Author: Editorial Team

In a significant milestone for the global premium new energy vehicle industry, FREELANDER 8 made its first public appearance at the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum held at The Peninsula Shanghai on June 11, 2026. The showcase comes as FREELANDER prepares for its Middle East brand launch in Abu Dhabi. As one of the first international high-end investment forum to showcase the vehicle, the forum marks another significant step of FREELANDER’s global journey, with the Middle East identified as its first strategic launch market. Lucia Mao, CEO of FREELANDER International, delivered a keynote address to senior officials in a closed session,…

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has introduced new traffic regulations governing self-driving vehicles, establishing legal responsibilities for owners and operators. The amendments, approved by Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif and published in the official gazette Umm Al-Qura, add several provisions to the Executive Regulations of the Traffic Law covering vehicles capable of operating without human intervention. Approval required before vehicle deregistration Under the new rules, owners seeking to deregister a self-driving vehicle must first obtain approval from the relevant authority before the vehicle’s traffic record can be canceled. The measure aims to ensure that technical and regulatory requirements…

NEW YORK — Saudi Arabia has underscored the importance of strengthening international efforts to protect older persons, particularly those with disabilities, and ensuring their rights, dignity and full participation in society. The call was made by Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends of Ageing and Sustainable Development during a side event held on the sidelines of the 19th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York. Al-Wasel said the mistreatment of older persons is a…

Imagine growing up in a world where altering your looks is available at the click of a button. Want to look skinny? Use a slimming app. Don’t like your features? Use an AI edit. Too dusky? Lighten your skin tone. Got blemishes? Airbrush the photo. These Photoshop-esque features are so easily available and deeply normalised today that one rarely stops to assess the negative body image they propagate in teenagers growing up under the pressure to look “perfect” on social media. For 19-year-old Kaziah Liz Mejo, the newly crowned Miss Universe Kerala, this digital distortion became a lived reality. Before…

The central kitchen operated by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) continued distributing hot meals in the Gaza Strip.  KSrelief distributed 25,000 hot meals to the most vulnerable groups in central and southern Gaza Strip, benefiting 25,000 individuals, as part of the Saudi popular campaign to provide relief to the Palestinian people in the strip.  These efforts are part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s continued support, through KSrelief, for the Palestinian people and its efforts to provide essential assistance to affected groups in Gaza. Source: Riyadh Daily

Ericsson recently released a new software subscription designed to bring telco-grade AI models directly into basebands and radios. By doing this, the subscription will enable operators to boost 5G performance, automation and energy efficiency without adding new hardware. According to the vendor, the software uses AI models designed to operate in real time within the RAN, supported by continuous learning and agentic AI capabilities for more advanced network operations. The company stated its telco-grade models are built for ultra-low latency inference, with a focus on reliability across diverse RAN environments. The service works with Ericsson 5G Advanced across purpose-built and…

RIYADH — The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has foiled an attempt to smuggle 46,968 amphetamine pills into Saudi Arabia through the Al Haditha border crossing. ZATCA spokesperson Hamoud Al-Harbi said the narcotics were discovered during an inspection of a truck arriving in the Kingdom. The pills were concealed inside a shipment of metal containers carrying cheese. Following the seizure, ZATCA coordinated with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control to identify and apprehend the intended recipient of the shipment inside Saudi Arabia. Al-Harbi said authorities successfully arrested the recipient after completing the customs operation. ZATCA said it remains committed…

LOS ANGELES — Celebrated British American painter David Hockney, whose vibrant portraits and sun-drenched depictions of the everyday made him one of contemporary art’s most beloved figures, has died at 88. The English artist, whose deftly designed and suavely colored paintings turned trans-Atlantic attention to figurative and narrative art beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died “peacefully at home” on Thursday, one month short of his 89th birthday, according to a statement by his longtime publicist Erica Bolton. Over a seven-decade career, Hockney explored and reimagined classical portraiture, landscape painting and pop art, working in painting, collage, photography…

A new treatment could soon offer hope to some breast cancer patients in the UAE whose disease develops resistance to hormone therapy. The Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE) has approved AstraZeneca’s Etcamah, an oral targeted therapy designed for patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer who develop an ESR1 gene mutation while receiving endocrine, or hormone, treatment. The treatment is intended for a specific group of patients whose cancer can continue to grow after developing the mutation during therapy. Etcamah works by blocking and degrading estrogen receptors in cancer cells, helping slow disease progression. Stay up to date with the latest…

The hotel sector in Madinah has topped the region’s fastest-growing real estate sectors, driven by continuous growth in visitor numbers, supporting the expansion of luxury, mid-range, and apartment hotels, and attracting global hotel brands to increase their investments in the region.  The Madinah Chamber stated in its report issued today that the momentum in the hospitality sector has positively impacted the commercial and residential sectors, driven by population growth, rising visitor numbers, and expanding development projects, increasing demand for commercial centers, mixed-use complexes, restaurants, cafes, and retail spaces.  The report identified key promising investment opportunities in the region’s real estate…