Saudi Embassy in US Participates in 'Cat Walk' Initiative

Part of the “Cat Walk” global initiative in the US - SPA
Part of the “Cat Walk” global initiative in the US - SPA
TT

Saudi Embassy in US Participates in 'Cat Walk' Initiative

Part of the “Cat Walk” global initiative in the US - SPA
Part of the “Cat Walk” global initiative in the US - SPA

Saudi Arabia’s embassy in the US participated in the 2nd edition of the global initiative “Cat Walk.” The event is organized by the Catmosphere organization, which is concerned with supporting initiatives to conserve endangered wild cats.

This took place in the presence the Saudi ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

A number of the embassy staff walked a distance of 7 kilometers to raise awareness and encourage the conservation of wild cats, especially the Arabian leopard, which the Kingdom made great efforts to protect from extinction and return it to its natural environment, as part of the programs of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU).

In a press statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the official spokesperson for the Saudi embassy in Washington, Fahd Nazer, confirmed that the embassy's participation in the initiative comes with the support, encouragement and directives of Princess Reema to support the protection of 40 species of endangered wild cats.



Bezos' Blue Origin calls off New Glenn Launch Again, Eyes Thursday

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., January 11, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., January 11, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
TT

Bezos' Blue Origin calls off New Glenn Launch Again, Eyes Thursday

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., January 11, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands ready for its inaugural launch at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., January 11, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin moved the launch of its New Glenn rocket from Tuesday to Thursday, Jan. 16, further pushing back its inaugural attempt to reach orbit and compete with SpaceX in the satellite launch market.

The company called off its first scheduled launch on Monday after a technical issue was encountered in the lead-up to its takeoff.

The three-hour launch window opens at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Thursday, Blue Origin said in a post on X, according to Reuters.

The development of New Glenn has spanned three Blue Origin CEOs and faced numerous delays as Elon Musk's SpaceX grew into an industry juggernaut with its reusable Falcon 9, the world's most active rocket.

New Glenn is more than twice as powerful as a Falcon 9 rocket and has dozens of customer launch contracts collectively worth billions of dollars lined up.

The rocket would seek to land New Glenn's first stage booster on a sea-fairing barge in the Atlantic Ocean 10 minutes after liftoff, while the rocket's second stage continues toward orbit.

"The thing we're most nervous about is the booster landing," Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, told Reuters in a pre-launch interview on Sunday. "Clearly on a first flight you could have an anomaly at any mission phase, so anything could happen.