Saudi deputy foreign minister and US envoy discuss war in Sudan

RIYADH: Saudi authorities carried out multiple drug-related arrests across the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. 

In Asir’s Al-Raboah sector, Border Guard land patrols thwarted the smuggling of 540 kg of qat.

In two other operations, authorities arrested two Ethiopians for smuggling 25 kg of qat and three Yemenis for smuggling 66 kg of qat in the same area.

Land patrols in the Al-Tawwal sector of the Jazan region foiled the smuggling of 51.4 kg of hashish.

The General Directorate of Narcotics Control arrested two Pakistanis in Riyadh with 1.6 kg of methamphetamine, locally known as shabu.

In Jeddah, authorities arrested an Ethiopian, two Yemenis, and a Palestinian with 6 kg of hashish.

The directorate also arrested a citizen in Asir with 30 kg of hashish.

Another citizen was arrested in the Jouf region for selling amphetamine.

In Jazan’s Al-Dayer sector, Border Guard patrols arrested eight Ethiopians for smuggling 144 kg of qat.

Preliminary legal procedures were completed, and all seized items were handed to the relevant authorities.

The public is urged to report drug smuggling or sales by calling 911 in Makkah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, or 999 in other regions.

Reports can also be submitted confidentially to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control at 995 or via email at 995@gdnc.gov.sa.

RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the beauty industry, both in Saudi Arabia and internationally.

Mohamed Hassan, CEO of Saudi-based Glamera, spoke to Arab News about how the company uses AI to recommend services to customers.

“The system analyzes user behavior and preferences to offer personalized service suggestions,” he said.

Founded in Egypt in 2020, where it still covers Cairo and Alexandria, Glamera then relocated to Saudi Arabia, where it covers Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Taif, Qassim, and Madinah.

Another technology implemented by some beauty companies is augmented reality, which allows users to ‘try out’ beauty products using their smartphones. 

L’Oreal uses AI technology for a wide range of features including analyzing customer reviews and evaluating product formulas, Vismay Sharma, president of L’Oreal South Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa, told Arab News.

The company’s Beauty Genius, which provides users with analysis, product recommendations and personalized routines for hair and makeup, is powered by generative AI.

L’Oreal has also created SkinConsultAI, which “measures skin aging” and offers personalized skincare regimens.

Sharma said that the company has collected a vast amount of data on hair and skin — more than 11 million gigabytes — which is fed into the AI engine.

“We have by far the highest amount of data … that is what we are now feeding into all of our AI engines such as LLMs (large language models), which is allowing us to do significant exploration of formula evaluation,” Sharma said.

Stressing how important it is to use technology responsibly, Sharma added that L’Oreal has been transparent about its commitment to not using computer-generated photos of results. 

“We never use GenAI on our models, because that, in a way, is faking results,” he said. “There are very clear ethical rules that we put around the use of technology and I very strongly believe that if technology is in the hands of responsible people, using it responsibly can significantly enhance the quality of experience, the beauty journey of consumers, and the overall efficiency of an organization.”