News
Saudi Arabia To Transform Downtown Riyadh By 2030
By 2030, the massive development project will add $48 billion to the country’s GDP and generate more than 334,000 jobs.
Saudi Arabia has announced ambitious plans to transform downtown Riyadh into a major global mega-city. To make the project a reality, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the New Murabba Development Corporation (NMDC) to aid planning and construction.
The 19 square kilometer site to the northwest of Riyadh will be designed from the outset as a smart and sustainable downtown area, able to hold 20 buildings the size of New York’s trademark Empire State building.
According to the state news agency SPA, the NMDC’s civil engineering project will have over 80 cultural and entertainment venues, a technology and design university, a museum, and an immersive multi-use theater when completed in time for Expo 2030, which Saudi Arabia could potentially host.
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The New Murabba project will be centered around sustainability and feature green areas, plus walking and cycling paths to enhance the quality of life and promote healthy, active lifestyles. As well as significantly boosting the well-being of Riyadh citizens, it’s hoped that by 2030, the project will have added $48 billion to the country’s GDP and generated 334,000 jobs.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
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