Walking through Al-Qaisariyah market is a bit like taking a stroll through the pages of a history book. While most other once-impressive buildings and settlements crumbled and fell, often with replacements built upon their ruined foundations, the souq survived.
The exact date when trading began at the market is unknown but descriptions of it can be found in travelers’ journals and history books that suggest that it is about 150 years old. The market building is a true architectural gem and the main attraction in Al-Ahsa region. It is covered by a ceiling to provide shade from the desert sun, built in the old style using intertwined wooden beams. It was damaged by a fire in 2001, but the authorities worked swiftly and carefully to carry out repairs and preserve its unique history.
As word of its beauty and rich history has spread in the Kingdom and across the Gulf, so it has grown in popularity as a tourist attraction. The market occupies about 7,000 square meters and has 420 shops selling a wide range of goods, including traditional clothes for men and women, incense, local perfumes and copper kitchen utensils.
Despite all this activity, as you walk through the market it is very peaceful and the shopkeepers are friendly and welcoming. The longer you spend there, the more delights you will discover; for example, the small well in the back of the souq.
A visit to this market is more than simply a shopping expedition, it is a journey back in time and a chance to become part of its ongoing history.
ThePlace: Souq Al-Qaisariyah in Al-Ahsa
ThePlace: Souq Al-Qaisariyah in Al-Ahsa
- The market occupies about 7,000 square meters and has 420 shops selling a wide range of goods
Visionary eight-year-old Saudi wins global competition with glasses for blind
- Vision Friend uses cameras, sensors, and alarms
- Design beat nearly 1,000 entries from 19 countries
JEDDAH: An eight-year-old inventor from Saudi Arabia won an international competition for designing a pair of glasses that aim to help blind people navigate the world safely.
Lama Al-Badin, from Dammam, won an $800 cash prize for her Vision Friend design after beating nearly 1,000 entries from 19 countries in the “Glasses of the Future” competition.
Organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the competition challenged children worldwide to reimagine eyewear to support eye health and accessibility.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the competition challenged children worldwide to reimagine eyewear to support eye health and accessibility.
• Despite her young age, Lama Al-Badin demonstrated resourcefulness throughout the competition. She acknowledged the challenges she faced during the design phase.
Al-Badin’a design impressed the jury with its cameras and sensors that would detect obstacles and alert blind and visually-impaired users of dangers through various alarm sounds and vibrations.
“I always have scientific discussions with my family at home, which often spark various ideas that serve life in meaningful ways,” Al-Badin told Arab News.
“When I learned about the competition through a school announcement, the idea for the glasses emerged. I envisioned them as a companion to help people face road dangers through sensor systems. I wanted to add warning tones to enhance their auditory sensitivity and active awareness.”
Her design incorporates eco-friendly materials such as bamboo and recycled plastic, and includes cutting-edge features like sensors, an alarm system, and a multi-functional charging case.
Despite her young age, Al-Badin demonstrated resourcefulness throughout the competition. She acknowledged the challenges she faced during the design phase and said, “embarking on a new experience was an exciting challenge for me.
“During the design phase, the main challenge was translating my idea and vision from paper into a digital design. At that point, I sought help from my older sister because I hadn’t yet learned this type of drawing.”
Winning the competition has brought immense pride to her family and the country. She said: “I feel happy and proud. Winning is a motivation for me to develop further and achieve more accomplishments.
“I feel proud and hope to be an active member in the development and building of my beloved country.”
Her family, too, played a pivotal role in her journey. “They were very happy with this wonderful achievement. My family is my primary supporter, and I thank them.
“They have been my source of inspiration and encouragement. Praise be to God, I live in an aware family. At home, we love exchanging information and brainstorming solutions to all kinds of problems.”
Al-Badin’s design resonated with Caroline Casey, president of the IAPB and a member of the competition jury.
“The thing that stood out the most was how conscious and aware Lama was about her role in protecting the planet that she lives on and her ability to see how technology can be an enabler,” she told Arab News.
“In her mind, there were no barriers in the way of creating a product that was friendly to the planet and friendly to humans. When you consider her glasses, you’d think, ‘Yeah, why aren’t I doing it?’”
She continued: “A young person’s imagination doesn’t seem to focus on what we can’t achieve but on what is possible. I just love her approach and can’t wait to wear a pair.”
Casey also underscored the broader impact of initiatives like the “Glasses of the Future” competition. She said: “I want every child to be able to ‘see their future,’ both literally and metaphorically. Ensuring that every single child on this planet has access to affordable, accessible eyecare and health determines the future potential of our global citizenship and planet.”
Alongside Al-Badin, five-year-old Grace Rita from Kenya won the Younger Kids category for her vibrant and imaginative glasses, A Friend for My Eyes.
Rita’s design focuses on making eyewear fun and approachable for children with features like glow-in-the-dark frames and customizable lenses.
Besides Casey, the competition’s judging panel was composed of a global jury of experts, including Jo Frost, parenting expert and TV personality, and Dr. Prabha Choksi, ophthalmologist and founder of the Dr. Choksi Vitiligo Foundation.
Frost told Arab News: “I was truly impressed by the creativity and innovation of these little geniuses, each design brought a big smile of joy. We can all agree that eye health is often overlooked in our busy day-to-day lives of raising children, despite its importance to a child’s development and future.
“However, with Lama’s design’s inclusiveness, scientific aspects, and Grace’s bright and inspiring colors, these designs not only demonstrate the need to engage children in the global conversation about eye health but also empower eyewear wearers around the world.”
The competition also comes on the heels of critical research by the IAPB, which revealed that children with low vision learn only half as much as their peers with good or corrected vision in school.
This study, released in collaboration with the Seva Foundation on World Sight Day, underscores the profound impact of early interventions like eye exams and prescription glasses.
Japanese orchestra meets video gaming in Riyadh
- World-renowned Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performed two nights of concerts at Princess Nourah University’s Red Hall
RIYADH: What does video gaming and the orchestra have in common? Collaboration, immersive experiences, and the art of storytelling at its finest.
The world-renowned Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra spoiled guests with two nights of concerts powered by Qiddiya Gaming at Princess Nourah University’s Red Hall on Thursday and Friday.
Producer and director of Final Fantasy XIV Naoki Yoshida and renowned sound editor and composer Masayoshi Soken took the opportunity to introduce themselves to a full house of fans, wearing traditional Saudi thobes.
Arab News had the opportunity to interview Yoshida, Soken, senior story designer Natsuko Ishikawa, and localization supervisor Michael-Christopher Koji Fox.
Yoshida expressed his gratitude toward the game’s loyal fans in the Middle East, saying: “I’m really appreciative of the fans in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia that have loved the Final Fantasy franchise.
“We are finally here to give back to the community that’s loved us and supported us for so long. To be able to bring them the excitement, we are bringing them sound and music.
“We don’t envision this as the end; we envision this as something that’s going to connect us into the future.”
In the first part of the concert, the orchestra performed works like “Victory Fanfare” and “Moebius.”
In order to give gamers a true gaming experience, Soken had the idea of creating the same in-game pause during the orchestra’s performance to reflect the battle in the game.
Soken said: “During that battle, there’s an in-game mechanic where time stops and the player stops, so when playing that song in concert we want the players to feel like that in music; the game experience and their memories of the game are connected in that way.
“We wanted to figure out a way to recreate that time stop while being played in the concert by an orchestra. So the idea we came up with is if time stops in the game, how about making the concert stop?”
Soken’s idea was turned into reality and the crowd was in awe as the orchestra paused for a few seconds.
In charge of creating graphics and videos, Ishikawa said her job was about picking scenes that resonated with the players.
She said: “What we created here feels like it was created by the Final Fantasy development team, even though it’s a concert.”
Unlike a typical concert, in which each song evokes different emotions to each individual, Soken said gaming concerts created a joint emotional experience.
Soken said: “With a game concert, everyone is experiencing the same thing because they experienced the same game, so everyone shares that excitement.”
More than 100 musicians traveled from Japan, accompanied by vocalists, to bring the soundtrack from Final Fantasy XIV to life.
Soken said: “We know that Saudi Arabia and Japan have a long history of friendly collaboration but there has not been a lot with music, and there’s probably been nothing with gaming music.
“The people that experience (the concert) will be able to go home and tell their friends how exciting an experience it was and how these people from Japan brought this great thing that we have never seen before.”
The event also offered fans a dedicated merchandise area featuring exclusive items and other products shipped directly from Tokyo.
Diamond ticket holders also had the opportunity to meet Yoshida, Soken, Ishikawa, and Fox, receiving a signed poster and photo.
With over 30 million total registered players, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the most popular MMORPG games today, while Qiddiya, which was launched in 2018 under the leadership of King Salman, is an emerging capital for entertainment, sports and culture that aims to enhance the quality of life of visitors and residents.
Saudi Heart Association teams up with Bayer to enhance cardiac care
- Partnership aims to educate Saudi healthcare professionals on cardiovascular disease
- Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH: The Saudi Heart Association has entered a partnership with healthcare leader Bayer to enhance cardiac care and educate Saudi healthcare professionals on cardiovascular disease to reduce mortality and improve heart health.
“We are proud to announce a new partnership between Bayer and the SHA aimed at advancing cardiovascular care in Saudi Arabia, focusing on improving early detection and prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease,” Bayer, a global leader in life sciences with a strong emphasis on healthcare and nutrition, posted on X.
“The goal of the partnership is to strengthen bilateral cooperation to improve cardiac care in Saudi Arabia in alignment with Vision 2030. The agreement will prioritize early detection of at-risk patients of cardiovascular diseases who exhibit a combination of modifiable risk factors (such as hypertension, smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, high cholesterol) and non-modifiable risk factors (such as age, family history, gender, and genetic predisposition),” a statement from Bayer said.
CVDs are a major health concern globally. In 2016, more than 200,000 Saudi citizens were living with CVD and the current prevalence of CVD in Saudi Arabia is expected to be significantly higher, given the rise of CVD risk factors in the country (obesity, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension and others).
Saudi Vision 2030 aims to reduce the clinical and economic burden of CVD and scale up vitality and longevity in a new era of comprehensive healthcare.
From a health economics standpoint, CVDs are a burden on healthcare systems directly through expenditure and indirectly through years living with the disease, low productivity, premature morbidity and mortality.
Under the terms of the partnership, Bayer and the SHA will seek to advance educational initiatives for healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on the primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Throughout the partnership, emphasis will be on delivering educational lectures and hands-on workshops for healthcare professionals, introducing them to the latest diagnostic tools that streamline early CVD detection in a cost-effective manner.
Additionally, the partnership will promote evidence-based early risk management local guidelines and strategies in clinical practice, aligning resources to achieve superior patient outcomes.
Elaborating on the partnership, Maged ElShazly, managing director, Bayer Saudi Arabia, and country commercial lead for Bayer Consumer Health, said: “This partnership marks a significant step forward in advancing cardiovascular health in the Kingdom. Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, our goal is to collaborate closely with the SHA to support the government’s efforts in reducing CVD mortality and morbidity, improving heart health, and enhancing the quality of life for individuals at high risk.
“Additionally, this collaboration with SHA will further propel our efforts to develop and implement local guidelines for effective CVD management, ensuring long-term impact and sustainability in healthcare practices across the Kingdom,” ElShazly said.
Bayer will support SHA with two main initiatives — a key opinion leaders’ engagement campaign to promote early CVD risk management among healthcare professionals and a media campaign to raise public awareness about CVD risk factors, early detection, and prevention strategies.
KSrelief’s Masam Project clears 840 mines
- The Masam team successfully cleared four unexploded ordnances in Zinjibar
- The team successfully removed 14 unexploded ordnances from Al-Waht district
ADEN: The Masam Project, an initiative launched by the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, successfully dismantled 840 mines across various regions of Yemen during the third week of November, including 29 anti-personnel mines, 129 anti-tank mines, and 682 unexploded ordnances.
The Masam team successfully cleared four unexploded ordnances in Zinjibar in the Abyan Governorate, and 162 in Aden Governorate. Two anti-tank mines in Al-Khawkhah and one unexploded ordnance in Hays, in Al-Hudaydah Governorate, were also removed. The team cleared one anti-personnel mine and one unexploded ordnance in the Qataba district of Al-Dhale Governorate.
The team successfully removed 14 unexploded ordnances from Al-Waht district and 22 from Al-Madaribah in Lahj Governorate, while in Marib Governorate four unexploded ordnances were cleared in the Al-Wadi district, along with 12 anti-personnel mines and 120 anti-tank mines in the Marib district.
Authorities enforce ban on non-compliant trucks
- This initiative reflects the authority’s commitment to regulating the sector
- Foreign trucks are restricted to transporting goods from abroad to designated delivery points
RIYADH: The Transport General Authority has announced the seizure of many foreign trucks found violating transportation regulations and legislation while transporting goods between cities in the Kingdom.
This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with relevant authorities, reflects the authority’s commitment to regulating the sector, promoting compliance, ensuring fair competition, enhancing the security and safety of transportation services, and preserving public resources and road infrastructure.
The authority said that the mechanism adopted to control foreign truck transport operations — in coordination with various government entities — prohibits traders, factories, importers, institutions and companies from contracting with non-Saudi vehicles.
Foreign trucks are restricted to transporting goods from abroad to designated delivery points in Saudi cities or on their way back to their country of origin. This return must originate from the same delivery point or from any city along the return route. Such operations also require a permit issued by the authority.
