Saudi Arabia just hosted two major concerts in the past few days, the first in the kingdom in many years.

A sold-out jazz performance took place in Riyadh over the weekend, held at the 3,300-seat King Fahd Cultural Centre, a first for the city in 25 years. On Monday night, some 8,000 men attended a Jeddah concert for the Saudi singer Mohammed Abdo, the first major concert in the city in seven years.

The major events come only two weeks after Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti's said that musical concerts and cinemas "open doors to evil," saying there is "nothing good" in them. His comments came in response to the kingdom's entertainment authority's efforts to bring more such activities to the country.

Enhancing cultural and entertainment opportunities throughout Saudi Arabia is an integral part of the Riyadh's Vision 2030, which has been championed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Amr al-Madani, head of the kingdom's General Authority for Entertainment, said in early January that concerts and cinemas would come to the kingdom in 2017. Madani also said at the time that Abdo would perform in Jeddah very soon.

Popularly known as the "Artist of the Arabs," Abdo has performed abroad regularly in the past few years, often to largely Saudi audiences. He was slated to perform in Riyadh last year, but the event was canceled without an explanation.

Rabeh Sager, a Saudi, and Majid Al-Muhandis, an Iraqi who also holds Saudi citizenship, also performed with Abdo on Monday evening.

"We were longing for such concerts in our beloved kingdom. The audience was longing for us and we were longing for them," Muhandis told Voice of America.

In addition to pushing for more music events, Saudi Arabia has begun promoting up-and-coming filmmakers and several Saudi films have drawn significant accolades at international film festivals.

Residents of the UAE don't necessarily have to go on an African safari to see exotic animals. Sometimes they can just walk outside their front doors.

A lion cub was spotted roaming a neighborhood in Abu Dhabi's Khalifa City earlier this week.

The lost cub was wandering through villa driveways alone. Initially, residents were excited to see the adorable creature but quickly began to worry, leading them to call the police. But then the cub walked back to a villa where it was apparently staying.

"The lion was across the road and it walked back to the villa where it supposedly stays," an eyewitness told The National.

Police came and talked with the villa owner but he told them that the lion cub had been sent to Dubai. 

The UAE recently made it illegal to own, trade or breed exotic pets. The penalty for owning one of these animals now ranges  from 10,000 dirhams ($2,723) to 700,000 dirhams ($190,574).

Ronel Barcellos, manager of Abu Dhabi Wildlife Centre, followed up on the incident. She told The National that the police were still looking into the incident.

Barcellos explained that while the new law against wild animals is a great step in the UAE, there are still "gray areas."

"We worked and have confiscated illegal animals before, and our center is geared to hold exotic animals until we find a solution," she said.

Legally, animals must be transferred to a transitionary area, such as the Abu Dhabi Wildlife Center, prior to being sent to a zoo in the UAE.