MUST-READS

• Saudi FM discusses developments in Palestine with PM Mohammad Mustafa

  Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Monday received a phone call from Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. During the call, the two officials discussed developments in Palestine and efforts made in regard to them, Saudi Press Agency reported. Prince Faisal also received a phone call from his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar. They discussed regional developments and joint efforts with regard to them, SPA said.  Later on Monday, Prince Faisal received another phone call from his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. The officials discussed the latest regional developments.

• Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival
  More than 10 million devout Hindus seeking absolution from their sins took a dip in holy waters in northern India during a span of four hours on Wednesday, authorities said, as they braced for millions more to swarm the site of the Kumbh Mela. Authorities stepped up the numbers of police officers and put air ambulances on standby in the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state on one of the holiest days of the Hindu festival, considered the world's largest gathering of humanity.  "There are more people in this city in one day than the population of many countries, and the numbers are swelling by the minute," Prashant Kumar, the state's chief of police, told Reuters. The numbers arriving had pushed infrastructure arrangements to the brink, making delays and traffic jams inevitable, he added. Media said vehicles were backed up for hundreds of kilometers from the edges of the city.

• Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Netanyahu

  Saudi anger has been thrust into the open as Riyadh is expected to face pressure from US President Donald Trump to normalise relations with Israel. Like other Arab states, Riyadh has also been rattled by Trump’s insistence that Palestinians should be forced out of Gaza. Saudi Arabia was closing in on a three-way deal with the Biden administration before Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack. The kingdom would have agreed to formal diplomatic relations with Israel in return for a US defence pact and assistance with a nuclear programme.  The war in Gaza shook up those plans. Riyadh never took normalisation off the table, but has escalated its condemnation of Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza and has hardened its position, insisting Israel would need to take irreversible steps towards a two-state solution. In September, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman went further, telling the consultative Shura Council that the kingdom would not recognise Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state including Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

• ‘Saudi is the best!’: Why are TikTok mumfluencers lauding desert megacity?

  "If you have children, Saudi Arabia is the best place," Aida McPherson, an Azerbaijani born in London, told her almost 60,000 followers as she filmed her daughter in traditional Saudi dress on a shopping trip. Around a dozen expat mothers have posted similar glowing accounts of the far-from-finished NEOM project in the desert championed by the kingdom's de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite concerns about continued rights violations in the country and alleged abuse of migrant building workers. But "influencer mums" -- often English-speaking and dressed in Western clothes -- rave about how "magnificent" everything is in NEOM, right down to the delicious food.

• Salesforce pledges $500 million investments in Saudi Arabia

  Salesforce today announced plans to invest $500 million in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, building on its commitment to innovation and economic growth in the region. The investment also aims to spur workforce development through AI skilling and expand Salesforce's local partner ecosystem to support local businesses. The announcement, made today at LEAP 2025, follows the company's Davos pledge to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia with new regional headquarters in Riyadh. The increasing adoption of Agentforce, Salesforce's digital labor platform, by businesses in the region underscores the growing demand for AI-driven solutions and reinforces Salesforce's commitment to this technology in the Kingdom.

• Trump’s Gaza Comments Aren’t Receiving a Warm Welcome in the Middle East
  Over the past few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated comments about plans for Gaza’s future have sparked rare unity in the Middle East. Leaders have worked together to build a unified Arab position rejecting any attempt to displace Palestinians from Gaza. Below, three experts on Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia discuss the domestic and regional impacts of Trump’s statements. Although gauging Saudi public opinion directly is difficult, well-positioned commentators clearly feel free to reiterate (and even celebrate) the Kingdom’s rhetorical support for a Palestinian state. Prince Turki Al Faisal, pointedly wearing a keffiyah, appeared on CNN to criticize what he termed a “mad ethnic cleansing plan.”

• Inaugural Olympic Esports Games to be held in 2027 in Saudi Arabia
  The first Olympic Esports Games will be held in two years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday, as part of a 12-year-deal with the country signed last year. The IOC has been looking into Esports for several years, forming a dedicated commission to find opportunities to tap into a younger generation involved with gaming. With its traditional audience base gradually ageing, the governing body is trying to connect with a younger generation of potential Olympics fans. In 2021, it developed the Olympic virtual series, a pilot venture in Esports before signing the deal with Saudi Arabia last year for hosting the Olympic Esports Games.

• Salesforce plans $500 million in AI-related investments in Saudi Arabia

  Cloud software seller Salesforce said on Monday that it plans to invest $500 million in Saudi Arabia related to artificial intelligence, as countries compete to secure investments in the nascent but critical technology. As part of the investment, Salesforce will introduce Hyperforce, its platform architecture delivered through a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services, in the country.

• Saudi Arabia attracts $14.9 billion investments in AI as LEAP25 kicks off in Riyadh

  In his keynote speech, Alswaha emphasized that these significant investments and initiatives were made possible through the support and empowerment of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. These initiatives aimed to enable the technology sector and accelerate Saudi Arabia’s transition toward an innovative and sustainable AI-driven economy, in line with Vision 2030 objectives. Al-Swaha said that the region is witnessing rapid transformations in the digital economy sector, as it has grown by 73 percent to reach $260 billion, with Saudi Arabia accounting for 50 percent of this growth, making it one of the leading countries in this field. The number of technical specialists has increased from 150,000 to 381,000, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s rapid growth in the fields of technology and innovation. Al-Swaha highlighted the importance of bridging the digital gap between nations during what has become known as the “smart era,” and explained the role the Kingdom plays in empowering women in the field of technology. “In the smart era, the gap between the Global North and South will grow and worsen, as only one to two billion people are expected to join this exclusive club, while 6.5 billion people will be left behind by 2030.”

• US Chamber of Commerce official discusses US-Saudi collaboration on AI policy

  In an exclusive interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the LEAP 2025 technology conference, Steve Lutes, vice president for Middle East affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, stressed the importance of implementing clear policies that inspire investor confidence. “One thing that’s always at the core is to have the policy and regulatory environment that is going to give confidence and clarity to investors, risk-takers, and innovators,” Lutes said. He added that Saudi Arabia maintains an open-door policy in working with the US Chamber and industry leaders to shape its regulatory framework. “This will catalyze finance and fuel more investment, bring more innovation, and strengthen partnerships between the United States and Saudi Arabia in AI and across the broader economy,” he said.

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