News

The First Female Saudi Astronaut Heads To Space On May 21

Rayyanah Barnawi is the first Arab Muslim female astronaut to journey to space, joining her teammate Ali AlQarni aboard the International Space Station.

Published

2 years ago

May 16, 2023

Nour Nasir

the first female saudi astronaut heads to space on may 21

Saudi Press Agency

On May 21, 2023, the Arab world will witness another historic mission to space as Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Arab Muslim female astronaut, blasts off from the United States on a journey to the International Space Station.

The mission is part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious space research program and aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 manifesto. During the mission, Rayyanah Barnawi and teammate Ali AlQarni will conduct groundbreaking scientific experiments aimed at furthering human space exploration, as well as using live feeds to engage with 12,000 Saudi students.

Also Read: Dubai’s Self-Driving, Electric Abra Blends Tech With Tradition

Once the mission has been successfully completed, Saudi Arabia will join a select few countries that have simultaneously sent two astronauts to the International Space Station.

The May 21 mission represents a significant milestone for Saudi Arabia’s space program, which aims to prepare future engineers and astronauts for further space-related assignments.

News

Google Releases Veo 2 AI Video Tool To MENA Users

The state-of-the-art video generation model is now available in Gemini, offering realistic AI-generated videos with better physics, motion, and detail.

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2025

Nour Nasir

Google

Starting today, users of Gemini Advanced in the MENA region — and globally — can tap into Veo 2, Google’s next-generation video model.

Originally unveiled in 2024, Veo 2 has now been fully integrated into Gemini, supporting multiple languages including Arabic and English. The rollout now brings Google’s most advanced video AI directly into the hands of everyday users.

Veo 2 builds on the foundations of its predecessor with a more sophisticated understanding of the physical world. It’s designed to produce high-fidelity video content with cinematic detail, realistic motion, and greater visual consistency across a wide range of subjects and styles. Whether recreating natural landscapes, human interactions, or stylized environments, the model is capable of interpreting and translating written prompts into eight-second 720p videos that feel almost handcrafted.

Users can generate content directly through the Gemini platform — either via the web or mobile apps. The experience is pretty straightforward: users enter a text-based prompt, and Veo 2 returns a video in 16:9 landscape format, delivered as an MP4 file. These aren’t just generic clips — they can reflect creative, abstract, or highly specific scenarios, making the tool especially useful for content creators, marketers, or anyone experimenting with visual storytelling.

Also Read: Getting Started With Google Gemini: A Beginner’s Guide

To ensure transparency, each video is embedded with SynthID — a digital watermark developed by Google’s DeepMind. The watermark is invisible to the human eye but persists across editing, compression, and sharing. It identifies the video as AI-generated, addressing concerns around misinformation and media authenticity.

While Veo 2 is still in its early phases of public rollout, the technology is part of a broader push by Google to democratize advanced AI tools. With text-to-image, code generation, and now video creation integrated into Gemini, Google is positioning the platform as a full-spectrum creative assistant.

Access to Veo 2 starts today and will continue expanding in the coming weeks. Interested users can try it out at gemini.google.com or through the Gemini app on Android and iOS.