Saudi aid agency to support 1,000 orphans in Syria
Saudi aid agency to support 1,000 orphans in Syria/node/2596289/saudi-arabia
Saudi aid agency to support 1,000 orphans in Syria
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In Jordan, KSrelief organized recreational activities for 1,000 orphaned children from the Syrian refugee and host communities to improve their living conditions and bring joy. (SPA)
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A mobile medical clinic in Yemen's Hajjah governorate served 1,691 patients in one month. (SPA)
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Updated 08 April 2025
Arab News
Saudi aid agency to support 1,000 orphans in Syria
Updated 08 April 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The Kingdom's aid agency, KSrelief, is providing humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable people, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
KSrelief signed a cooperation agreement with a civil society organization to support orphan care and economic empowerment in earthquake-affected areas of northwestern Syria.
The agreement aims to provide monthly cash allowances to 1,000 orphaned children in Jindires town and Aleppo governorate. It will also empower 400 women foster mothers through in-kind grants and vocational training, the SPA reported.
In Jordan, KSrelief organized recreational activities for 1,000 orphaned children from the Syrian refugee and host communities to improve their living conditions and bring joy.
In Yemen, KSrelief delivered more than 45 million liters of drinking and non-potable water to Hajjah and Saada governorates in one month as part of its water and sanitation project.
A mobile medical clinic in Hajjah governorate served 1,691 patients during the same period, the SPA added.
In Lebanon, KSrelief distributed 460 food baskets to vulnerable families in Koura, benefiting 2,300 people, and 6,181 vouchers as part of its clothing project.
60th Saudi relief plane arrives in Egypt carrying food for Gazans
Updated 18 sec ago
Arab News
RIYADH: The 60th Saudi relief plane carrying much needed humanitarian assistance to starving, war-weary Gazans arrived in Egypt, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The plane arrived at El Arish International Airport on Wednesday.
The plane was carrying food for Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is undertaking a campaign to displace the inhabitants of the enclave through military force and starvation.
Many activists, humanitarians and experts are now calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
The shipment was coordinated by the Saudi ministry of defense and the Kingdom’s mission in Egypt.
Palestinian health authorities said over 62,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Israeli retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on settlements close to the border with the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
US President Donald Trump met with advisors in the White House on Wednesday to discuss a postwar future for the territory. US media reported that a top Israeli official was present at the meeting.
Ƶ and Italy on Thursday “unequivocally rejected” the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel ramped up its bombardment of Gaza City.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on his government to start annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas refused to disarm.
He suggested that Israel should take a section of territory each week for a month until the Strip was under complete Israeli control.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan also condemned Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and said the Kingdom agreed with Italy on the important need to halt the war in Gaza.
How Gulf companies can succeed if boardrooms overcome fear of AI adoption
Many firms remain stuck in pilot purgatory, where prototypes work technically but fail to scale due to organizational culture
Saudi Vision 2030, infrastructure investments, and cultural shift position the Kingdom to overcome fear and lead AI adoption
Updated 9 min 30 sec ago
Waad Hussain
AL-KHOBAR: For many Gulf companies, artificial intelligence solutions are failing to catch on not because of some weakness in the technology, but because corporate leaders are often too afraid to fully adopt these tools.
In boardrooms across the region, executives are pitching fully functional AI prototypes. But, more often than not, boards hesitate. One asks if the system is too risky. Another wonders about audit exposure.
The result? Delays, confusion and abandoned innovation.
Two recent reports echo this challenge. A January 2025 McKinsey study found that while nearly all companies are investing in AI, just 1 percent consider themselves truly AI mature, citing leadership hesitation and a lack of risk readiness as key barriers.
Similarly, research from HFS highlights how firms often get stuck in “pilot purgatory” due to internal innovation blockers and a failure to scale AI beyond proof-of-concept demos.
According to Yousef Khalili, global chief transformation officer at AI solutions company Quant, this has become a familiar occurrence and a major reason why AI transformation remains stuck in “pilot mode.”
“AI isn’t failing because of the tech,” he told Arab News. “It’s failing because boards are scared, teams are confused, and no one agrees on what success looks like.”
Khalili has helped lead digital transformations across the Gulf, with former roles at Cisco, Microsoft and the Saudi National Digitization Strategy Committee. His perspective is shaped by years inside boardrooms.
On the surface, companies point to concerns like data privacy, integration challenges and workforce disruption. But Khalili believes the underlying cause is more complex: organizational culture.
He explains that many senior leaders still view AI as an experimental concept, not a strategic enabler. In rigid corporate hierarchies, admitting knowledge gaps can feel threatening. That discomfort leads to silence, delay or rejection.
“Leaders are afraid of the decisions being taken by machines,” he said. “It is also an existential issue — that AI may reveal inefficiencies or old business models or practices. It’s not just the fear of disruption but also the fear of irrelevance.”
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In such environments, even when a tool works, it may never be implemented — not because it failed technically, but because no one in power felt secure enough to champion it.
Khalili urges companies to rethink how they present AI, not as a machine replacement for human judgment, but as a tool that enhances it.
He believes transformation will only succeed if organizations redefine AI’s role within leadership structures. The shift must be driven from the top, not left to IT departments or external consultants.
This is especially urgent in the Gulf, where national ambitions for AI are moving faster than private sector adoption.
“What is needed more is the redefinition of AI as the tool that would provide humans with the means to lead,” Khalili said.
Instead of pitching AI as a cost-cutter or automation shortcut, Khalili recommends tying it to leadership enhancement — providing decision-makers with better insights, faster response and future-readiness.
For internal change to take root, Khalili says CEOs must model a new kind of leadership, one that is open, collaborative, and not afraid to upskill.
True transformation happens when teams feel included, not just informed, in the AI journey, says Yousef Khalili, global chief transformation officer at AI solutions company Quant. (Supplied)
He outlines three essential traits for modern leaders navigating AI transformation: empathy, inclusivity and education.
Too often, the lack of these qualities results in internal pushbacks. Employees fear being replaced. Managers fear becoming obsolete. And without reassurance, resistance builds.
“The internal resistance can be caused by fear of redundancy,” he said. “Leaders should highlight the role of AI as a tool that supplements rather than replaces.”
True transformation, Khalili argues, happens when teams feel included, not just informed, in the AI journey.
While executive teams often lead digital discussions, Khalili says it is the boardroom that ultimately determines whether projects scale.
A photo of a diverse group of modern business owners effectively conducting a meeting in a well-lit conference room. (Supplied)
When boards treat AI as an isolated tech trend rather than a governance issue, efforts remain small and fragmented. Projects never reach maturity. Pilots do not scale. And even worse, companies lose ground to faster, bolder competitors.
“Failure to engage the board may turn efforts into a series of pilots that can’t scale,” Khalili warned. “Boards must mandate AI literacy not only by the tech team but across the organization.”
He says boards should see themselves not just as gatekeepers of compliance, but as stewards of innovation. If they aren’t pushing AI forward, they’re holding the company back.
Many companies hesitate to scale AI because they don’t see immediate return on investment. But Khalili says this mindset is outdated, especially when measuring transformation.
In his view, success should be measured by a broader set of indicators: adoption rates, decision-making speed, employee engagement, accuracy improvement, and time saved.
These “early indicators” are often more useful in determining whether a system is working than short-term financial returns.
“A better view is provided by a balanced scorecard approach,” he said. “The leadership must consider AI as infrastructure that, when prudent investments are made, the returns will be progressive and not immediate.”
Khalili believes these metrics must become part of every boardroom dashboard, not just tucked away in IT updates.
Despite the hesitation in some sectors, Khalili says Ƶ is better positioned than most to break through boardroom fear — and lead globally.
While executive teams often lead digital discussions, it is the boardroom that ultimately determines whether projects scale, says Yousef Khalili. (Supplied)
Thanks to Vision 2030, the country has already made AI a strategic priority. Investments in talent, regulation, and digital infrastructure are giving both public and private sectors a strong foundation.
And unlike in other regions, where policy often lags behind innovation, Khalili sees the opposite happening in the Kingdom.
“Top-down commitment among Ƶ leadership is a unique advantage,” he said. “Vision 2030 and the cultural shift it promotes will help overcome barriers faster than in other regions.”
But for private firms to match government ambition, they will need to align more closely with the mindset of risk-taking, experimentation, and long-term impact.
When asked what is really holding AI back in the Gulf, Khalili does not hesitate. It is not the tools. It is not the infrastructure. It is the culture.
For AI to succeed, organizations must prioritize internal literacy, build inclusive leadership and rethink what success looks like. And above all, they must stop waiting for certainty.
“Think of AI as a fundamental capability, not a peripheral one,” he said. “Without addressing the organizational culture first, no AI pilots can deliver enterprise-wide value for sure.”
Ƶ and Italy condemn Israel over latest Gaza displacements
The nations issue joint declaration calling for end to war in Gaza, and full access for delivery of humanitarian assistance and life-saving aid supplies in the territory
Their statement follows talks in Rome between the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani
Updated 29 August 2025
Arab News
LONDON: Ƶ and Italy on Thursday “unequivocally rejected” the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel ramped up its bombardment of Gaza City.
“The principles of non-transfer and non-expulsion must be fully upheld,” they said in a statement posted by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on social media platform X.
Earlier, the Israeli military warned that an evacuation of Gaza City was “inevitable” amid an onslaught designed to destroy the remaining Hamas stronghold.
Families fled attacks in the city’s suburbs on Thursday, the latest displacements in a conflict that has already forced most of the 2 million people living in Gaza to flee at least once.
The joint declaration by Ƶ and Italy came after talks in Rome between the Kingdom’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani.
It called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza “in line with our joint commitment to achieve a just, secure, comprehensive and sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
Both countries demanded the immediate release of all hostages, and condemned any “unilateral or violent actions in the West Bank that undermine the two-state solution.”
They added: “We call for unfettered access for humanitarian assistance and life-saving supplies throughout the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of all withheld Palestinian clearance revenues,” a reference to taxes collected by Israeli authorities on behalf of the Palestinian Authority that have yet to be handed over.
The statement continued: “We underscore that any postwar arrangements must be firmly linked to a clear, time-bound implementation of a political solution that ends the occupation and delivers a just and comprehensive peace.”
Speaking earlier, during a press conference in Rome, Prince Faisal condemned Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and said the Kingdom agreed with Italy on the important need to halt the war in Gaza.
Ahead of the prince’s visit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivered a strong rebuke of Israel following the attack on a Gaza hospital on Monday in which at least 20 people were killed, including five journalists. She said Israel’s war had “gone beyond the principle of proportionality.”
During their meeting on Thursday, the Saudi and Italian foreign ministers also discussed ways in which economic and other relations between the two countries might be enhanced.
Tajani praised Saudi authorities for their efforts to encourage Russia and the US to align their perspectives in an effort to resolve the war in Ukraine, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization celebrates 50th anniversary
Riyadh-based humanitarian organization presents Saudi Foreign Ministry with medal ‘in recognition of the ministry’s support’ over the past 5 decades
At the organization’s general assembly this week representatives of national societies are looking at ways to improve cooperation in medical services and humanitarian efforts
Updated 28 August 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization celebrated its 50th anniversary on Thursday. Based in Riyadh, it was founded in 1975 to strengthen cooperation between national societies of the Red Crescent and Red Cross in 21 Arab countries.
The Saudi deputy minister for international multilateral affairs, Abdulrahman Al-Rassi, is attending the organization’s general assembly this week on behalf of Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. He accepted a medal, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “in recognition of the ministry’s support to the organization” since it was founded, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The participants at the meeting this week included representatives of national societies, who explored ways to improve cooperation in ambulance and emergency medical services, and broader humanitarian efforts.
The organization’s secretary-general, Abdullah Al-Muhaidli, thanked Ƶ for its continued support.
He added that over the past 50 years, the role of the organization has grown significantly in the face of recurring crises, armed conflicts and natural disasters in the region.
5,027 Saudis take part in Al-Ahsa public service volunteer program
Volunteers rendered 157,394 hours of service on various activities including public cleanliness, building compliance, event organization, and environmental preservation
Updated 28 August 2025
SPA
AL-AHSA: During the first half of this year, Al-Ahsa municipality enabled 5,027 male and female volunteers to contribute to the implementation of 525 volunteer opportunities related to the municipal and housing sectors, amounting to 157,394 volunteer hours.
This is in line with the objectives of the Saudi Ministry of Municipalities and Housing to improve quality of life and humanize cities, in addition to strengthening the goals of sustainable development by activating partnerships with various sectors and individuals, and instilling a culture of volunteerism among them.
Some of the volunteers took part in Al-Ahsa's community cleanliness program. (SPA)
Al-Ahsa Mayor Essam bin Abdullatif Al-Mulla explained that the areas of volunteer opportunities included: Public cleanliness, community monitoring, building compliance, event organization, monitoring visual distortions, and environmental preservation. He said that these opportunities achieved an economic return of SR6,346,349 ($1,700,000).
Khalid Al-Arji, general director of the Partnerships and Community Responsibility Administration, said that enabling male and female volunteers in municipal volunteering fell within the municipality’s objectives to enhance its role as a government sector in serving the community and developing human resources, stemming from the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Volunteers take part in Al-Ahsa's tree-planting program. (SPA)