King Salman orders $1 billion to be invested into Pakistan – Arab News

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RIYADH: King Salman has issued a directive to invest $1 billion dollars into Pakistan, in confirmation of the Kingdom’s support for the country and its people, Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The directive came during a telephone call between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Regional and international issues of common interest were also discussed during the call.
Bhutto Zardari said on Twitter that he welcomed the investment in Pakistan and briefed his counterpart “on damages caused by unprecedented floods” in his country.
He added that he highly valued the solidarity expressed  by Saudi Arabia and “all possible assistance” provided by the Kingdom.
DUBAI: The Commission of Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) affirmed its support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh. 
The statement issued on Tuesday by ECCAS comes after the president of the commission, Gilberto Da Piedade Verissimo, received Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Qattan, Saudi Arabia’s Royal Court Advisor, in Gabon. 
According to the statement, which was released following the meeting, ECCAS affirmed its “strong support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s hosting the ‘First Saudi-African Summit’ and the ‘Fifth Arab-African Summit’ in Riyadh”. 
During the meeting, Qattan and Verissimo discussed ways of cooperation between Saudi and the ECCAS, opportunities to enhance economic and investment cooperation, and joint coordination in areas of common interest. 
The Gabonese foreign minister, Michael Moussa Adamo, also attended the meeting. 
Advisor Qattan expressed Saudi Arabia’s appreciation for the support received, which reflects the distinguished relations between the Kingdom and ECCAS’s state members.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s royal court advisor and General Supervisor of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (Ksrelief) met with the Ambassador of Kuwait to Yemen. 
Kuwaiti ambassador Falah Badah Al-Hajraf expressed his admiration for KSRelief’s ‘distinguished professional level’ in the field of humanitarian aid when he met with the general supervisor of the relief center, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah.
RIYADH: More than 50 local and international experts and specialists attended a workshop at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology to discuss the implementation of the Saudi Green Initiative’s plans to plant 10 billion trees.
The event was organized by the National Center for the Development of Vegetation Cover and Combating Desertification in cooperation with KAUST’s Center of Desert Agriculture. The participants included representatives of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, as well as the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

The workshop considered a number of scientific topics and themes, including agriculture in various environments, scientific methodologies for the cultivation and rehabilitation of land, and the urban factors such as roads, government and commercial buildings, public parks and mosques.
It also looked at mechanisms for the afforestation of cities and the environmentally friendly development of urban environments and green belts using the latest international technologies and expertise.
Participants discussed the role of road networks and railways in afforestation projects and efforts to reduce desertification, along with ways in which abandoned farms can be exploited using recycled water and collected rainwater to help achieve afforestation and food-security goals.
The workshop was part of a Saudi Green Initiative research project to assess the situation in the Kingdom with respect to the afforestation plans, determine future needs, develop processes for field surveys, come up with rules for the development of digital-mapping efforts, and establish a geospatial platform for afforestation across the country.
The aim is to develop a comprehensive strategy for afforestation, and an executive plan to manage partnerships across various sectors and organizations to help achieve the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative.
 
 
RIYADH: Hovering a few feet above the ground, flying weightlessly and defying the laws of gravity is attracting women to practice the art of aerial yoga.
In an aerial yoga class, similar poses to yoga done on the mat are performed, but instead of using your body weight to support yourself, you use a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling.
Sarah Farhoud, a Saudi aerial fitness freelancer and yoga teacher, was introduced to aerial yoga classes while she was in medical school. “I used to go to do yoga and relax, and for a change, I decided to take an aerial class, and I never looked back,” Farhoud told Arab News.
She loved the sport so much that she became a freelance instructor in 2016 and has been taking aerial fitness classes in multiple studios across Riyadh.
The high demand was after 2017 when it was permitted to open licensed ladies’ gyms. I got the TOT (the Training of Trainers) from Cirque Fitness USA. Today, we have 508 certified instructors in aerial hammock, silks, and hoop by aerial arts in Saudi Arabia.
Roa Al-Sahhaf, Aerial yoga instructor
“Girls are interested, and they like the challenge. They trust the hammock, and they do not fear being upside down. They are encouraged to take harder poses and they trust their bodies. I think the new generation is more courageous and excited,” she said.
The hammock is designed to help you increase your flexibility and strength while enabling you to perform more difficult poses without putting additional strain on your shoulders, spine or head.
“If your life is stressful, try aerial yoga as a way to break up your routine and rediscover the joy of being upside down, using the fabric to lift you to the other side, or using it as a swing. I’ve attended many classes where everyone is laughing and giggling because they’re having a good time, and you can allow yourself to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment,” Farhoud said.
She believes that Vision 2030 will encourage more studios to open and make sports more inclusive and accessible for everyone by opening parks and community centers.
Roa Al-Sahhaf, an aerial yoga instructor, was in Paris when she was introduced to aerial yoga and decided to take it back home.
“I tried aerial for the first time in Paris, and when I came back to Saudi Arabia I couldn’t find it anywhere in Jeddah, so I decided to open one in Jeddah. It started as a home studio, and then I started giving classes to other gyms. Eventually, in 2018, I opened my own studio named Aerial Arts in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Sahhaf told Arab News.
Al-Sahhaf noticed that there was a high demand for the sport, but there were not enough instructors.
“The high demand was after 2017 when it was permitted to open licensed ladies’ gyms. I got the TOT (the Training of Trainers) from Cirque Fitness USA. Today, we have 508 certified instructors in aerial hammock, silks, and hoop by aerial arts in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Al-Sahhaf said that many people enjoy trying new things and that aerial yoga can be more popular than traditional yoga due to its greater difficulty and the enjoyment people gain from it.
“Aerial is like a water sport. It’s good for people who are not flexible or who have roughness in the knees or fragility in the disc. It’s good for people who can’t do any kind of sport because the hammock lifts so much weight off them,” Al-Sahhaf said.
“It’s like doing an exercise with another person, and by the end of the session we always give a meditation (exercise) so they can be tangled around the hammock and meditate,” she said. “It gives them a great feeling.”
Yoga is gaining popularity as a fitness trend in Saudi Arabia, and the Ministry of Commerce approved the teaching and practice of yoga as a sport in the Kingdom in November 2017.
“The facilities have improved a lot in the fields of licensing, support, sponsorship, and we are happy with this,” Al-Sahhaf said.
 
RIYADH: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the general-supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, held talks with the UN Assistant Secretary General and the Executive Director of the Global Executive Leadership Initiative Panos Moumtzis in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
During the meeting, Al-Rabeeah, who is also an adviser at the Royal Court, was introduced to the Global Executive Leadership Initiative and its role in developing leadership and executive skills in international humanitarian work.
They also discussed aspects of joint cooperation in this field.
Moumtzis praised the work and humanitarian and relief activities that the Kingdom offers through KSrelief, which contribute to alleviating the suffering of the needy and affected people around the world.
The KSrelief chief also held talks with Ahamed Nazeer Zainulabdeen, Sri Lankan minister of environment and foreign investment promotion, to discuss the latest developments in humanitarian and relief projects provided by the Kingdom for the Sri Lankan people, which have so far reached 11 projects in various sectors. The two sides also discussed aspects of cooperation between them to serve humanitarian and relief works in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan minister also praised KSrelief’s distinguished humanitarian work.
Also on Tuesday, Al-Rabeeah met with Kuwait’s ambassador to Yemen Falah Al-Hajraf, who also thanked the center for its relief efforts in the war-torn country.

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