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Workers in Amazon Warehouses in Saudi Arabia Await Financial Relief: ‘We Demand Justice’

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Asian warehouse employees report that Amazon, recognized as the world’s second-largest employer, has failed to fulfill its commitment to compensate them for financial exploitation tied to the operations of Saudi online retailers.

In 2023, Amazon announced it would refund recruitment fees to Asian contract workers who were compelled to pay substantial amounts to secure jobs in the warehouses of Saudi companies. Since then, the company has disbursed over $2.6 million in compensation to approximately 950 workers from various nations.

However, two years later, numerous immigrants are still awaiting reimbursement of their recruitment fees, with uncertain prospects for financial relief. Of the 67 workers interviewed by the Guardian, 36 indicated they had yet to receive payments from Amazon, despite having paid significant fees to gain employment in the company’s Saudi Arabian operations.

“I want to tell Amazon: If you intend to repay your debt, do it now,” stated Rameshwar Sharma, a worker from Nepal, who reported not having received any compensation. “Don’t treat us like fools. We are not begging. We seek justice.”

In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan remarked that the company was “working swiftly and diligently to identify individuals entitled to reimbursement for employment costs incurred at third-party vendors that violated supply chain standards.”

She further noted that “we are aware that our work is not complete,” and that Amazon will “persist in issuing refunds as swiftly as possible.”

Labor rights advocates from Amnesty International, a human rights organization that scrutinized Amazon’s labor practices in Saudi Arabia, condemned the delays in processing worker payments as unacceptable.

“Too many individuals are still in limbo, and every delay prolongs their suffering,” commented Ella Knight from Amnesty International. “For one of the wealthiest companies globally, the sum involved is a mere drop in the ocean. However, for workers, timely justice can transform lives.”

Amazon, she insisted, “must act promptly to uphold its full human rights responsibilities.”

Some of the workers interviewed expressed concerns that the issue extends beyond mere delays. They reported being deemed ineligible for payments despite having paid substantial recruitment fees and having worked in Amazon’s Saudi Arabian operations.

Mithra Lal Sapkota, a Nepali worker, mentioned that he was informed he would not be refunded because his employment with Amazon ended in October 2023. Impactt staff, acting as Amazon’s intermediaries for compensation, left messages for Nepali workers stating that payments were only for those who ended their employment with Amazon in 2023 or later.

“Why are dates so crucial to them?” questioned Mithra Lal Sapkota. Impactt informed him that his job at Amazon ended in 2022, making him ineligible for a refund of his recruitment fees.

“What Amazon is doing feels disingenuous,” he remarked.

Amazon did not respond to inquiries regarding whether October 2023 was a cutoff date for payment eligibility, nor did they clarify the criteria for determining payment recipients.

Concerns about the treatment of vulnerable workers in Amazon’s Saudi warehouses gained significant attention following a survey released on October 10, 2023, by the Guardian, NBC News, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists along with the Arab Reporter for Investigative Journalism. The reporting revealed that workers were charged recruitment fees ranging from approximately $830 to $2,300 to secure jobs in Amazon’s Saudi warehouses, violating Supply Chain Standards.

In response to media inquiries and an investigation by Amnesty International, Amazon committed to enhancing its labor practices and reimbursing recruitment fees for workers involved with its Saudi Arabian operations.

By February 2024, Amazon had compensated over 700 workers with approximately $1.9 million. Nevertheless, the pace of payments has since dwindled, with numerous workers claiming they remain excluded. Among the 44 current and former Amazon contract workers interviewed for the Guardian’s report in December 2024, 33 stated they had yet to receive any refund from the company. “These are intricate and prolonged processes, and we do our utmost to expedite refunds,” Amazon explained at the time.

Since the follow-up report, Amazon has distributed over $330,000 in compensation to roughly 100 workers.

The migrant workers involved in this story hail from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Kenya.

Bangladeshi worker MD Foisal Mia reported paying a recruitment company over $3,500 for a contract position in Amazon’s Saudi operations. He mentioned he has yet to receive any indication of compensation from Amazon or Impactt. He hopes that a refund for his recruitment fees would significantly impact his family’s circumstances.

“My family is in need. It’s challenging to manage a household,” stated Mia, who currently works at a vegetable store in Kuwait. “Please return my fee. This money means little to you, but it is everything to me.”

Nepali worker Sonu Kumar Mandal sought employment in the Amazon warehouse in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in 2021. To afford the costs, he secured a loan from a local moneylender with an exorbitant annual interest rate of 36%.

However, he was unable to meet his repayment obligations as his earnings were directed towards supporting his financially struggling family.

“I don’t have the funds to pay interest at present. I’m unemployed,” he lamented. “If Amazon were to refund the money, I would be able to settle the loan.”

Several workers denied compensation expressed that if Amazon genuinely wanted to reimburse them, they could have informed them about the refund process.

“Amazon has my phone number, my email, my passport, everything,” said Kishor Kumar Chaudhary, another Nepali worker. “If they wanted to reach me, they could easily do so. But why haven’t they?”

Pradip Kumar Mahato, a former Amazon employee from Nepal, filled out an online compensation form and sent a voice message to Impactt staff in July. In a reply, the staff conveyed: “[money] Very slim…we’re trying, but there’s no guarantee.”

Callahan, the Amazon spokesperson, expressed that the company is establishing a comprehensive complaint resolution mechanism for workers to voice their concerns. Amazon provides a web page where individuals, including former employees, can file complaints in various languages regarding the company’s employment and environmental practices.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Cheetah Discovered Preserved as a Mummy in a Cave in Saudi Arabia

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One of the mummified cheetahs found in a cave

Ahmed Boug et al. 2025/Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife

Recent findings report the discovery of seven cheetah mummies, dating back thousands of years, in caves located in Saudi Arabia.

The cheetah (acinonyx jubatus) populations have seen drastic reductions due to habitat destruction, hunting, and the wildlife trade, leading to their disappearance from the Arabian Peninsula several decades ago. Ahmed Boug and his associates at the National Wildlife Centre in Riyadh revealed details about these seven mummified cheetahs along with 54 skeletal sites found in the Lauga Cave Network in northern Saudi Arabia during the years 2022 and 2023.

The mummies, preserved through a unique process that inhibits decomposition, date back approximately 4,000 to 100 years.

“These discoveries are incredibly significant,” states Anne Schmidt Künzel from the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. “While the mummification of Negrids isn’t wholly unexpected, this marks a groundbreaking and important find.”

“The stable temperature and low humidity in the cave environment likely aided the mummification process,” the researchers noted.

The reason for the cheetahs’ presence in the cave remains a mystery, as these animals typically do not utilize caves as dens or for storing carcasses. At the time of investigation, none of the five caves revealed any water supply.

Many of the remains were located in caves accessible solely via sinkholes, leading Schmidt Künzel to propose that the cheetahs may have fallen and become trapped. Additionally, remains of other animals including insects, wolves, striped hyenas, gazelles, and red foxes were also discovered here.

Upon examining 20 complete cheetah skulls, researchers found that six belonged to adults, while the rest were from individuals aged between 6 and 24 months. There were also nine cub skeletons located in the primary cave. The abundance of young cheetahs indicates that adult females might have used the cave for collective protection, according to Schmidt Künzel.

Camera traps set up during the investigation indicated that wolves were also using these caves. “This implies that during the cheetah’s lifespan, they may have frequented several, if not all, of these caves, enabling them to enter intentionally,” Schmidt Künzel added.

While there is only one species of cheetah, it is divided into four genetically distinct subspecies. The Southeast African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus jubatus) is the most populous, while the Northeast African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii) and Northwest African cheetah (acinonyx jubatus heck) exist in smaller, fragmented groups. The Asian cheetah (acinonyx jubatus venaticus), meanwhile, has very few remaining members in Iran.

Boug and his team sequenced the genomes of three sets of artifacts. Their research indicated that the mummified individuals are most closely related to the Asian subspecies, currently found in that region.

Schmidt-Künzel emphasizes that this work supports the notion that all cheetah subspecies can adapt to similar arid conditions, making it feasible to reintroduce them to the area through selective breeding of African subspecies.

Conservation and Rewilding in Central Apennines: Italy

A visit to Italy’s central Apennine region offers an enticing introduction to the concept and practice of rewilding.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Pokemon Go Developer Sells Games to Saudi Arabian Companies for $3.5 billion

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Niantic Labs announced the sale of its video games division to Saudi-owned Scopely for a whopping $3.5 billion. This move comes as U.S. augmented reality companies pivot towards geospatial technology, unable to recreate the success of the 2016 sensation, Pokémon Go.

The deal, revealed on Wednesday, also propels Saudi Arabia closer to its goal of becoming the ultimate global gaming hub. The Kingdom’s Sovereign Wealth Fund acquired Scopely for $4.9 billion in 2023 as part of a broader strategy to diversify beyond fossil fuels.

As per the agreement, Niantic will distribute an additional $350 million to its shareholders. Additionally, it will separate its Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (AI) business into a new entity named Niantic Spatial, led by John Hanke, the founder, and CEO of Niantic.

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Niantic Spatial will receive $250 million in capital from Niantic’s balancesheet and an additional $50 million from Scopely. All former investors of Niantic will retain their shares in Niantic Spatial.

This move marks the end of a challenging period for Niantic, which struggled post the success of Pokémon Go, leading to employee layoffs in 2022 and 2023.

Saudi Arabia, already known for being a gaming and esports center, is steadfast in its plan to invest nearly $38 billion in gaming-related ventures through its savvy gaming group.

Savvy Games, a prominent investor in global video game companies, including Nintendo, holds a 7.54% stake despite a slight profit decrease last year.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Saudi dissidents are pursuing lawsuits despite concerns of a crackdown across borders

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An influential Saudi dissident who collaborated closely with Jamal Khashoggi was harmed in a security breach of the company, then known as Twitter Inc., by Saudi officials in 2014, as stated by a U.S. appeals court. In response, the company mentioned taking further legal action against the dissident.

Personal details about Canadian resident Omar Abdulaziz, a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, were exposed to Riyadh by a Twitter employee who used an anonymous account to access Abdulaziz’s information. This information was later acquired by the Saudi government to silence Abdulaziz’s criticisms.

The breach, dating back almost a decade and involving around 6,000 accounts, was uncovered in 2018 and had severe repercussions for Abdulaziz, including the incarceration of his family in Saudi Arabia. Saudi operatives also obtained Abdulaziz’s phone number, which was exploited by the Saudis. Citizen Lab researchers later revealed that Abdulaziz was targeted using NSO Group spyware while he was in close contact with Khashoggi, who was tragically killed a few months later.

Abdulaziz is currently facing challenges with both Twitter and X Company, owned by Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk.

Despite a recent appeals court ruling dismissing Abdulaziz’s lawsuit against the social media platform for negligence in preventing Saudi operatives from accessing his account due to not meeting California’s statute of limitations requirements, the court did recognize that Abdulaziz had standing to pursue the lawsuit based on alleged harm caused by the company’s actions. In light of this development, Abdulaziz intends to seek a review of the case where the court could reconsider its decision. Twitter claimed at the time that it was a “victim” of employee misconduct.

This incident highlights the ongoing threats faced by activists and critics of authoritarian governments who are subjected to harassment, surveillance, and violence, even in countries like the United States and Canada that were once considered safe havens. This trend has now spread to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India.

In 2020, The Guardian reported that Abdulaziz had been alerted by Canadian authorities about being a potential target for Saudi Arabia, advising him to take precautions to ensure his safety.

Ronald Deibert of Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School expressed concerns about the Trump administration’s potential impact on cross-border repression. He warned that advancements made in regulating tools used for repression could be reversed, posing a significant risk to civil society.

In 2021, the Biden administration blacklisted Israel’s NSO Group due to concerns about the spread of its surveillance software and its threat to U.S. national security. However, NSO lobbyists are actively trying to reverse this classification through the Department of Commerce.

One prominent example of cross-border crackdowns on U.S.-linked dissidents was the brutal killing of Khashoggi in 2018. Following the murder, the U.S. imposed sanctions against several individuals, with President Biden later releasing an intelligence report implicating Prince Mohammed in the murder.

Abdulaziz stressed the importance of holding companies accountable for their users’ safety in a statement to The Guardian. No one should suffer due to a company’s failure to protect against hacks.

The Guardian did not respond to requests for comments from X.

Following Musk, X’s primary investor is a company led by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who himself faced imprisonment by the Saudi government in 2017. Despite not leaving Saudi Arabia or the UAE since then, Prince Alwaleed recently met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino to underscore the strong ties between X and his company Kingdom Holding, partially owned by Saudi Arabia.

During a visit to the Middle East, Yaccarino also met with Dubai’s leader Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. UK court findings revealed that Sheikh Maktoum’s agents used NSO spyware to target the phones of his ex-wife and her legal team in 2021.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Archaeologists uncover ancient human occupation of Saudi Arabia’s lava tube caves spanning 7,000 years

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New archaeological excavations show that the Umm Jirsan lava tubes in Halat Khyber, northwestern Saudi Arabia, have been repeatedly visited by humans from at least the Neolithic period to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age (10,000 to 3,500 years ago). The stage of residence has become clear.

Photos of Umm Jilsan Cave and its interior.Image credit: Stewart other., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.

Intensified field research in northern Arabia over the past decade has highlighted the richness and diversity of the region's archaeological and paleontological record.

Human settlement in northern Arabia during the Pleistocene appeared to be sporadic and associated with periods of improved climate, but by the Holocene people had settled in the area more consistently through dry periods. I was able to.

“Our discoveries at Umm Jilsan provide a rare glimpse into the lives of the ancient peoples of Arabia, revealing repeated stages of human occupation and the pastoralism that once flourished here. It sheds light on people's activities,” said Griffith archaeologist Dr Matthew Stewart. University and the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology.

“This site probably served as an important transit point along pastoral routes, linking major oases and facilitating cultural exchange and trade.”

Rock art and animal records attest to the pastoral use of Umm Jilsan and the surrounding area, providing a vivid picture of an ancient way of life.

Depictions of cows, sheep, goats, and dogs confirm prehistoric livestock practices and herd composition in the area.

Isotope analysis of animal remains collected from lava tubes shows that livestock primarily grazed wildflowers and shrubs, while humans maintained a protein-rich diet and increased their consumption of C3 plants over time. has increased significantly, suggesting the emergence of oasis agriculture.

Professor Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist from Griffith University, the University of Queensland, and the Smithsonian Institution, said: “Subterranean localities are of global importance in archeology and Quaternary science, but our research is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. “This is the first comprehensive study.”

This discovery highlights the immense potential of interdisciplinary research in caves and lava tubes, providing a unique window into Arabia's ancient past.

“Umm Jilsan was probably not a permanent settlement, but a valuable transit point for people traveling between oasis settlements,” the authors said.

“Lava tubes and other natural shelters are valuable resources for communities surviving in difficult environments, and further research shows that they are important archaeological sources of information about the history of human occupation in Arabia. ”

“Our research into Arabia's hidden past uncovers thousands of years of human habitation in and around the Umm Jirsan lava tubes, revealing ancient lifestyles and environmental changes in this harsh desert environment. shed light on the adaptation of

team's paper Published in an online journal PLoS ONE.

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M. Stewart other. 2024. First evidence of human occupation of Arabia's lava tubes: Archeology of Umm Jirsan Cave and Surroundings, Northern Saudi Arabia. PLoS ONE 19 (4): e0299292; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292

Source: www.sci.news

Tamara, a BNPL platform and shopping giant in Saudi Arabia, achieves $1 billion valuation following $340 million Series C funding round

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Tamara, the buy-now-pay-later platform for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council region, has recently completed a C round of funding that raised $340 million. This recent funding brings the company’s valuation to $1 billion, making it the first fintech unicorn startup in the region. SNB Capital and Sanabil Investments led the Series C round, alongside other backers such as Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, and Impulse. This round includes primary capital and some secondary equity transactions, marking one of the largest investments in fintech in the region. Tamara has raised a total of $500 million in equity funding, including secondaries, and over $400 million in debt funding.

Established in 2020, Tamara has quickly gained traction and currently boasts over 10 million users in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait. The platform allows consumers to shop, pay in installments, and make bank transfers, and it has partnered with 30,000 merchants, including popular names like SHEIN, IKEA, Jarir, Noon, eXtra, and Farfetch.

The rise in popularity of buy-now-pay-later services in Saudi Arabia has seen significant growth, driven by the booming e-commerce market. According to a report from last year, the number of registered customers for BNPL services increased from 76,000 in 2020 to 3 million in 2021 and 10 million in 2022. With Saudi Arabia’s huge potential for digital payments, the market is expected to grow significantly in the next few years.

CEO Alsukhan emphasized the importance of building a customer-centric payment solution and the platform’s commitment to Shariah compliance. Tamara prides itself on offering a friendly and transparent service, focusing on avoiding unnecessary fees and helping customers make timely payments by offering risk management tools and options based on their financial capabilities.

Tamara’s long-term vision includes expanding its revenue sources and introducing new products and services beyond buy-now-pay-later. The platform plans to strengthen its integration into the shopping journey, introduce a buyer protection program, and enhance its card functionality for in-store transactions.

The recent funding not only represents a significant milestone for Tamara but also signals the region’s growing potential in the fintech industry. As the first homegrown unicorn in the Gulf, the company’s success reflects the supportive ecosystem, financial backing from local and international investors, and a strategic focus on customer satisfaction and compliance.

Source: techcrunch.com