
14,500 Saudis studying in US: Education Minister
The US has been a key education destination for Saudis for over 70 years, he told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Since the scholarship program began, hundreds of thousands of students have been sent to American universities.
Al-Benyan noted that this academic presence helped build a strong base of Saudi professionals in medicine, engineering, science, management, and other fields.
Universities like King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, and King Faisal University have over 120 research agreements with US institutions, he added.
These cover areas such as renewable energy, biotech, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The minister noted that more than 15 joint training and cooperation programs are ongoing with American universities and research centers.
They focus on AI, cybersecurity, and clean energy, alongside partnerships aimed at researcher exchange and developing technical and academic capabilities.
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Al Arabiya
16 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Nih cuts spotlight a hidden crisis facing patients with experimental brain implants
Carol Seeger finally escaped her debilitating depression with an experimental treatment that placed electrodes in her brain and a pacemaker-like device in her chest. But when its batteries stopped working, insurance wouldn't pay to fix the problem, and she sank back into a dangerous darkness. She worried for her life, asking herself: 'Why am I putting myself through this?' Seeger's predicament highlights a growing problem for hundreds of people with experimental neural implants, including those for depression, quadriplegia, and other conditions. Although these patients take big risks to advance science, there's no guarantee that their devices will be maintained – particularly after they finish participating in clinical trials – and no mechanism requiring companies or insurers to do so. A research project led by Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, a Harvard University scientist, aimed to change that by creating partnerships between players in the burgeoning implant field to overcome barriers to device access and follow-up care. But the cancellation of hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants by the Trump administration this year left the project in limbo, dimming hope for Seeger and others like her who wonder what will happen to their health and progress. An ethical quagmire – Unlike medications, implanted devices often require parts, maintenance, batteries, and surgeries when changes are needed. Insurance typically covers such expenses for federally approved devices considered medically necessary but not experimental ones. A procedure to replace a battery alone can cost more than $15,000 without insurance, Lázaro-Muñoz said. 'While companies stand to profit from research, there's really nothing that helps ensure that device manufacturers have to provide any of these parts or cover any kind of maintenance,' said Lázaro-Muñoz. Some companies also move on to newer versions of devices or abandon the research altogether, which can leave patients in an uncertain place. Medtronic, the company that made the deep brain stimulation or DBS technology Seeger used, said in a statement that every study is different and that the company puts patient safety first when considering care after studies end. 'People consider various possibilities when they join a clinical trial.' The Food and Drug Administration requires the informed consent process to include a description of reasonably foreseeable risks and discomforts to the participant, a spokesperson said. However, the FDA doesn't require trial plans to include procedures for long-term device follow-up and maintenance, although the spokesperson stated that the agency has requested those in the past. While some informed consent forms say devices will be removed at a study's end, Lázaro-Muñoz said removal is ethically problematic when a device is helping a patient. Plus, he said some trial participants told him and his colleagues that they didn't remember everything discussed during the consent process, partly because they were so focused on getting better. Brandy Ellis, a 49-year-old in Boynton Beach, Florida, said she was desperate for healing when she joined a trial testing the same treatment Seeger got, which delivers an electrical current into the brain to treat severe depression. She was willing to sign whatever forms were necessary to get help after nothing else had worked. 'I was facing death,' she said. 'So it was most definitely consent at the barrel of a gun, which is true for a lot of people who are in a terminal condition.' Patients risk losing a treatment of last resort – Ellis and Seeger, 64, both turned to DBS as a last resort after trying many approved medications and treatments. 'I got in the trial fully expecting it not to work because nothing else had. So I was kind of surprised when it did,' said Ellis, whose device was implanted in 2011 at Emory University in Atlanta. 'I am celebrating every single milestone because I'm like: 'This is all bonus life for me.'' She's now on her third battery. She needed surgery to replace two single-use ones, and the one she has now is rechargeable. She's lucky her insurance has covered the procedures, she said, but she worries it may not in the future. 'I can't count on any coverage because there's nothing that says even though I've had this and it works that it has to be covered under my commercial or any other insurance,' said Ellis, who advocates for other former trial participants. Even if companies still make replacement parts for older devices, she added, availability and accessibility are entirely different things given most people can't afford continued care without insurance coverage. Seeger, whose device was implanted in 2012 at Emory, said she went without a working device for around four months when the insurance coverage her wife's job at Emory provided wouldn't pay for battery replacement surgery. Neither would Medicare, which generally only covers DBS for FDA-approved uses. With her research team at Emory advocating for her, Seeger ultimately got financial help from the hospital's indigent care program and paid a few thousand dollars out of pocket. She now has a rechargeable battery, and the device has been working well. But at any point, she said that could change. Federal cuts stall solutions – Lázaro-Muñoz hoped his work would protect people like Seeger and Ellis. 'We should do whatever we can as a society to be able to help them maintain their health,' he said. Lázaro-Muñoz's project received about $987,800 from the National Institute of Mental Health in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years and was already underway when he was notified of the NIH funding cut in May. He declined to answer questions about it. Ellis said any delay in addressing the thorny issues around experimental brain devices hurts patients. 'Planning at the beginning of a clinical trial about how to continue treatment and maintain devices,' she said, 'would be much better than depending on the kindness of researchers and the whims of insurers.' 'If this turns off, I get sick again. Like, I'm not cured,' she said. 'This is a treatment that absolutely works but only as long as I've got a working device.'


Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Milky Way stargazing event to explore AlUla's wonders
RIYADH: The AlUla Manara team is organizing a stargazing event on Monday evening to explore AlUla's wonders and observe the Milky Way during one of the best viewing periods of the month. The iconic Arch Rock will host the event as part of a year-round series of activities aimed at enhancing community awareness of astronomy, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The gathering will engage AlUla residents, visitors, astronomy enthusiasts and space researchers in an interactive experience, including field observation sessions and scientific discussions led by members of the AlUla Astronomy Club. Such initiatives help foster a scientific culture and encourage community interest in cosmic discoveries, the SPA added. Participants will have the opportunity to witness the Milky Way firsthand, track various astronomical phenomena such as meteor showers and observe the North Star. The event promises a captivating visual experience in a natural setting free from light pollution, blending contemplation with the joy of stargazing. The initiative is part of the AlUla Manara team's efforts to support educational pathways and scientific exploration, while promoting community events related to science and discovery, in line with Vision 2030 goals for innovation and the diversification of cultural and tourism experiences.


Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Comic-con goes interstellar with 'Project Hail Mary,' 'Star trek' updates
Comic-Con is headed to space for its third day. Saturday's biggest presentations at the pop culture extravaganza will be for Project Hail Mary, which stars Ryan Gosling on an interstellar mission to save humanity, and for the next series in the Star Trek franchise. Fans are also getting a sneak peek at Coyote vs. ACME, a hybrid live-action and animated project that was shelved by Warner Bros. in a cost-cutting move but will get a theatrical release in 2026. The movie features John Cena, who is also a star of the DC series Peacemaker, which will have a presentation Saturday in Comic-Con's massive Hall H. Project Hail Mary is an adaptation of the book by Martin Weir, whose book The Martian was adapted by Ridley Scott in 2015. An estimated 135,000 people – many in costumes – are expected to attend Comic-Con 2025, which runs through Sunday in downtown San Diego. So far, fans have gotten previews of Five Nights at Freddy's 2, the upcoming FX series Alien: Earth, and Predator: Badlands, which will be in theaters in November. Coyote vs. Acme, coming to theaters in August 2026, Wile E. Coyote is getting his day in court – and theaters. The stars of Coyote vs. Acme delivered a rousing presentation of a movie that at one point wasn't going to be released. The underdog story – both of the movie and Coyote – was a running theme of the panel. But rather than direct ire at Warner Bros., the real-world studio that shelved the project, the panel focused on the fictional Acme Corp. 'This is purely an Acme decision… and I am saying this for legal purposes,' moderator Paul Scheer said at the start of the panel. The movie is a hybrid of animation and live action and is based on a 1990 New Yorker article that satirized a legal complaint filed by Coyote against Acme, the maker of the TNT detonators, rocket shoes, catapults, and other products that consistently backfire during the Coyote's fruitless attempts to catch the Roadrunner. Laughter filled Hall H, the massive 6,000-seat venue, as fans watched a montage of Coyote being blown up, flattened, and falling into chasms in a scene set to Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt. Coyote is replaying the moments in his lair when an ad for a personal injury lawyer appears on TV. They also played six minutes of the movie, including a scene of opening statements in the case in which Coyote's lawyer, Will Forte, accidentally unleashes a rocket skate into the courtroom, setting Coyote and the judge's robes on fire. John Cena plays a slick Acme lawyer who wins over the jury, which includes a cartoon character, quickly. Forte said he didn't think the movie would ever get to audiences. 'I'm pretty speechless. You think back to the journey that this movie has taken. I had kind of given up hope at a certain point,' Forte said. At one point, his comments were interrupted by a man playing an Acme lawyer who stormed into Hall H with cease-and-desist letters. Director Dave Green said the movie conforms to famed animator Chuck Jones' rules for the struggle between the Coyote and Roadrunner, which include the bird always staying on the road and the Coyote being ultimately more humiliated than hurt when he falls, is crushed, or gets blown up by TNT. The movie, which features cameos from numerous Looney Tunes characters like Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety, and Bugs Bunny, will be released on Aug. 28, 2026. Ketchup Entertainment teamed up with Warner Bros. on the film and in the release of The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.