Asharq News Network Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

Asharq Network expanded its platforms to keep pace with the audience (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Asharq Network expanded its platforms to keep pace with the audience (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Asharq News Network Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

Asharq Network expanded its platforms to keep pace with the audience (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Asharq Network expanded its platforms to keep pace with the audience (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Asharq News Network celebrated this week its third year launching its multiplatform economic news services, including Asharq News and Asharq Business with Bloomberg.

 

The 24/7 multiplatform Arabic news service broadcasts across the Arab world and beyond with news and an in-depth analysis reported through the lens of the economy.

 

The platform was launched in 2020 with an exclusive content agreement with Bloomberg Media, the business and financial information news leader, to broadcast Asharq Business with Bloomberg, airing content daily.

 

On the anniversary, Asharq News General Manager Nabeel al-Khatib said the company witnessed exceptional growth in audience figures from Asharq News and Asharq Business with Bloomberg.

 

"The successful growth is a testament to the quality of Asharq platforms, and the objective is to meet our audience demands by providing the information they need, in the places they want to view, to inform, inspire and empower decision making," Khatib said.
He indicated that the new free-to-view platforms, Asharq Documentary, Asharq Discovery, and Asharq audio offerings, are a natural new phase in the Asharq expansion journey.

 

Asharq News and Asharq Business with Bloomberg are the leading Arabic-language business news providers, appealing to business leaders and a younger generation that understands the importance of global economic, financial, and corporate information.

 

The exclusive content agreement provides access to Bloomberg's extensive financial and economic content, analysis, and market data.

 

The content is delivered through a dedicated television channel and multiple digital platforms, offering continuous insights into the people, events, organizations, and ideas that impact the MENA region and international markets.

 

The platform is unique in its exceptional variety of programs, rich in in-depth and accurate analyses.

 

Popular programs include the first business morning show in the Middle East, ' Assabah Maa Cyba,' 'East Indices,' 'Aswaq Asharq,' 'East-West,' and the 'Evening Session.'

 

Programming also includes two weekly business shows that cover energy and technology topics: 'Taqa Plus' and 'Tech Plus.'

 

Asharq News Network also covers specialized topics on dedicated social media accounts such as Asharq Business Sports, Asharq Business Crypto, Asharq Business Technology, and Asharq Business Green, focusing on climate change, sustainability, and green news and Asharq Bloomberg Businessweek.

 

Asharq News has established itself as a leading Arabic platform for the past three years. It is now the fastest-growing news channel on social media in the MENA region, with 50 million followers across all platforms.

 

Since its launch, the platform has won over 35 global and regional awards.

 

Asharq News is headquartered in Riyadh, with central offices in the Dubai International Financial Center, UAE, and Washington DC, and major hubs and studios in Cairo and Abu Dhabi.

 

It has an extensive network of regional offices and correspondents across key Arab countries and in global capitals and access to the content produced by hundreds of reporters from Bloomberg's network worldwide.



Santa and Mrs. Claus Use Military Transports to Bring Christmas to Alaska Native Village

Santa Claus arrives at the school in Yakutat, Alaska,, as part of the Alaska National Guard's Operation Santa initiative that brings Christmas to an Indigenous community that has suffered a hardship, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen).
Santa Claus arrives at the school in Yakutat, Alaska,, as part of the Alaska National Guard's Operation Santa initiative that brings Christmas to an Indigenous community that has suffered a hardship, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen).
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Santa and Mrs. Claus Use Military Transports to Bring Christmas to Alaska Native Village

Santa Claus arrives at the school in Yakutat, Alaska,, as part of the Alaska National Guard's Operation Santa initiative that brings Christmas to an Indigenous community that has suffered a hardship, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen).
Santa Claus arrives at the school in Yakutat, Alaska,, as part of the Alaska National Guard's Operation Santa initiative that brings Christmas to an Indigenous community that has suffered a hardship, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen).

Forget the open-air sleigh overloaded with gifts and powered by flying reindeer.
Santa and Mrs. Claus this week took supersized rides to southeast Alaska in a C-17 military cargo plane and a camouflaged Humvee, as they delivered toys to the Tlingit village of Yakutat, northwest of Juneau, The Associated Press reported.
The visit was part of this year’s Operation Santa Claus, an outreach program of the Alaska National Guard to largely Indigenous communities in the nation’s largest state. Each year, the Guard picks a village that has suffered recent hardship — in Yakutat's case, a massive snowfall that threatened to buckle buildings in 2022.
“This is one of the funnest things we get to do, and this is a proud moment for the National Guard,” Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, said Wednesday.
Saxe wore a Guard uniform and a Santa hat that stretched his unit's dress regulations.
The Humvee caused a stir when it entered the school parking lot, and a buzz of “It’s Santa! It’s Santa!” pierced the cold air as dozens of elementary school children gathered outside.
In the school, Mrs. Claus read a Christmas story about the reindeer Dasher. The couple in red then sat for photos with nearly all of the 75 or so students and handed out new backpacks filled with gifts, books, snacks and school supplies donated by the Salvation Army. The school provided lunch, and a local restaurant provided the ice cream and toppings for a sundae bar.
Student Thomas Henry, 10, said while the contents of the backpack were “pretty good,” his favorite item was a plastic dinosaur.
Another, 9-year-old Mackenzie Ross, held her new plush seal toy as she walked around the school gym.
“I think it’s special that I have this opportunity to be here today because I’ve never experienced this before,” she said.
Yakutat, a Tlingit village of about 600 residents, is in the lowlands of the Gulf of Alaska, at the top of Alaska’s panhandle. Nearby is the Hubbard Glacier, a frequent stop for cruise ships.
Some of the National Guard members who visited Yakutat on Wednesday were also there in January 2022, when storms dumped about 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow in a matter of days, damaging buildings.
Operation Santa started in 1956 when flooding severely curtailed subsistence hunting for residents of St. Mary’s, in western Alaska. Having to spend their money on food, they had little left for Christmas presents, so the military stepped in.
This year, visits were planned to two other communities hit by flooding. Santa’s visit to Circle, in northeastern Alaska, went off without a hitch. Severe weather prevented a visit to Crooked Creek, in the southwestern part of the state, but Christmas was saved when the gifts were delivered there Nov. 16.
“We tend to visit rural communities where it is very isolated,” said Jenni Ragland, service extension director with the Salvation Army Alaska Division. “A lot of kids haven’t traveled to big cities where we typically have Santa and big stores with Christmas gifts and Christmas trees, so we kind of bring the Christmas program on the road."
After the C-17 Globemaster III landed in Yakutat, it quickly returned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, an hour away, because there was nowhere to park it at the village's tiny airport. Later it returned to pick up the Christmas crew.
Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with their tuckered elves, were seen nodding off on the flight back.