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Is Saudi making waves or feeling heatwaves?

Almost 600 people have died during the holy pilgrimage of Hajj this year because of the scorching heat levels

Author

Akhbaar Team
June 20, 2024

News Bites

  1. Almost 600 people have died during the holy pilgrimage of Hajj this year because of the scorching heat levels

  2. Yet another fire blazes, but this time in Iran’s Qaem Hospital. 9 people died because of the fire that started in the basement where emergency power generators are stored 🔥

  3. Is there something in the water near southern Italy? 2 separate shipwrecks have resulted in 11 people dead and 64 missing. The wooden boats were intercepted by Germans, where migrants from Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt were discovered (they have now been handed over to Italian authorities…) 🚣🏾‍♂️

  4. Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday killed at least 17 Palestinians in 2 refugee camps in Rafah — seems to be no signs of the assault stopping or a truce being reached 💣

In This Issue

💰 Millionaires in Dubai
🏜️ What’s the problem with NEOM?
🏆 Meta’s ready to dish ca$h out to THESE companies
🚫 Is Indonesia gonna ban X?!

Today’s issue will take around 5-6 minutes to read 🤓

Economy

  • YO, MILLIONAIRES! Time to flex in Dubai! The UAE has claimed the top spot for resident millionaires, and is expecting 6,700 new ballers this year! 💸🌴✨ (AHEM time to look lost in Dubai to find a DuBOY)

  • Turkiye and Saudi Arabia flexed with higher GDP growth than the G7 in Q1 2024 🔥! Turkiye hit 2.4% and Saudi Arabia 1.4%. G7, take a seat!! 🚀💰

  • Qatar just snagged 11th place in the world for corporate boards and migrant stock! 💼✨ Basically, Qatar is kinda the place to be (yooo expats, anyone looking for work??) 🌍🤩

Kim Kardashian Snl GIF by Saturday Night Live

Real Estate

  • Stake is bringing its fractional real estate platform to Abu Dhabi from Dubai! They got a little help from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, who just dropped a casual $14M into their move 🚀🌆

  • Experts say The Line in Saudi's NEOM mega city is out of touch with reality. Major probs include sky-high costs and unsustainable environmental issues 🚫🌍💸

  • The US has pledged $130M for Egyptian development! This includes a bunch of big real estate projects! 🏗️🔥 Now, if only they could pledge to STOP doing something else…HMMM 🤔🍉

Egyptian Cinema Reaction GIF

Arts and Culture

  • What’s the Saudi Tourism Authority doing at the Cannes Lions advertising show?? Well…they’re just advertising the perks of being in Saudi. The team presented the “Saudi Transformation” to festival attendees: a dream life in the Kingdom that’s less about oil and more about creativity, innovation, and exciting work opportunities 👨🏿‍🎨

  • Indonesia is ready to ban Elon Musk’s X in the country! Turns out, X has updates its rules & regulations to allow consensually produced adult content. Indonesia’s Minister, Budi Arie Setiadi, said the country will shut the social platform down unless this rule changes (say goodbye to 24.85 million users— yikes!) 🫢

  • Want to get a taste of Arabia in London?? You can until Sunday! Get some camel milk and date ice cream, or witness a coffee ceremony at the Saudi pavilion at the Taste of London food fest 🤤🍦

Hungry Full House GIF

Technology

  • The Middle East is crushing it in real-time payments with 33.6% growth in 2023 and 855M transactions, aiming for 3B by 2028! 🚀 Transaction values for all GCC states are set to jump from $230B in 2023 to $903B by 2028. Do you remember the last time you carried cash?? Neither do we 🤷🏾‍♀️ Electronic transactions hit 50%+ last year, and RTPs are set to soar to 22% by 2028 💸📱

  • Meta (Facebook’s parent company) just launched the Meta Llama Impact Innovation Awards! With up to $35,000 up for grabs, this is a golden chance to tackle regional challenges in education, public services, healthcare, and safety 🚀 Apply between June 17 and July 26, and show how Llama is at the heart of your project. Winners will be announced by September 2024 🌟

✨ akhbaar Spotlight ✨

Sarkhail Bawany

More than 2/3 of startups fail…but Abhi refused to be one of them. Co-founded by Omair Ansari and Ali Ladhubhai, the Pakistani fintech company allows employees to get salary advances before payday! Bawany joined just after 2 months of the company’s inception and helped grow its digital payment platform for small/big businesses. Now, he’s CEO of Abhi Pay and is also listed on Forbes 30 under 30 Asia! (Hey, we’re a startup, too. Waiting to hear from Forbes soon…)

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