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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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شؤون إقليمية

تقرير: قراصنة إيرانيون يعطلون محطة طاقة بريطانية

صورة مركبة توضيحية لقرصان سيبراني (رويترز)
صورة مركبة توضيحية لقرصان سيبراني (رويترز)
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تقرير: قراصنة إيرانيون يعطلون محطة طاقة بريطانية

صورة مركبة توضيحية لقرصان سيبراني (رويترز)
صورة مركبة توضيحية لقرصان سيبراني (رويترز)

كشفت صحيفة «تلغراف» أن قراصنة مرتبطون بإيران عطلوا محطة طاقة بريطانية لمدة أربعة أيام في هجوم إلكتروني غير مسبوق.

وهذه هي المرة الأولى التي ينجح فيها مخترقون مرتبطون بالنظام الإيراني في تعطيل منشأة من هذا النوع في المملكة المتحدة، ويُعتقد أنه الهجوم الإلكتروني الأكثر نجاحاً من نوعه.

وفقاً لما نشرته «التلغراف»، وقع الحادث بالتزامن مع سلسلة من الهجمات على البنية التحتية المائية في الولايات المتحدة الشهر الماضي، والتي أثَّرت على 12 ولاية وأثارت قلقاً في البيت الأبيض.

رفض المسؤولون البريطانيون الإفصاح عن اسم محطة الطاقة التي تأثرت بالهجوم الإلكتروني، لكن يُعتقد أن المنشأة ظلت معطلة لمدة أربعة أيام بينما كان الموظفون يعملون على إعادتها إلى الخدمة. وعلى الأرجح كانت المحطة المتضررة صغيرة نسبياً، وأن الانقطاع لم يؤثر على إمدادات الطاقة الأوسع في المملكة المتحدة أو على توليد الكهرباء.

وجرى إبلاغ المركز الوطني للأمن السيبراني، وهو جزء من وكالة «الاتصالات الحكومية البريطانية» الأمنية بالحادث. ويقدّم القسم نصائح للشركات حول كيفية حماية البنية التحتية الوطنية من التهديدات الأجنبية.

وحذَّرت أجهزة الاستخبارات البريطانية والأميركية مراراً من المخاطر التي يشكلها قراصنة من روسيا والصين وإيران وكوريا الشمالية، حيث يشنون هجمات يومية على البنية التحتية الحيوية والوكالات الحكومية.

وتسببت هجمات إلكترونية كبرى سابقة في تعطيل أنظمة هيئة الصحة البريطانية والمدارس والمصانع، بما في ذلك خطوط الإنتاج في شركة «جاغوار لاند روفر».

وسرقت مجموعات قرصنة أجنبية، في هجمات سابقة، معلومات العملاء من شركات البيع بالتجزئة، وسجلات الناخبين من مفوضية الانتخابات.

لكن لم يسبق لأي قراصنة أن نجحوا في إيقاف محطة طاقة بريطانية عن العمل بالكامل. وتقول الصحيفة إنه من غير المرجح أن يكون الهجوم على محطة الطاقة البريطانية قد استهدف إلحاق ضرر حقيقي بالمدنيين، لكنه قد يكون نفذ لإثبات أن القراصنة المرتبطين بـ«الحرس الثوري الإيراني» قادرون على اختراق الأنظمة في المملكة المتحدة وإغلاق مواقع البنية التحتية الحساسة.

جهات إلكترونية خبيثة

توجد في بريطانيا العشرات من محطات الطاقة صغيرة النطاق المتصلة بالشبكة الكهربائية. كثير منها تعمل بالغاز ولا تُستخدم سوى لبضع ساعات أسبوعياً. وانقطاع الخدمة لمدة أربعة أيام في منشأة صغيرة كهذه لن يؤثر على الشبكة الأوسع.

وأثرت الاختراقات التي استهدفت الولايات المتحدة على العشرات من محطات معالجة المياه، وهو ما أدَّى إلى ضعف ضغط المياه، مما دفع السلطات في بعض المناطق إلى نصح السكان المحليين بغلي الماء قبل شربه.

ظهرت التقارير الأولى عن حادث في ولاية مينيسوتا في 26 يوليو (تموز)، تلتها سلسلة من الاختراقات المماثلة في ميشيغان وجورجيا وداكوتا الجنوبية ونيوجيرسي.

ونسب مكتب التحقيقات الفيدرالي هذه الحوادث إلى «جهات إلكترونية خبيثة»، لكن مصادر من الحكومة الأميركية أكدت لاحقاً لوسائل الإعلام أن التهديد كان على الأرجح مصدره طهران.

صعّدت إيران بشكل كبير من هجماتها الإلكترونية على الدول الغربية في أعقاب الصراع في الشرق الأوسط، وخاصة منذ أن بدأت الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل شن غارات جوية في فبراير (شباط).

وسجلت بلاغات عن هجمات يُشتبه بأنها إيرانية في ألمانيا وبولندا وفنلندا وبلجيكا وألبانيا، على الرغم من أن إسرائيل ودولاً أخرى في الشرق الأوسط هي الأهداف الأكثر شيوعاً.

في مارس (آذار)، نصح المركز الوطني البريطاني للأمن السيبراني المؤسسات البريطانية بمراجعة نهجها الأمني، بينما قال ريتشارد هورن، الرئيس التنفيذي للمركز، في يونيو (حزيران)، إنه تعامل مع أكثر من 200 هجوم على البنية التحتية الحيوية خلال العام السابق.

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أمن إلكتروني الجريمة الإلكترونية طاقة حرب إيران إيران بريطانيا أميركا
Varieties

Mahatma Gandhi’s 688 Handwritten Messages to Grieving Friend Sell for Millions

Gandhi’s peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, along with two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, sold for Rs 10.2m (Saffronart)
Gandhi’s peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, along with two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, sold for Rs 10.2m (Saffronart)
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Mahatma Gandhi’s 688 Handwritten Messages to Grieving Friend Sell for Millions

Gandhi’s peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, along with two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, sold for Rs 10.2m (Saffronart)
Gandhi’s peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, along with two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, sold for Rs 10.2m (Saffronart)

A collection of 688 handwritten reflections by Mahatma Gandhi has sold for £1.2 million at an auction in India, setting a record for an Indian historical document sold at auction, according to The Independent.

The handwritten messages were addressed to Anand T Hingorani, a close associate of Gandhi and a fellow participant in India’s independence movement.

They were written over almost two years, from 20 November 1944 to 10 October 1946, and were later compiled into a book called A Thought for the Day, according to auction house Saffronart.

The circumstances in which they were written were deeply personal; Hingorani’s wife Vidya had died, and he shared his loneliness and grief with Gandhi while undergoing nature-cure treatment for deafness, according to the Hingorani family.

Gandhi responded by writing him a thought each day, turning a private act of consolation into one of the most extensive surviving records of their relationship.

“Gandhi responded by setting aside time each day to write a personal thought. What began as a personal exchange soon evolved into a collaborative project,” Minal Vazirani, co-founder and president of Saffronart, told The Indian Express.

“While Gandhi authored each reflection, Hingorani became the recipient, organizer and transcriber, ultimately preparing the writings for publication,” she said.

FILED - 30 November 2002, An undated photo shows Mahatma Gandhi sitting behind his spinning wheel and reading letters. Photo: Margaret Bourke White/dpa

The 688 entries cover many of the subjects that occupied Gandhi throughout his life, including truth, ahimsa or non-violence, brahmacharya (self-control), non-possession, fearlessness, religious equality, prayer, service, labor, duty, silence, conscience and self-realization.

A group of nine letters from 1930 and 1931 concerns Anand and Vidya Hingorani’s marriage, including parental opposition, financial independence, reconciliation within the family and Gandhi’s views on self-restraint and domestic obligations.

The wider collection was preserved by the Hingorani family across generations and was offered as an 86-lot sale by Saffronart under the title Gandhi: From the Collection of Anand T Hingorani.

World

Two US Refueling Planes Depart Bulgaria After Iranian Anger

FILE PHOTO: US Air Force planes on the tarmac of Sofia airport, Bulgaria, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Air Force planes on the tarmac of Sofia airport, Bulgaria, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
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Two US Refueling Planes Depart Bulgaria After Iranian Anger

FILE PHOTO: US Air Force planes on the tarmac of Sofia airport, Bulgaria, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US Air Force planes on the tarmac of Sofia airport, Bulgaria, February 19, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo

Two US tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria's defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the Balkan country angered Iran.

The United States, which has been at war with Iran since February 28, requested their temporary deployment under an agreement governing the joint ⁠use of military facilities.

Iran said at the time that their deployment would constitute complicity in “aggression and war crimes,” a charge that Sofia dismissed.

The two US Air Force KC-135 planes left Bulgaria on Friday, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters.

The US authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.

The deployment of the ⁠aircraft, approved by Bulgaria's parliament on July 22, led to protests by nearby residents who feared the planes would be attacked by Iranian missiles and drones.

Stoyanov said ⁠all the aircraft's flights during their temporary deployment had been training missions over allied countries and that Bulgaria ⁠had “no information about direct threats to our national security.”

“We are working in full coordination with ⁠the US government and had prior information, which is why all our decisions were well-founded,” he said.

Citing two regime insiders, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Iran has been weighing ways to broaden the confrontation beyond the Middle East if Washington intensifies military action.

One regime insider said Iran was preparing options to expand the conflict if Trump followed through on previous threats to attack Iranian infrastructure. Another said Tehran would place “no limits” on its response.

Iranian forces had assessed possible strikes against US assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, which approved the use of Bezmer Air Base by US refueling aircraft last month, the sources said.

Cyprus, where a British air base was hit by a drone in March, was also identified as a potential target for retaliation against a renewed US offensive, according to one of the sources.

In response to questions about the FT report, NATO official said on Wednesday that NATO is prepared to address any threat and will always do what is necessary to defend all allies, adding that Iran has allegedly weighed attacking US military targets in Europe should Donald Trump escalate the war.

“As demonstrated earlier this year when NATO air defenses successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Türkiye from Iran on four separate occasions, our deterrence and defense posture is strong and effective,” the official said.