 2,480-kilometers long coastal areas, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The NCEC will carry out the initiative in cooperation with the Marine Operations for Environmental Services (SAIL).
Drones will provide live video feeds for real-time analysis, helping detect activities that threaten marine resources.
蹤獲弝け Red Sea coastline in the west extends from the Gulf of Aqaba in the north to Jazan province in the south, measuring 1,830 km.
In the west, the coastline is 630 km long, stretching from the northern border with Kuwait to the southern border with Qatar.
Amer Bamoneef, director-general for monitoring network at NCEC, said each drone will operate for up to 55 minutes per sortie, covering 20 kilometers, with data instantly transmitted to control rooms.
By leveraging advanced technology, we can expand coverage and detect harmful practices more efficiently," he said.
Bamoneef added that drones enable quicker response, allowing teams to promptly investigate pollution sources and identify those responsible.
KSrelief opens obstetrics and gynecology clinic at Gaza hospital
The Saudi aid agency launched the new facility in partnership with the UN Population Fund, which works to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide
The clinic is in the Patient Friends Benevolent Society Hospital, which was founded in 1980 in Gaza Citys Al-Rimal neighborhood
Updated 27 June 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi aid agency KSrelief has officially opened a gynecology and obstetrics clinic at the Patient Friends Benevolent Society Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Founded in 1980, the hospital in Gaza Citys Al-Rimal neighborhood is one of the few that remain operational in the territory amid devastating attacks by Israeli forces during their ongoing war with Hamas, which began in October 2023.
In cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund, KSrelief inaugurates the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in a Palestinian hospital in the Gaza Strip. (SPA)
KSrelief opened the clinic on Wednesday in cooperation with the UN Population Fund, which works to improve reproductive and maternal health worldwide. The initiative is part of Saudi efforts to support the Palestinian people and help improve and maintain the healthcare services available to them, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
On Thursday, Saudi authorities delivered $30 million in funding to the Palestinian Authority. It was the latest installment in ongoing financial support from the Kingdom that Palestinian officials said has been instrumental in efforts to maintain the health and education sectors. It has helped meet the costs of running hospitals, purchasing medicines and medical equipment, keeping schools open, and providing other essential services.
KSrelief inaugurates the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in a Palestinian hospital in the Gaza Strip. (SPA)
How AI-powered voice tech is bringing Arabic-language content to global audiences
CAMB.AI and 蹤獲弝けs MBC Group have launched a partnership, applying context-aware, real-time translation
AI voice tech preserves tone, emotion, and nuance, transforming how Arabic content is localized across 150+ languages
Updated 27 June 2025
Nada Hameed
JEDDAH: Dubai-based artificial intelligence company CAMB.AI is revolutionizing language localization by building advanced voice and translation models that preserve emotion, nuance and cultural context especially in complex languages like Arabic.
Through a strategic partnership with 蹤獲弝けs MBC Group, CAMB.AI is scaling this technology across entertainment, education, and spiritual content unlocking a new era of accessibility for Arabic media.
At CAMB.AI, we have built translation and voice models that adapt to the nature of the desired language rather than merely mimicking the input, Akshat Prakash, the companys chief technical officer and co-founder told Arab News.
Camb.AI chief technical officer and co-founder Akshat Prakash. (Supplied)
Whether its the emotion in the voice or the way certain things are said in Arabic, we are dedicated to preserving nuances, emotions and prosody to deliver what we call a performance-to-performance impact.
We take content and deliver a fully packaged performance through our localization infrastructure built on top of our proprietary AI models BOLI and MARS.
CAMB.AI successfully generated multilingual commentary for an MLS NEXT Pro match using AI-driven real-time voice translation and dubbing technology.
Its core capability lies in an AI dubbing platform that instantaneously translates live audio (such as play-by-play commentary) into multiple languages.
The language generator preserves the original speakers voice, tone and emotion making it feel as if the original commentator is speaking the listeners native language.
Solving live sports streaming first led us to create technology that could handle the hardest type of content, said Prakash.
Today, we livestream games in multiple languages alongside some of the biggest brands in the world like Major League Soccer, Eurovision and the Australian Open.
We can perform equally well on other types of content. For instance, weve translated complex performances such as the Nayla Al Khaja-directed psychological thriller, Three, which was showcased at the Red Sea Film Festival.
The film was the first Arabic movie to be AI-dubbed into Mandarin Chinese and other complex languages, preserving nuances, context, and emotion while staying true to the directors original vision.
Today, CAMB.AI excels at delivering culturally and contextually sensitive adaptations of original performances while maintaining realism in over 150 languages.
No technology on the market offers such diversity, realism, and public proof points of what AI can enable in hyper-realistic translation. Were proud to extend this work to every Arabic dialect something no other technology has been able to do, Prakash said.
As global demand for non-English content continues to rise, IMAX is turning to AI to localize its original films and documentaries more efficiently.
In partnership with CAMB.AI, it has delivered content in multiple languages, demonstrating the power of technology to translate complex, dramatic material.
CAMB.AI has consistently pushed the boundaries of whats possible creating AI that delivers real value in the form of revenue and cost efficiencies to global content owners and distributors, said Prakash.
Weve learned that deploying AI requires a hand-in-hand partnership. It takes not only great technology but also great partners who are willing to explore the uncharted. MBC is exactly that kind of partner for us in MENA, establishing what is probably the biggest MediaXAI deal since Runway x Lionsgate.
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Prakash explained that partnering with MBC Group was a natural decision due to its vast scale, diverse content library, and strong regional presence. More significantly, the collaboration was rooted in a shared set of values.
This partnership goes beyond the Runway x Lionsgate deal and sets a new benchmark for how media and AI can collaborate.
MBC Group and CAMB.AI have also taken the lead in regional innovation. With projects like Stargate and HUMAIN, the Middle East and North Africa region is quickly becoming a global hub for powerful, homegrown AI.
Prakash emphasized that CAMB.AI has remained extremely conscious of privacy, data protection and respect for individual attributes.
While regulatory frameworks are still developing, we have been self-regulating to respect individual rights and content ownership. We drive our business ethically, he said.
Our foundation is simple: Not everyone can be a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
With one of the most comprehensive Arabic content libraries in the world, MBC Group is uniquely positioned to support more advanced and accurate AI outcomes in this space
Fadel Zahreddine, director for emerging technology at MBC. (Supplied)
The emerging technology team at MBC, led by Fadel Zahreddine, is at the forefront of innovation, aligning perfectly with CAMB.AIs mission.
Our content spans the full spectrum of Arab identity, from Gulf dialects to Levantine, North African, and everything in between, capturing not just language, but also tone, emotion and social nuance, Zahreddine told Arab News.
Through this collaboration with CAMB.AI, we see an opportunity to contribute data that is not only linguistically rich but also responsibly curated. Our multimodal archive, covering video, audio and text, offers a strong foundation for advanced AI applications that are more contextually aware and locally grounded.
As one of the regions largest content producers, MBC Group constantly explores new ways to strengthen connections between programming and global audiences.
This includes expanding how our content is distributed across platforms like Shahid, satellite TV and digital services, said Zahreddine. Enhancing localization is one layer of the broader effort to remove friction between content and audiences.
DID YOU KNOW?
AI voice tech preserves tone, emotion and nuance, transforming how Arabic content is localized across 150+ languages.
CAMB.AI powers live sports translation for global events like MLS, Eurovision and the Australian Open in real time.
AI-dubbed Arabic thriller Three debuted in Mandarin, highlighting CAMB. AIs ability to localize content without losing cultural depth.
This collaboration between MBC Group and CAMB.AI reflects a broader effort to explore how Arabic content can connect more meaningfully with non-native-speaking audiences.
By moving beyond literal translation and toward context-sensitive localization, the partnership supports a more accurate and respectful representation of original creative work
For Arabic creators and producers, this opens up the possibility of reaching wider audiences while maintaining the cultural authenticity that defines their storytelling.
It is not about changing the content but about removing barriers that might limit how it is experienced in other cultural contexts.
MBC Group approaches innovation through the same lens that has shaped its editorial philosophy for decades grounded in cultural integrity, social responsibility, and a strong commitment to its audiences.
We believe that technology and ethics are not separate conversations but (are) deeply connected especially when building tools that shape how content is consumed and understood, said Zahreddine.
We have around 65 nationalities working at MBC. Our multicultural environment is reflected in the cultural sensitivity of our content production.
Our extensive media library is developed (with) high ethical standards, avoiding obscene content, excessive violence or any form of hate speech. This discipline not only protects the integrity of our content but also makes it a reliable data foundation for engaging with AI and emerging technologies.
By sharing responsibly curated material, MBC Group contributes to the development of AI models that better reflect the ethical values embedded in its programming and are aligned with audience expectations.
Zahreddine added: While AI continues to evolve rapidly, we believe its essential that any advancement remains anchored in principles that respect culture, identity and shared community standards.
Jazan car dealerships undergo official inspections
Updated 26 June 2025
Arab News
JAZAN: Inspection teams from the Saudi Ministry of Commerce have visited more than 130 car dealerships and showrooms in Jazan this week.
The inspections are part of the ministrys ongoing monitoring activities throughout the region to ensure all vehicles in such outlets comply with requirements to display a fuel economy label.
Labels display clear information about a vehicles fuel consumption in a bid to encourage consumers to choose more efficient vehicles, with an overall aim of promoting fuel conservation.
The fuel economy label was developed and implemented as part of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Programs initiatives to provide consumers with information about the most energy-efficient vehicles.