16 Companies Complete Misk 500 Startup Accelerator Program

16 Companies Complete Misk 500 Startup Accelerator Program
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16 Companies Complete Misk 500 Startup Accelerator Program

16 Companies Complete Misk 500 Startup Accelerator Program

Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation (Misk) has announced the graduation of the 3rd batch of its Misk 500 Startup Accelerator Program.

Misk 500 is organized in partnership with “500 Startups,” an early-stage venture fund, and in the 3rd batch, 16 companies completed the program successfully.

The 14-week program has been implemented remotely due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease.

Entrepreneurs attended a series of workshops and training sessions, to identify weakness points and difficulties that might occur and then to implement their project in real life.

The most recent batch of graduates came from 16 companies from countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan. Sectors represented include physical fitness, employment agencies, e-commerce and health care technology.



Greek Firefighters Make Progress against Wildfires

Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
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Greek Firefighters Make Progress against Wildfires

Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

Firefighters in Greece gained ground Thursday against a wildfire outside the third-largest city of Patras, while water bombers battled blazes on three other fronts.

The situation in the country's main port to Italy was much improved after an overnight struggle, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised address.

Firefighters in Patras were facing "scattered" pockets of flames but the fire was "still active" in the eastern outskirts of the city of over 200,000, he said.

Citing data from the EU's Copernicus satellite monitoring program, the Athens national observatory on Thursday said ongoing fires in the Patras area, the Aegean island of Chios, the Ionian island of Zakynthos and near the western city of Preveza had burned over 10,000 hectares, reported AFP.

Police said they had arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of starting one of four fires that erupted near Patras on Tuesday.

Officials on Wednesday had evacuated a children's hospital and a retirement home as the fire had moved dangerously close to the western Greek city.

As the fire swept through the Patras outskirts late Tuesday, it gutted a customs tow yard, destroying over 500 vehicles inside.

Alexandros Dimitrakopoulos, a forestry professor at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, said forest fires in Greece were now regularly affecting urban areas.

"We have seen it in (the greater Athens area) since 2021, now in Patras," he told state TV ERT.

Other important fires continued to burn Thursday on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the Aegean island of Chios and near the western city of Preveza, the spokesman said.

Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water bombing aircraft were deployed from dawn in all locations.

Reduced wind intensity was aiding firefighting efforts.

Greece this summer has faced several major forest fires amid high temperatures which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying.