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  • Armed man killed in gunfire exchange near US consulate in Saudi Arabia

    "A person in a car stopped near the American Consulate building in Jeddah Governorate and got out of it carrying a firearm in his hand, so security authorities took the initiative to deal with him as required, and the exchange of fire resulted in his death," a spokesperson for the Makkah Region police said.

  • Ambitious Saudi plans to ramp up Hajj could face challenges from climate change

    Next week, Saudi Arabia hosts the first Hajj pilgrimage without the restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Some 2.5 million people took part in the pilgrimage in 2019, and around 2 million are expected this year. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s wide-ranging plan to overhaul the kingdom’s economy, known as Vision 2030, 30 million pilgrims would take part in the Hajj and Umrah — a smaller, year-round pilgrimage. That would be an increase of more than 10 million from pre-pandemic levels.

  • Ambitious Saudi plans to ramp up Hajj could face challenges from climate change

    Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islam’s holiest sites. But as climate change heats up an already scorching region, the annual Hajj pilgrimage — much of which takes place outdoors in the desert — could prove even more daunting. The increased number of pilgrims, with the associated surge in international air travel and infrastructure expansion, also raises sustainability concerns, even as the oil giant pursues the goal of getting half its energy from renewable resources by 2030.

  • Saudi carbon credit company to launch exchange in early 2024, chief executive says

    Saudi Arabia's Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company plans to launch a carbon credit trading exchange in early 2024 and establish a fund to invest in climate projects, its chief executive has said. RVCMC, which is jointly owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Saudi Tadawul Group, will also offer advisory services to companies looking to decarbonise their operations, Riham ElGizy told The National in an interview on Monday.

  • How the PGA Tour, LIV Golf shockingly came together to change pro golf

    Tuesday was unlike any other in golf history. In a snap, without warning, the entire professional sport changed both structurally and fundamentally. The PGA Tour is partnering with an entity it once stood in proud contrast to. The PIF (and with it, the Saudi Arabian government) is investing in the PGA Tour, pumping multiple billions of dollars into the tour’s coffers, and forming a new partnership with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, a partnership that will end golf’s multi-year turf war.

  • A pledge to fight climate change is sending money to strange places

    Wealthy countries have pledged $100 billion a year to help reduce the effects of global warming. But Reuters found large sums going to projects including a coal plant, a hotel and chocolate shops.

  • America will no longer wage wars to enforce regime change in Middle East: US official

    Karlin described the new NDS strategy for the Middle East as a “paradigm shift” that was moving away from basing hundreds of thousands of static US troops in the region. Instead, the new paradigm would depend on working with regional partners through partnerships, complex military exercises, and interoperability of weapons systems. “This is a paradigm shift in our approach to the region, one that is de-emphasizing the unrealistic aims of transformation that are often pursed through unilateral military means,” she said. “Instead, this paradigm is focused on our competitive advantages and partnerships and the fundamentals of sound policy,” Karlin said.

  • Saudi Arabia addresses climate change – with help from oil industry

    A Saudi Johnny Appleseed, this middle-aged agricultural engineer with twinkling eyes and a constant smile started planting different saplings and seeds he had accumulated from across the kingdom in these then-barren fields a decade ago in a bid to reverse the desertification encroaching on his hometown. After his initial success, the Saudi government declared the 220-square-mile area the Thadiq National Park in 2018. Now, with government encouragement and funds, he has planted 170,000 trees and is preparing for the next 100,000.

  • UAE announces major education change for students

    The UAE Ministry of Education has announced changes to allow students more freedom to select subjects tailored to their abilities and interests. The UAE Ministry of Education has introduced a new model for the eleventh and twelfth-grade students in the general and advanced streams in public and private schools that implement the Ministry’s curriculum, to allow them to choose elective subjects.

  • Saudi Arabia Changes Tack With Pop Stars and Pop Art

    What does arguably the world’s greatest footballer have in common with a leading light of mid-century pop art and a Grammy-winning singer? Until recently, not much. That was until Saudi Arabia decided to start spending billions to use icons of western culture like Lionel Messi, Andy Warhol and Alicia Keys to turn itself into the next tourist hotspot. The kingdom, under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wants to diversify its economy by tapping the disposable income of travelers and its own burgeoning younger generation.