Saudi Arabia sending gender balanced astronaut team to International Space Station
Astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission
Barnawi will be the first Saudi female astronaut to go into space
Updated 13 February 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will send the Kingdom’s first female astronaut and a male astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) during the second quarter of 2023.
Astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission, Axiom Space’s second all-private astronaut mission to the ISS.
“The step aims to empower Saudi capabilities in human spaceflight geared towards serving humanity and benefiting from the promising opportunities offered by the space industry”, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The spaceflight is scheduled to launch from the United States to the International Space Station. The Saudi Human Spaceflight Program includes the training of two more astronauts, Mariam Fardous and Ali AlGamdi, on all mission requirements.
Previously launched by the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), the Saudi Human Spaceflight Program is a collaboration with US company Axiom Space to train Saudi astronauts and bolster SSC’s space exploration.
The space mission is historic as it will make the Kingdom one of the few countries in the world that brings two astronauts of the same nationality aboard the ISS simultaneously.
Saudi Space Commission Chairman Abdullah Al-Swaha said the Kingdom’s leadership is keen to give unlimited support to the program, which aims to increase graduates’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to nurture innovation in space sciences.
It also aims to improve the Kingdom’s capacity to conduct its own research, which will benefit the industry and the nation, and develop human capital by attracting skilled talents.
SSC CEO Mohammed Al-Tamimi expressed his gratitude to the Saudi leadership for supporting and empowering the commission, which has allowed the Kingdom to make significant strides in the space sector.
Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman, the first chairman of the Saudi Space Commission, owns the distinction of being the first Arab, Muslim and royal to fly into space.
A former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot, Prince Sultan flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle mission as a payload specialist on June 17, 1985.
Young Saudi recalls how he struggled to overcome stuttering
Saad Al-Munajem’s organization Mutalaathem is raising awareness of stuttering and helping people like him
Updated 08 October 2023
Dhai Al-Mutairi
RIYADH: Saad Al-Munajem recalls his early memory of stuttering as a first-grader — of reading in front of his classmates and the entire class bursting out laughing.
Al-Munajem struggled for years to conceal his stuttering, feeling guilty and attempting to find a way out. He looked into various coping mechanisms and workarounds in an effort to fit in with a culture that values clear speech.
“I am 23-years-old, and (for) 19 years of my life, I hated showing that I stutter. When I am stuttering I feel stuck, the words can’t come out. I hated this whole situation,” Al-Munajem said.
Feeling the pressure to speak clearly creates a vicious cycle, he explained: “I pressure myself harder to get out of the situation, but the pressure makes the (stuttering) last longer … it is like a whirlpool of negative emotions.”
Acceptance was the only way out. It birthed the most honest version of Al-Munajem, a version that helped him to find his voice and purpose in life.
Today, Al-Munajem is the founder of Mutalaathem, an association that aims to raise awareness of stuttering and support those who stutter and their families.
The advocate for stuttering is a racer, a karting lover and an adventurer. (Supplied)
Mutalaathem was established in October 2021 around International Stuttering Awareness Day, which falls on Oct. 22 each year. The association organizes weekly gatherings, inviting people who stutter to further their sense of empowerment and confidence to communicate with others without avoidance.
In establishing Mutalaathem, Al-Munajem was greatly influenced by a therapy speech clinic he attended while he was studying political science in the US.
He had attended other therapy speech clinics before, but the strategies adopted by the university clinic were different and marked a turning point.
“I realized from attending the sessions at the therapy clinic at my university that the aim was to talk confidently and say what I want to say regardless of whether I stutter or not,” Al-Munajem said.
Following this mindset, Al-Munajem started to challenge himself and talk to strangers and to say the three words that have haunted him: “I have stuttering.”
“From there I started talking about the emotions I felt when stuttering and realized that stuttering is not something to be ashamed of. I simply just needed more time to talk, reaching what’s called stuttering desensitization,” Al-Munajem said.
Almunajem is the founder of Mutalaathem, an association aimed to raise awareness of stuttering. (Supplied)
Once he reached stuttering desensitization, the speech therapy specialists at the clinic referred Al-Munajem to the university’s student club for people who stutter. “I went there and I was surrounded by stutterers, with each person having a different level of stuttering,” he said. “We all shared common feelings of what it is like to live as someone who stutters. They (became) like another family to me.”
After graduating and returning to Riyadh, Al-Munajem started Mutalaathem to raise awareness of stuttering in the Kingdom, so that the people like him know that they are not alone.
Al-Munajem and his organization became well-known when he shared a video of himself on TikTok ordering food from a KFC’s drive-thru.
“The video went viral, and I saw that the Mutalaathem Instagram account is getting more followers, people, and stutterers in the Kingdom who knew about me, and the initiative increased,” he said.
HIGHLIGHTS
International Stuttering Awareness Day falls on Oct. 22 each year.
Mutalaathem, founded by Saad Al-Munajem, aims to raise awareness of stuttering and support those who stutter and their families.
Al-Munajem categorizes society’s response to stuttering into two categories.
There are ignorant people, who think they are being funny by making fun of the way stutterers speak, and there are others who are aware of what stuttering is and want to help, but don’t know how, and often unknowingly end up making stutterers feel bad about themselves.
Finishing the sentence of a person who stutters, thinking that one is being helpful, can make a stutterer feel worse and can reduce their confidence.
“Some believe that stuttering comes out because I get nervous. It is true that being nervous makes me stutter more often, it is a factor, but it does not cause stuttering. I do still stutter in front of my close friends and family,” Al-Munajem said.
Through Mutalaathem, Al-Munajem is fighting misconceptions about stuttering and the nature of the condition, which has long been misunderstood by society.
Being open about stuttering has made Al-Munajem who he is today — a prominent advocate for stuttering in the Kingdom, a racer, a karting lover and an adventurer, with an important message to convey.
“To anyone who stutters or knows a stutterer, please reach out and I will help in every way possible. And to parents with a stuttering child, please allow the topic of stuttering to be open in the house. Don’t make it a taboo topic … that way a child becomes open and confident with their stuttering.”
Who’s Who: Wasna Ben Gassem, Trend Micro’s regional marketing director
Updated 08 October 2023
Arab News
Wasna Ben Gassem is Trend Micro’s regional marketing and communications director for the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. She leads marketing efforts for the multinational cyber security software company in 92 countries.
Ben Gassem is responsible for nurturing and enhancing the company’s brand as well as championing its mission to create a safer digital world for global information exchange. Her dynamic role involves overseeing a talented marketing team to execute campaigns that foster growth and engagement.
From collaborating with C-level executives to crafting communication plans, she synergizes cross-functional teams to raise brand awareness, aligning with strategic business objectives.
Before her role at Trend Micro, Ben Gassem held a prominent position with IT powerhouse Accenture, serving as country marketing and communications director, inclusion and diversity marketing lead, and Middle East V&A marketing lead from 2018 onward.
Her responsibilities included building marketing and communication strategies that aligned with the company’s goals. She also defined key go-to-market metrics, established goals and benchmarks, and monitored progress.
Before Accenture, Ben Gassem was country marketing and communications manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise from 2013 to 2018. She devised marketing and communication strategies in alignment with the company’s vision.
Her earlier professional journey also involved a stint as a technology services marketing manager at Hewlett Packard from 2012 to 2013. She worked as a senior digital designer with J. Walter Thompson from 2010 to 2012, and as a network engineer team lead at the King Abdullah Project for Education Development, or Tatweer, from 2009 to 2010. She was an online marketing manager with Cisco from 2007 to 2009.
Ben Gassem earned a master’s degree in business administration in leadership and entrepreneurship from Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2020. She received bachelor’s degree in information technology from King Saud University in 2009. She was awarded the Think Big Award in 2014 and Women’s Excellence Award in 2016.
Saudi FM rejects targeting of civilians in Gaza violence
Prince Faisal’s diplomatic efforts advocated for peace during calls with his counterparts in the US, EU, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt
Saudi foreign minister emphasized the need for a joint action plan during the calls
Updated 08 October 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday said that the Kingdom rejected the targeting of unarmed civilians “in any way,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
His comments came during separate phone calls with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to discuss violence in Gaza, which broke out on Saturday morning.
The Palestinian Hamas group launched the biggest attack on Israel in years and the assault followed months of surging violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with fatalities in the occupied West Bank hitting a scale not seen in years.
The early morning Hamas offensive by air, land and sea was met by Israeli air strikes on the blockaded coastal enclave, in the bloodiest escalation with the Palestinians since May 2021.
Prince Faisal stressed the need to stop the escalation and for all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
He also called for “concerted efforts to calm the situation and avoid further violence,” the ministry said.
The Saudi minister also held separate calls with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, and his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts, where he emphasised the need for a joint action plan.
Prior to these calls, Prince Faisal issued a statement urging an immediate cessation of hostilities and calling upon the international community to initiate a peace initiative aimed at achieving a sustainable two-state resolution.
Prince Faisal asserted last month that “there is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than the two state solution”, and that while “people have started losing hope in the two-state solution, our efforts aim to bring it back to the forefront.”
Meanwhile, Blinken urged the Palestinian Authority to restore calm and stability in the West Bank in a call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the US State Department said in a statement.
Blinken “reiterated the United States’ unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, and called on all leadership in the region to condemn them,” a State Department spokesperson said.
“The Secretary urged the Palestinian Authority to continue and enhance steps to restore calm and stability in the West Bank,” the spokesperson said.
Abbas told Blinken that “injustice” toward Palestinians is driving the conflict with Israel to an “explosion,” Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
He also said the ongoing escalation is down to the “practices of the colonialists and the Israeli occupation forces, and the aggression against Islamic and Christian sanctities,” according to WAFA.
US President Joe Biden made clear in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support,” according to the White House. He also called Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi warned “against the danger of the situation deteriorating and sliding into more violence.”
In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, he urged international cooperation on stopping the conflict from getting worse.
Cairo has historically been a key mediator in conflicts between the two sides.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry spoke to his Jordanian, UAE, Turkish, Russian, German, French, Russian and Spanish counterparts, and to Borrell, where he stressed the “importance of stopping the escalation and all sides’ exercising restraint.”
A foreign ministry statement said Shoukry sought to rally “international actors” to “intervene immediately.”
In a call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, both ministers “expressed their deep concern about the progressive and dangerous deterioration of events.”
In a separate statement, Safadi warned of the “volatility” of the situation, “particularly in light of what cities and areas of the West Bank are witnessing of Israeli attacks and violations against the Palestinian people.”
Shoukry called UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed to discuss “the gravity of the current situation and the need to make every effort to prevent the security situation from getting out of control.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held calls with his regional counterparts to discuss the fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, a foreign ministry source said, as Ankara said it stood ready to help de-escalate the situation.
The source said Fidan discussed the conflict with his Saudi, Qatari, Iranian, Palestinian and Egyptian counterparts, but did not provide any further details. The source later said Fidan had also discussed the situation with Blinken in a call.
Cuban deputy prime minister meets with Saudi ministers
Updated 08 October 2023
Arab News
Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Cuba’s deputy prime minister, met with Saudi Arabia’s minister of commerce, and chairman of the board of directors of the General Authority of Foreign Trade, Majid Al-Qasabi. They reviewed commercial, financial and bilateral relations between their two countries.
Ruiz also met separately with Ahmed Al-Khateeb, the Saudi tourism minister. A post from the Cuban Embassy in Saudi Arabia on X read: “The meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm the will to strengthen relations.”
How Saudi-hosted MENA Climate Week aims to generate regional momentum for climate change mitigation
MENA Climate Week in Riyadh offers the Kingdom an opportunity to highlight its many sustainability initiatives
Saudi Arabia is expected to explore partnerships with organizations and countries to address the climate challenge
Updated 08 October 2023
Nirmal Narayanan
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is hosting Middle East and North Africa Climate Week (October 8-12), a conference that brings together experts and policymakers from the climate field and provides the Kingdom an opportunity to highlight its energy transition efforts.
Widely touted as one of the most significant events taking place ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP28, this November in Dubai, MENA Climate Week will allow officials, activists and scientists to discuss ways to mitigate the effects of global warming.
The Riyadh-hosted event, held in collaboration with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will also offer Saudi Arabia a chance to show how it is leading the region’s green transition with programs like the Saudi Green Initiative and the adoption of renewables.
The UNFCCC is tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. The week will take place in collaboration with the UN Development Programme, UN Environment Programme, and the World Bank.
Partners based in the MENA region include the International Renewable Energy Agency, Islamic Development Bank, the League of Arab States secretariat, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said in a recent statement that MENA Climate Week will position Saudi Arabia at the forefront of the climate debate, allowing it to help set the narrative for COP28 and shape forthcoming negotiations on emissions targets.
MENA Climate Week will feature a packed agenda of regional and international events, meetings and exhibitions, along with several cultural activities.
FASTFACTS
The Middle East and North Africa Climate Week 2023 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 8-12.
Regional climate weeks aim to inspire people to become part of the momentum created by the Paris Agreement.
They are a collaborative platform where governments and organizations come together to address climate issues.
During the week, Saudi Arabia will use key discussions to promote its circular carbon economy approach and to identify potential partnerships with organizations and countries to mitigate climate challenges.
A circular carbon economy is a closed loop system for managing and reducing emissions involving four “Rs”: reduce, reuse, recycle, and remove. Saudi Arabia and Aramco have adopted the framework as a way to reduce their carbon footprints.
“Our world needs to urgently transform to address the climate challenge,” the Ministry of Energy said in its statement. “Saudi Arabia and the MENA region are committed to exploring all approaches to reach the ambitions outlined in the Paris Agreement.”
The World Economic Forum’s annual Energy Index Report revealed earlier this year that Saudi Arabia has advanced 24 ranks in the Energy Transition Index since 2021, thanks to SGI and the establishment of the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market by the Kingdom. (Supplied)
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that was adopted in 2015 and compels signatories to work toward limiting global temperature increases to no more than 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.
“Climate action must not leave any section of society behind. Finding solutions requires an inclusive approach, where all parts of society — including industry — have a role,” the ministry added.
The week will also showcase Saudi Arabia’s progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the different initiatives the Kingdom has adopted to achieve its net zero goals by 2060.
“The MENA region is blessed with some of the fastest growing economies in the world,” the ministry said. “Through innovative solutions, our development goals can be achieved while meeting the challenge of climate change.
“As the leading energy exporter in the region and an important investor in research and development, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the wider region, can provide potential paths to reduce environmental impacts.”
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself at the forefront of sustainability projects, launching the Saudi and Middle East Green initiatives. (AFP/File photo)
Indeed, the ministry says that climate action should not come at the cost of economic development and global energy security.
MENA Climate Week will focus on three main pillars: transformation, inclusion, and solutions.
The transformation pillar emphasizes the need to change the way societies live and work and how their economies function in order to mitigate climate risks. The Gulf states have already understood the necessity of change and are acting toward a greener future.
Inclusion means promoting cooperative approaches that leave nobody behind in this transformation — be they public, private, or civil society.
This aerial view shows dry fish farms in the village of Albu Mustafa in Hilla, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 6, 2023, following a crackdown by the Iraqi government on unauthorized ponds in an effort to meet the country's water demands. (AFP)
The first day of MENA Climate Week will feature an opening ceremony, followed by a ministerial panel discussion under the theme “Advancing inclusivity and circularity for just and equitable energy transitions.”
Also on the first day, a second ministerial panel will handle the subject of “Inclusive finance and economic diversification toward the goals of the Paris Agreement,” while the third is titled “Towards a global goal on adaptation that adapts to a 1.5 degree world.”
One of the most important events taking place on the second day of MENA Climate Week is the League of Arab States Roundtable, which will discuss expectations of COP28.
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself at the forefront of sustainability projects, launching the Saudi and Middle East Green initiatives. The Saudi Green Initiative, or SGI, aims to reduce carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030.
Under SGI, Saudi Arabia will also plant 10 billion trees across the country in the coming decades and designate 30 percent of the country’s land and sea territories as protected areas by 2030.
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Global implemented a nursery project with the goal to have 50 million trees of Mangroves by 2030. (Red Sea Global photo)
Meanwhile, the wider Middle East Green Initiative focuses on eliminating 670 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and planting 50 billion trees across the region.
The Green Saudi Cities initiative, launched by the Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing Ministry, aims to plant up to 32 million trees in public parks and gardens across the capital Riyadh.
The scheme will be conducted over three phases and will undertake new greening projects in Riyadh, equivalent to an area of 437.5 sq. km. The project is set to be completed by 2031.
As planned, close to a tenth of the Saudi capital city would be green by 2030. (File photo)
The capital is also undergoing a massive overhaul as the Green Riyadh project sets out to increase the proportion of green space to 9 percent and to plant 7.5 million trees by 2030.
At the heart of it all, work is underway to establish the King Salman Park, the largest urban park project in the world, in which 11 sq. km of its planned 16.6 sq. km park will be covered in green spaces and more than a million trees.
The third edition of the SGI forum will take place on Dec. 4 during COP28 and will bring together influential figures, thought leaders, and climate experts who will share their insights and suggestions for tackling climate challenges effectively.
Earlier in July, the World Economic Forum’s annual Energy Index Report revealed that Saudi Arabia has advanced 24 ranks in the Energy Transition Index since 2021, thanks to SGI and the establishment of the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market by the Kingdom.
