Father of slain Saudi student details depths of family’s tragedy

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Updated 03 June 2023
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Father of slain Saudi student details depths of family’s tragedy

Father of slain Saudi student details depths of family’s tragedy
  • Three Saudi college students have died in the US this year, two in accidents at popular scenic locations and one who was murdered in Philadelphia
  • Saudi officials say that the deaths are very tragic but emphasize there is no evidence that the Kingdom’s citizens are being targeted

CHICAGO: Abdullah Al-Ghareibi was in his home in Riyadh about to go to sleep on Jan. 23 when he received an email from the Philadelphia Police Department.

Al-Ghareibi said that he had spent an enjoyable weekend in Washington D.C. with his two sons and returned to Riyadh days earlier, sharing happy memories of the trip with his wife and daughter.

However, Al-Ghareibi told The Ray Hanania Radio show, sponsored by Arab News, that he was “shocked” by an email from police asking him to “immediately” contact their offices regarding a “homicide” and his eldest son, Al-Waleed Al-Ghareibi, 25. Waleed was a university student in his final year studying network engineering.

The father was told his son had been murdered in his Philadelphia apartment building by a 19-year-old suspect, Nicole Marie Rodgers, who was from Atlanta, Georgia. Rodgers was moving out of the building and may have targeted the son for robbery, police told the father. Believing no one was in the building, Rodgers allegedly stabbed Waleed multiple times after she asked for his help.

 

 

“Nobody knows exactly what happened. It is just like a logic explanation from police, and the landlady. She (the suspect) didn’t speak and obviously my son cannot talk on his behalf. She tried to befriend just him in the recent days, try to get close. We understand from my son, he was like kind of annoyed. She knocked at his door. His room is on the first floor. She knocked on his window and she said I had forgot the keys and can you open the door for me. She tried to engage in conversation with him. She wanted to find a way just how to rob him,” Al-Ghareibi told The Ray Hanania Radio show on Wednesday, May 31, struggling with his grief.

Al-Ghareibi said that the police believe the murder was driven by the suspect wanting to rob Waleed before she moved out of the building. Police said that Waleed was allegedly stabbed multiple times by Rodgers, who was accompanied by her parents in court. She had expressed no remorse, police said.

Al-Ghareibi said that his family had received extensive support from the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. as they worked through their pain. Waleed was scheduled to graduate from the university in May, and his father was invited to accept the degree.

 

“I really thank them, thank the (Saudi) government. They are taking all the financial burden on it,” Al-Ghareibi said.

“But still, just emotionally, it is very hard on us as a family. We need to see the end of it. We need her to get what she really deserves. You think something might happen along the way with the court and lawyers and stuff, jury. You know it is not going to be easy. It’s not going to be easy, but we hope she gets what she really, really deserves. What she deserves is a life without the possibility of parole. That’s what she really deserves. But what will happen, I don’t know. It has caused a lot of hurdles we have to jump.”

Al-Ghareibi said that the university his son attended had contacted him and invited him to a memorial service, and presented him with his son’s diploma during graduation ceremonies.

“It was very touching,” he said. “I wished he received the degree by himself. That’s what happened. You have to live with it. It’s very needless,” Al-Ghareibi said, noting that his wife and daughter had not seen Waleed for nearly three years because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Waleed Al-Ghareibi was one of three Saudi university students who died in the US in 2023, including Abdulrahman Al-Anzi, 29, who was with friends at a tourist location along the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio on Jan. 30 when he fell into the freezing lake waters. He was recovered from the lake but pronounced dead at the scene.

On May 22, Atheer Al-Khalban, 28, was touring Glacier National Park in Montana with friends when she strayed off the trail and fell over a rocky cliff down a gorge into Avalanche Creek. She was spotted by other tourists who tried to resuscitate her but Al-Khalban, who was attending college in Kansas, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Glacier National Park Public Affairs Officer Gina Kerzman expressed condolences to the Al-Khalban family.

 

 

“Atheer was hiking a very popular trail in Glacier National Park that is known as the Avalanche Lake Trail. Sometime during her hike, early on in her hike, she went near the water. Nobody saw what happened exactly, but she ended up going in the water. She was swept down through the Avalanche Creek gorge and was pulled from the water by visitors who saw her in the water down below,” Kerzman said, noting that there was a steep drop-off along the rocky edge several feet from the visitor’s path.

“Every year we have fatalities in the park. Last year, I think, we had seven fatalities. The number one cause of death is drowning. Number two is falling, people being up on high levels either mountain climbing or just being at high elevations and falling.”

Al-Khalban was walking several feet behind her friends when she disappeared into the gorge and waters. Kerzman said that more than 3 million people visit Glacier National Park every year. May is the beginning of the most popular season for tourists.

Saudi Arabia embassy spokesman, Fahad Nazer, said that the embassy does everything possible to help Saudi families who are in need and suffer tragedies such as these.

“Ensuring the safety and well-being of Saudi citizens living or visiting a foreign country is among the highest priorities for any diplomatic mission around the world. It certainly is the case for us here in the embassy in Washington D.C. Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of Saudis have visited or studied in the United States. The overwhelming majority have a pleasant and productive stay,” Nazer told Arab News during the radio show interview, saying that it is one of the Kingdom’s “highest priorities” to keep Saudi citizens safe.

“However, occasionally accidents and tragedies do occur. As you said, over the past couple years we have had some tragic incidents that led to the deaths of a few young Saudis. As soon as we became aware of such tragedies, we immediately contacted the families of the deceased to provide any assistance that they may need. We also stay in touch with local authorities to make sure that we have all the details and we share these details with the families as soon as we obtain them.”

Nazer added: “Of course, our hearts go out to the families of these young Saudis. There is nothing more tragic than the death of a young person. However, I do have to stress that these are isolated incidents. We have no reason to believe that Saudi students or Saudis in general are being targeted in the United States.”

Al-Ghareibi, Kerzman and Nazer made their comments during an appearance on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show,” broadcast on Wednesday, May 31 live in Detroit and Washington D.C. on the US Arab Radio Network and sponsored by Arab News.

You can listen to the radio show’s podcast by visiting ArabNews.com/rayradioshow.


KSrelief team inspects Rohingya housing in Bangladesh

KSrelief team inspects Rohingya housing in Bangladesh
Updated 57 min 56 sec ago
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KSrelief team inspects Rohingya housing in Bangladesh

KSrelief team inspects Rohingya housing in Bangladesh
  • So far 300 out of a total 410 housing units have been delivered and erected with the remainder due to arrive soon

RIYADH: An inspection team from the Saudi aid agency KSrelief recently visited one of the center’s housing projects in Rohingya refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh.

KSrelief assistant general supervisor for planning and development, Aqeel Al-Ghamdi, said shelter was being provided for refugees affected by a devastating fire at the camps.

So far 300 out of a total 410 housing units have been delivered and erected with the remainder due to arrive soon, he added.

Last year, the center sent 500 shelters to Cox’s Bazar which were used to house 3,000 people from 590 Rohingya families.

During the inspection tour, the KSrelief team also went to the Okiya Specialized Hospital, and Sadar District Hospital, in Cox’s Bazar and reviewed the center’s support services including medical supplies.

KSrelief team also went to the Okiya Specialized Hospital, and Sadar District Hospital, in Cox’s Bazar and reviewed the center’s support services including medical supplies. (SPA)

 


Saudi Arabia, China collaborate on literary exchange

Saudi Arabia, China collaborate on literary exchange
Updated 02 October 2023
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Saudi Arabia, China collaborate on literary exchange

Saudi Arabia, China collaborate on literary exchange
  • Through this partnership, both parties aim to strengthen cultural ties, enhance content exchange, and reinforce literary collaboration

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia’s Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission has partnered with China’s National Press and Publishing Administration to promote literary translation between Arabic and Chinese.

The agreement was signed on Monday during the Riyadh International Book Fair, which is currently taking place at King Saud University until Oct. 7.

Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez, deputy minister of culture, signed the agreement with Zhang Jianchun, deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party’s publicity department.

Through this partnership, both parties aim to strengthen cultural ties, enhance content exchange, and reinforce literary collaboration.

The program highlights the Ministry of Culture’s dedication to international cultural exchange under Saudi Vision 2023 and builds upon previous Saudi-Chinese collaboration in this regard.

Saudi Arabia was honored as the first Arab and Islamic country to participate as a guest in the 20th Beijing International Book Fair. The Saudi pavilion at the fair displayed a diverse collection of books in various genres. Over 50 books by Saudi authors were translated into Chinese, and a film about the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz, was screened in Chinese.


Red Sea ecosystem’s ‘pristine’ preservation requires global attention, says director of new documentary

Red Sea ecosystem’s ‘pristine’ preservation requires global attention, says director of new documentary
Updated 02 October 2023
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Red Sea ecosystem’s ‘pristine’ preservation requires global attention, says director of new documentary

Red Sea ecosystem’s ‘pristine’ preservation requires global attention, says director of new documentary
  • Red Sea project and NEOM bringing scientists together to provide information as the development of tourism is being planned

LONDON: The Red Sea should be the most pristine sea in the world but its ecosystem also contains ancient endangered species and this should be treated as a global issue, according to the director of a new documentary.

The film, “RED, A sea worth protecting,” highlights the efforts of scientists and conservationists to save endangered species including the dugong, turtles and sharks, listed under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species.

“The point we are trying to make is that it is a global issue and you can have what is supposed to be the most pristine place in the world, like the Red Sea, which is a very strong sea, (but) you still have problems and it’s important that the governments, officials, policymakers, NGOs and scientists communicate that and do something accordingly,” said Philip Hamilton, the film’s director.

“It’s one planet, the species migrate and they move (and) the problems of either coral bleaching, temperature rising or acidity is actually a global problem,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of a preview screening in London hosted by the Saudi embassy to the UK.

“So when we look at, for instance, the Red Sea, we should think about how we can protect the migratory species, how we can protect the pollution, moving from one place to another due to currents.”

Above, Philip Hamilton, director of ‘RED, A sea worth protecting’. (Supplied)

The documentary, produced by UK-based Ocean Souls Films, focuses on ocean conservation. It starts with an introduction to the history of the Red Sea and its geography, highlighting its exceptional coral formations, mangrove forests and seagrass beds.

The film moves on to more specific details about the extraordinary, but critically endangered, marine species that make the Red Sea their home and provides an insight into what should be one of the “least concerning” seas in the world.

It follows the inspiring journey of a group of people dedicating their lives to protecting the Red Sea, sharing their frustrations and sacrifices, and their achievements and hopes.

“Even in the most remote places — thousands of kilometers south of the Antarctic Peninsula, you couldn’t possibly imagine that (after testing) certain animals who have never seen humans are infected with metals and microplastics and so on,” said the filmmaker, photographer and author.

The crew began filming the documentary — being presented at major international film festivals and soon to become available on social media channels — during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided an opportunity to work in locations that would otherwise be crowded or full of tourists.

The Red Sea is a narrow strip of water lying between Africa and Asia, and which connects Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Israel, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Hamilton said that the team worked extensively with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which is doing extensive work via their coral research and development accelerator platform — launched in 2020 during the Kingdom’s presidency of the G20 to fast-track research and development solutions to save the world’s corals.

“I know they are doing a lot (and) the reality is that they are top in the world in terms of the technology, the know-how, and the people they have,” said Hamilton, who has more than 30 years diving and sailing experience and has documented most marine animals on the planet.

“When you highlight the work of one scientist or one NGO, it’s very important for me that it inspires other people around the world because then you have the leverage effect that you really want,” he said.

“It’s great if you are an inspiration and you do great work in one place, and then you are being copied 100 times around the world and you have a real important effect.

“I would love to see KAUST or plenty of other organizations be better known, not only by the scientific community, but people need to see all the great work they are doing.”

Hamilton called on the global community to increase collaboration and implement more marine protected areas. There was a need to replicate what happened in the Galapagos, Malpelo, Cocos and Coiba, he said, “where four countries got together and united to protect their own different individual zones and created one large corridor for species to migrate and be protected” throughout the migratory year.

“I think that’s what we need going forward,” he said. “We need countries to cooperate and go and act together.”

Hamilton was speaking with particular reference to the UAE’s hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP28, which will be held in November. The UAE will be the second consecutive Arab country to stage the annual global gathering, after Egypt held it last year in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, which also lies on the Red Sea.

“We need to protect certain species before it’s too late,” Hamilton said, calling for more integrated planning. “I would expect not only this film to inspire solutions, but for instance, if you want to further develop your tourism, have a look at what could be causing certain problems to certain species, so when you grow, you do it properly.”

Hamilton said the Red Sea project and NEOM were bringing scientists together to provide information as the development of tourism was being planned.

Territorial waters extended to a limit of 12 nautical miles, he said. After that, areas were considered exclusive economic zones but there was a lack of sufficient marine protection laws protecting them.

“When we think about nature, we need to think about no borders, no frontiers, no passports, no visas, no religion, no race. We need to think about the animals and ecosystems in a totally different way.

“But from there to implementing high seas policies and (doing this) worldwide, it is very, very hard (and) that’s a little bit frustrating,” he said.


Saudi artist expresses faith, culture at Kosovo exhibition

Saudi artist expresses faith, culture at Kosovo exhibition
Updated 02 October 2023
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Saudi artist expresses faith, culture at Kosovo exhibition

Saudi artist expresses faith, culture at Kosovo exhibition
  • Ghadeer Hafez has hints of blue on black and white paintings, which portrays ‘hope’ when turning humbly to God

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia’s Ghadeer Hafez says her recent exhibition in Kosovo showcases her belief that faith can restore balance, meaning and purity in one’s life.

Her work was displayed at the Euro Kosovo International Art Festival from Sept. 22 to 29, which was held under the title “My Creative World in Kosovo,” and featured the output of 30 renowned artists from 20 countries.

Hafez was the only artist from Saudi Arabia invited to participate in the festival by Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture.

In an interview with Arab News recently, she said: “I am very keen to represent my country in international artistic forums around the world, and I consider this an integral part of my duty toward my country as a Saudi citizen and visual artist.”

In her latest work, Hafez departed from her previous style — characterized by vibrant colors depicting the hustle and bustle of life — with hints of blue on largely stark black and white paintings.

“We may get confused sometimes, but we find ourselves when we return to God. The works were dressed in two colors, black and white, as it distinguishes between the psychological state that a person experiences when he elevates his heart with God and a little ... the blue color is an expression of hope in life.”

“The goal of my artistic works is the human being and how God takes care of him.”

Hafez also believes that her work expresses Saudi Arabia culture, which she says speaks to all areas of life.


Saudi Arabia’s chief of staff meets Bahraini counterpart in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s chief of staff meets Bahraini counterpart in Riyadh
Updated 53 min 46 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia’s chief of staff meets Bahraini counterpart in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s chief of staff meets Bahraini counterpart in Riyadh

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s chief of staff held discussions with his Bahraini counterpart on Sunday in Riyadh, and the two officials also visited the injured Bahraini soldiers receiving treatment in the capital.

During the meeting, Saudi Arabia’s Lt. Gen. Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili and Bahrain’s Lt. Gen. Dhiyab bin Saqr Al-Nuaimi discussed ways to strengthen ties on the military front, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The generals later visited injured Bahraini soldiers receiving treatment at Prince Sultan Military Medical City. Some Bahraini soldiers were injured in the Houthi drone attack on their positions last week near the border with Yemen. 

Al-Nuaimi wished the soldiers a speedy recovery.