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Meet Fahad Toonsi, Secretary-General of the Saudi Secretariat for the G20

Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Toonsi.
Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Toonsi.
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Meet Fahad Toonsi, Secretary-General of the Saudi Secretariat for the G20

Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Toonsi.
Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Toonsi.

Dr. Fahad bin Abdullah Toonsi was chosen as secretary-general of the Saudi Secretariat for the G20 for his prestigious career in the Royal Court.

Coming from a background in economy, management and engineering, he has been tasked with organizing the G20 in Saudi Arabia, the world’s premier economic event that brings together the leaders of the globe’s top economies.

Toonsi has been an adviser at the Royal Court since December 2018. His appointment as secretary-general did not come out of the blue, but it is based on his experience in overseeing the implementation of various initiatives and programs that are part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

In 2011, he graduated with a bachelor’s in production engineering and mechanical systems design from the College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University. He then earned a master’s degree in international business management from London’s prestigious King’s College. He obtained a doctorate in financial economics and corporate governance from the same university in 2008.

Toonsi has presented several researches and studies on global governance. One tackled global governance in wake of the 2011 financial crisis and another in 2010 covered the application of governance systems in companies operating in the Middle East and North Africa. Toonsi has participated in numerous seminars and scientific conferences, including one on governance solutions held in the United States in 2014.

Toonsi has been the secretary-general of the Strategic Management Office of Vision 2030 and the secretary-general of the boards of directors for megaprojects which have been launched by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund: Qiddiya, Neom, AMAALA and the Red Sea Project.

From 2013 to 2015, Toonsi worked at the Saudi Crown Prince’s diwan as an advisor on governance in tackling affairs at councils and committees. He has been active in contributing to the development of projects chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, the MiSK Foundation and Ministry of Defense.

Toonsi’s work has not been limited to Saudi Arabia, but he has been involved as manager on international corporate governance projects in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Toonsi was the first to reveal Crown Prince Mohammed’s idea to develop a logo for Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the G20.

In February, he revealed that the general secretariat of the G20 had approached various global companies for the design and many proposals were rejected. He said that he then met with the Crown Prince to discuss what feature really represents Saudi Arabia and the idea to host a local competition in Saudi Arabia to come up with the design was born.

Ultimately, a design presented by Saudi Mohammed al-Hawas won and is now the G20 2020 logo. The logo features the al-Sadu, or an embroidery form common in the Arabian Peninsula.

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Gulf

Saudi Arabia, Algeria Discuss Security Cooperation

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz meet in Algiers on Monday. (SPA)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz meet in Algiers on Monday. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia, Algeria Discuss Security Cooperation

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz meet in Algiers on Monday. (SPA)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz meet in Algiers on Monday. (SPA)

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received in Algiers on Monday Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and their wishes for continued progress and prosperity for the Algerian government and people.

The discussions covered bilateral relations between their countries and areas of ongoing security cooperation.

World

Iran Warns Protesters Who Joined ‘Riots’ to Surrender

Iranians drive near an anti-US mural in street in Tehran, Iran, 19 January 2026. (EPA)
Iranians drive near an anti-US mural in street in Tehran, Iran, 19 January 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Warns Protesters Who Joined ‘Riots’ to Surrender

Iranians drive near an anti-US mural in street in Tehran, Iran, 19 January 2026. (EPA)
Iranians drive near an anti-US mural in street in Tehran, Iran, 19 January 2026. (EPA)

Iran's top police officer issued an ultimatum on Monday to protesters who joined what authorities have deemed "riots", saying they must hand themselves in within three days or face the full force of the law.

But the government also pledged to tackle economic hardships that sparked the demonstrations, which were met with a crackdown that rights groups say has left thousands dead.

The protests constituted the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years, with the full scale of the violence yet to emerge amid an internet blackout.

National police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan on Monday urged young people "deceived" into joining the "riots" to turn themselves in and receive lighter punishment.

Those "who became unwittingly involved in the riots are considered to be deceived individuals, not enemy soldiers", and "will be treated with leniency", he told state television.

Officials have said the demonstrations were peaceful before descending into chaos fueled by Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel in an effort to destabilize the nation.

The heads of the country's executive, legislative and judicial branches on Monday all pledged to work "around the clock" in "resolving livelihood and economic problems", according to a joint statement published by state television.

But they would also "decisively punish" the instigators of "terrorist incidents", said the statement from President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

Alarm has grown over the possibility that authorities will use capital punishment against protesters.

The United Nations on Monday warned the country was using executions as "a tool of state intimidation".

Iran -- the world's most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups -- reportedly executed 1,500 people last year, UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

Security officials cited by Iran's Tasnim news agency said late last week that around 3,000 people have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations, but rights groups say the number could be as high as 20,000.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that authorities "must break the back of the seditionists".

The scale of the crackdown has emerged piecemeal as Iran remains under an unprecedented internet shutdown that is now in its 11th day.

Despite difficulty accessing information, the Iran Human Rights NGO says it has verified that 3,428 protesters were killed by security forces, warning the actual toll could be far higher.

Internet access would "gradually" return to normal this week, Hossein Afshin, Iran's vice president for science, technology and the knowledge economy, said Monday on state television, after limited access briefly returned the day before.

Images from the capital Tehran showed buildings and billboards destroyed during the rallies.

In Iran's second-largest city of Masshad, damage to public infrastructure exceeded $15 million, Mayor Mohammadreza Qalandar Sharif told state television.

Fashion

Valentino, Fashion Designer to the Jet Set, Dies Aged 93 in Rome

Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani celebrates 45 years in the fashion business as his latest haute couture line makes its debut at the "Complesso Monumentale di Borgo Santo Spirito in Sassia", in Rome, Italy, on 07 July 2007. (EPA)
Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani celebrates 45 years in the fashion business as his latest haute couture line makes its debut at the "Complesso Monumentale di Borgo Santo Spirito in Sassia", in Rome, Italy, on 07 July 2007. (EPA)
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Valentino, Fashion Designer to the Jet Set, Dies Aged 93 in Rome

Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani celebrates 45 years in the fashion business as his latest haute couture line makes its debut at the "Complesso Monumentale di Borgo Santo Spirito in Sassia", in Rome, Italy, on 07 July 2007. (EPA)
Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani celebrates 45 years in the fashion business as his latest haute couture line makes its debut at the "Complesso Monumentale di Borgo Santo Spirito in Sassia", in Rome, Italy, on 07 July 2007. (EPA)

Valentino Garavani, the jet-set Italian designer whose high-glamour gowns — often in his trademark shade of “Valentino red” — were fashion show staples for nearly half a century, has died at home in Rome, his foundation announced Monday. He was 93.

“Valentino Garavani was not only a constant guide and inspiration for all of us, but a true source of light, creativity and vision,” the foundation said in a statement posted on social media.

His body will repose at the foundation’s headquarters in Rome on Wednesday and Thursday. The funeral will be held Friday at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome’s Piazza della Repubblica.

Universally known by his first name, Valentino was adored by generations of royals, first ladies and movie stars, from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Julia Roberts and Queen Rania of Jordan, who swore the designer always made them look and feel their best.

“I know what women want,” he once remarked. “They want to be beautiful.”

Never one for edginess or statement dressing, Valentino made precious few fashion faux-pas throughout his nearly half-century-long career, which stretched from his early days in Rome in the 1960s through to his retirement in 2008.

His fail-safe designs made Valentino the king of the red carpet, the go-to man for A-listers’ awards ceremony needs. His sumptuous gowns have graced countless Academy Awards, notably in 2001, when Roberts wore a vintage black and white column to accept her best actress statue. Cate Blanchett also wore Valentino — a one-shouldered number in butter-yellow silk — when she won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 2004.