First phase of historic Sheikh’s Fortress renovation completed in Rijal Almaa
First phase of historic Sheikh’s Fortress renovation completed in Rijal Almaa/node/2603123/saudi-arabia
First phase of historic Sheikh’s Fortress renovation completed in Rijal Almaa
With the completion of the renovation efforts, the company is transforming the fortress to be one of the monuments in the region. (Supplied)
Short Url
https://arab.news/wrqmp
Updated 02 June 2025
Arab News
First phase of historic Sheikh’s Fortress renovation completed in Rijal Almaa
Sheikh’s Fortress is one of three heritage sites receiving emergency repairs through a collaboration between Soudah Development and the Tourist Villages Cooperative Society of Rijal Almaa, under a deal signed last year
Updated 02 June 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The first phase of renovating the historic Sheikh’s Fortress site in Rijal Almaa was recently completed by Soudah Development, a Public Investment Fund company.
It is one of the heritage sites in Jareen, one of six development zones within the Soudah Peaks project, according to a report.
Sheikh’s Fortress is one of three heritage sites receiving emergency repairs through a collaboration between Soudah Development and the Tourist Villages Cooperative Society of Rijal Almaa, under a deal signed last year.
The emergency restorations process of the Fortress is a partnership between the investment fund company and the Tourist Villages Cooperative Society of Rijal Almaa. (Supplied)
The collaboration includes emergency repairs of Sheikh’s Fortress, Bee House and Hamidiyah Fortress, the report said.
It is part of broader efforts by Soudah Development to preserve and protect architectural and cultural heritage within the Soudah Peaks project area, which includes about 300 historical and cultural sites.
The goal is to provide exceptional experiences for tourists and residents, create job opportunities, and boost the regional and national economy.
With the first phase of repairs complete, Sheikh’s Fortress will symbolize the region’s rich architectural, cultural and historical identity, and help promote local heritage.
Soudah Peaks will be a luxury mountain destination inspired by local architectural identity. The project includes six distinctive zones: Tahlal, Sahab, Sabrah, Jareen, Rijal and Red Rock.
It will offer luxury tourism, hospitality and residential experiences, and is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs while generating long-term economic impact for the region and the Kingdom.
Saudi Crown Prince receives message from Russian president
Updated 3 sec ago
Arab News
RIYADH: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, prime minister of ֱ, has received a written message from Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning bilateral relations between the two countries.
The message was delivered to Dr. Abdulrahman bin Ibrahim Al-Rassi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral International Affairs and supervisor general of the ministry's Agency for Public Diplomacy Affairs, during his meeting in Riyadh with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kozlov.
During the meeting, both sides reviewed bilateral ties and discussed ways to enhance cooperation across various fields.
Zimbabwe seeks to tap Saudi experience in water resource management/node/2613189/saudi-arabia
Zimbabwe seeks to tap Saudi experience in water resource management
Envoy Jonathan Wutawunashe holds talks with Saudi Irrigation Organization CEO Mohammed Abu Haid
Updated 51 min 17 sec ago
Arab News
RIYADH: Zimbabwe is seeking to tap the Kingdom’s experience in managing scarce water resources, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
During his visit, Ambassador of Zimbabwe to ֱ Jonathan Wutawunashe met with Saudi Irrigation Organization CEO Mohammed Abu Haid to discuss the issue, including possible collaboration.
On Tuesday, during a tour, Wutawunashe and his accompanying delegation were briefed on the ֱ organization’s main activities and areas of specialization.
They visited the digital transformation center to learn about the latest technologies applied in institutional transformation. And toured the laboratories, a key pillar in ensuring resource safety and enhancing services.
The officials visited a farm to review the organization’s experience in capacity building to strengthen water security, and facilities for reusing treated water to support the agricultural sector.
At the conclusion of the visit, Wutawunashe said he was confident the two nations could enhance cooperation to support mutual developmental efforts, the SPA reported.
Last week Wutawunashe met with National Water Co. CEO Dr. Fouad bin Ahmed Al-Sheikh Mubarak in Riyadh, where they explored cooperation in water and wastewater areas.
They also discussed the company’s core expertise in infrastructure services and network management.
Stargazers enjoy 2 rare events - sunspots and the Mars ‘red dot’ /node/2613160/saudi-arabia
Stargazers enjoy 2 rare events - sunspots and the Mars ‘red dot’
Sunspots were observed on the sun’s surface on Tuesday, appearing dark but displaying a radiant shine
Updated 27 August 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The northern border region witnessed two major astronomical events on Tuesday evening — a striking conjunction of the Moon with Mars and the star Chi Virginis, and the appearance of massive sunspots.
The former was visible to sightseers and offered ideal conditions for astrophotographers, with Mars identifiable by its reddish-orange hue.
Adnan Khalifah, a member of the space and astronomy club, said the moon appeared aligned with Mars, visible above the star Chi Virginis in the Virgo constellation.
Meanwhile several sunspots were observed on the sun’s surface on Tuesday, appearing dark but displaying a radiant shine. The spots are among the largest recorded this year, each spanning tens of thousands of kilometers and visible through small telescopes.
Astronomers say studying these spots is vital to understanding the sun’s 11-year cycle, which regulates solar activity. Sunspots can trigger solar flares or geomagnetic storms that may affect satellite navigation and communication systems.
PIF-owned Savvy Games expands ֱ’s gaming footprint
The centerpiece was the Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, which brought together 2,000 players from 200 clubs competing for a $70 million prize pool across 24 titles
Updated 26 August 2025
Lama Alhamawi
RIYADH: Savvy Games Group has underlined its commitment to ֱ’s gaming and esports ecosystem, noting strong growth in its 2025 annual report.
The Riyadh-based company, fully owned by the Public Investment Fund, said it had made major strides across three pillars — game development and publishing, esports, and ecosystem building in the Kingdom.
The Esports World Cup in Riyadh brought together 2,000 players from 200 clubs com- peting for a $70 million prize pool across 24 titles. (SPA)
The centerpiece was the Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, which brought together 2,000 players from 200 clubs competing for a $70 million prize pool across 24 titles.
Under its “ecosystem building” pillar the company launched the Savvy Academy, which focuses on games and esports education, as well as seven new partnerships to build the domestic sector.
FASTFACT
Savvy Academy is introducing training programs to support the domestic games and esports ecosystem.
Through partnerships with Princess Nourah University and King Abdulaziz University, and international companies including AWS, Unity and Feed Me Light, the academy is introducing training programs to support the domestic games and esports ecosystem.
Brian Ward, Savvy Games Group CEO
“We are working with the Ministry of Education on programs to roll out across 32,000 primary and secondary schools in the Kingdom, to give young people (the chance) to work with game development tools,” Brian Ward, group CEO of Savvy Games Group, told Arab News.
Their “Next-Gen” program gives Saudi students hands-on experience in game development.
The Esports World Cup in Riyadh brought together 2,000 players from 200 clubs com- peting for a $70 million prize pool across 24 titles. (SPA)
“It was so successful in terms of their enthusiasm, their immediate adoption to the technologies in terms of game design, concepting, taking the concept to ideation,” Ward said. “We think kids would love this. (They) were so amazing.”
While strengthening the Kingdom’s domestic sector, Savvy also expanded its global publishing operations. The company acquired Scopely in 2023 for $4.9 billion, and since then the publisher has tripled in size.
We are working with the Ministry of Education on programs to roll out across 32,000 primary and secondary schools in the Kingdom, to give young people (the chance) to work with game development tools.
Brian Ward, Savvy Games Group CEO
“Scopely is now the second largest mobile games publisher in the world,” said Ward.
In March this year, Scopely signed a $3.5 billion deal to acquire the video game division of Niantic Labs, including Pokemon Go.
Scopely’s “Monopoly Go” became the fastest game to reach $5 billion in revenue, and the company was named one of TIME’S 100 Most Influential Companies for a second consecutive year.
Walter Driver, Co-founder and co-CEO of Scopely. (Supplied)
At a media roundtable in Riyadh on Monday, Scopely co-founder and co-CEO Walter Driver said: “We saw over 5 billion hours of play time last year and perhaps the most unique aspect of this experience was 50 percent of our players were active on any given day playing seven days a week.
“Since we have started Scopely, we have had over 1 billion people download our products,” he added.
With SR142 billion ($38 billion) allocated by PIF to accelerate gaming sector growth, Savvy said it would continue investing globally while anchoring development in ֱ.
Its strategy is aligned with the National Gaming and Esports Strategy to position the Kingdom as a global leader in the industry by 2030.
