Tomorrow will be better than yesterday (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

Today is a historical day for Saudi Arabia. It is a day on which the country is laying the foundation of its long-term plans for the future — its vision of the days to come. It is an important day for us and for our future generations.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/915341

Linking two continents (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

Imagine leaving Saudi Arabia by road and reaching Egypt in just half an hour. Yes, that is the idea behind linking the two countries through the planned causeway. That really is going to be a great experience — crossing into another continent in record time.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/912096

Impacts of corporal punishment on children (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

It is very normal for children to be spontaneous and with an unlimited desire to play and explore. Similarly, it is also a normal thing for parents and family members to try to educate children when their ideas of fun have negative consequences. The problem arises when this elderly intervention comes in the form of violence — physical, verbal, psychological or all simultaneously.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/901961

Making KSA a tourist attraction (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

The spring break is over and the chances that you must have spent the vacations abroad are pretty high. Most of the Saudi nationals and residents usually do.

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/898326

Beware of the self-help gurus (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

We are living in a strange era. Everyday appears to be full of surprises. The pace of scientific advancement is too great to cope with. Would not it be strange if somebody offers us a bag full of air claiming it to be better for us?

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/887931

The idea of monitoring happiness (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

Money cannot buy happiness. All of us must have heard this phrase many times in our lives. But for the first time, somebody is trying to translate this fact into reality. That person is none other than Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and the premier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/880736

Prevention is better than cure (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

At a time when the world, particularly Saudi Arabia, was busy fighting MERS, reports about the emergence of another dangerous virus is doing the rounds. The name of this new threat is Zika.
It is not a new virus. It was first discovered in a rhesus monkey near Lake Victoria in the Zika Forest, Uganda. The infection usually comes with no or very mild symptoms that do not go beyond a fever. It was found in a human for the first time in 1952, also in Uganda. No one can exactly determine with a high level of certainty when and where it began to infect humans. According to some reports, it may have been circulating among monkeys and other animals in the jungle for thousands of years, making the jump to humans when they got to be too close, too often to these animals. It is usually treated by advising patients to take proper rest and to consume lots of liquids, and it is not yet prevented by drugs or vaccines. The virus has been known in the narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia, but since 2014, the virus is becoming more active and had spread eastward across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia, then to Easter Island and in 2015 to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, where the Zika outbreak is reaching pandemic levels.
Just a few days ago, the World Health Organization declared Zika virus as a public health emergency. The declaration, made by the WHO Director Margaret Chan, will trigger funding for research to try to establish whether the Zika virus, spread by mosquitoes, is responsible for the large numbers of babies born with abnormally small heads in Brazil as reported by the Guardian.
Many countries where the Zika virus infections are on the rise are asking their residents to delay any planned pregnancies.
Now, what does that mean to Saudi Arabia? The very short version of the answer is that we need to be ready, Zika virus could come to our territories, and mainly, May Allah forbid, through our students studying on scholarships in America or Europe.
The first Zika virus case was reported in Texas, US, in the middle of January.
The virus seems to be moving east toward Europe. Spain has confirmed that a pregnant woman has been diagnosed with the virus, the first such case in Europe as reported by the BBC. The Spanish health ministry said the woman had recently returned from Colombia.
So what can we do to prepare ourselves to fight this virus? First of all, we need to create awareness about it. The health authorities with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could start an awareness campaign targeting our students in the US and Europe about the virus.
Then, we need to join efforts with the rest of the world through the WHO especially in the area of control and prevention. What kind of test is required to diagnose the infection?
Finally, and since the virus is linked to mosquitos, we may really need to seriously consider to revise our plans to control the spread of mosquitos.

Offer incentives to boost productivity (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/873591

It’s a simple rule of economics. Contrary to what most of the international media is trying to convey, Saudi Arabia does not shoulder the sole responsibility for the drop in global oil prices (Saad Al-Dosari, Arab News)

http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/870076