RIYADH: Saudi authorities have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 349,710 Captagon pills into the Kingdom through the Jadidat Arar land crossing on the border with Iraq, Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority said that the pills were discovered concealed within a shipment labeled as “equipment used in polishing tiles.”
Upon arrival at the port, the shipment was subjected to rigorous customs procedures, including inspection through advanced security technologies and live methods, which led to the discovery of the hidden narcotics.
Following the seizure, the authority coordinated with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control to apprehend the intended recipients of the illicit shipment within Saudi Arabia. As a result, four individuals were arrested.
The authority reiterated its commitment to tightening customs controls over the Kingdom's imports and exports, emphasizing its dedication to thwarting smuggling attempts. This effort comes as part of of the authority’s broader strategy to enhance security and protect society by curbing the infiltration of drugs and other prohibited items.
The authority called on the public to help in the fight against smuggling to protect society and the national economy by contacting the 1910 number designated for security reports, or via email 1910@zatca.gov.sa, or the international number 00966114208417.
Whistle-blowers can report smuggling and customs violations through these channels in strict confidentiality, and will receive a financial reward if their information is correct.
Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle nearly 350,000 pills from Iraqi border
https://arab.news/b4ksc
Saudi authorities foil attempt to smuggle nearly 350,000 pills from Iraqi border
- Pills were discovered concealed within a shipment labeled as “equipment used in polishing tiles"
Tokyo firm partners with Saudi hospital to advance stem cell treatment system
TOKYO: ADR Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Cytori Cell Research Institute, Inc., has signed a Letter of Intent to conduct a joint clinical trial for “90-minute complete stem cell therapy” with the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.
The collaboration, reported in PR Times, is expected to drive medical innovation in the Middle East and bring new hope to patients with intractable diseases that were previously considered difficult to treat.
In conventional stem cell therapy, harvested cells must be cultured for anything between several weeks and months at a dedicated facility, resulting in high costs and long waiting times. ADR Therapeutics’ Cellution System purifies non-cultured cells from a patient’s tissue to the state needed for treatment in just 90 minutes and can be administered on the same day of collection.
This provides a safe and effective treatment option for diseases such as osteoarthritis, diabetic foot lesions, Crohn’s disease and chronic pain. The risk of rejection is extremely low because the patient’s own cells are used and the risk of infection is reduced because no culture process is required.
Saudi Arabia has positioned the medical and healthcare sector as a key strategic area in Vision 2030, the national transformation program led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and aims to become a world-leading medical hub.
The number of patients in the Middle East with diabetes and other chronic diseases is rapidly increasing due to changes in lifestyle, and a rising number of cases are difficult to treat with conventional therapies.
It is expected the strategic partnership between the Kingdom and Japan in the medical field will be further strengthened by the contribution of Japan-originated stem cell therapy technology to solving local medical issues.
The most important feature of the treatment is that it can be performed at ordinary medical institutions without the need for advanced culture facilities or specialized technicians. This will enable the provision of advanced regenerative medicine in regions with limited specialized facilities and is expected to contribute significantly to improving access to medical care.
Saudi medical professionals will be able to acquire the latest stem cell therapy technology through specialist Japanese doctors providing direct technical guidance locally.
The art of diplomacy through Saudi cuisine
- Food is a way to share cultures and build bridges, says YouTube star
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 they’re 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 father’s tenure in the late 1980s: “It’s 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, it’s 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 Saudi Arabia.
“That’s what made me as Eman, what changed me as somebody who lived abroad,” she said. “I appreciate coming to Saudi Arabia 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 Saudi Arabia I’m just like, ‘We don’t have to lock the door, we don’t 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 it’s 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. Gazzaz’s 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, she’s 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 he’s very chilled,” she explained.
She took it as an opportunity to show off her national dress, as well as the food.
“(I thought) I’ll wear my abaya, I’ll put on my tarha (scarf), introduce my clothes and my outfits and things like that, and that’s what we did,” she said. From there, grew the first Saudi channel that introduced the world to the Kingdom’s culture through food.
Gazzaz has also written a book, “A Saudi Mandela,” which is a meditation and coloring book for adults.
Saudi Arabia deploys drones to monitor coastlines, protect marine resources
- Drones to provide live video of 2,480km coastline
- Quicker to spot pollution, says watchdog’s official
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Environmental Compliance has launched a drone-based program to monitor the Kingdom’s 2,480-km-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 organization.
Drones will provide live video feeds for real-time analysis, to help detect activities that threaten marine resources, the SPA reported recently.
Saudi Arabia’s 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, stretching from the northern border with Kuwait to the southern border with Qatar.
Amer Bamoneef, director-general for network monitoring at the NCEC, said each drone will operate for up to 55 minutes per sortie, covering 20 km, with data transmitted instantly 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 responses, 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 City’s Al-Rimal neighborhood
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 City’s 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.
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.
How AI-powered voice tech is bringing Arabic-language content to global audiences
- CAMB.AI and Saudi Arabia’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
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 Saudi Arabia’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 company’s chief technical officer and co-founder told Arab News.
“Whether it’s 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 speaker’s voice, tone and emotion — making it feel as if the original commentator is speaking the listener’s 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, we’ve 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 director’s 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. We’re 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 what’s possible — creating AI that delivers real value in the form of revenue and cost efficiencies to global content owners and distributors,” said Prakash.
“We’ve 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.”
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
The emerging technology team at MBC, led by Fadel Zahreddine, is at the forefront of innovation, aligning perfectly with CAMB.AI’s 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 region’s 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. AI’s 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 it’s essential that any advancement remains anchored in principles that respect culture, identity and shared community standards.”
