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  • Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait Come to Jordan’s Aid with $2.5b after Weekend Summit
     

    Saudi Arabia and two Gulf nations agreed to a $2.5b aid package to help support Jordan’s economy after a proposed income-tax increase sparked some of the largest protests seen in the region since the Arab Spring protests in 2011. The package of aid will include a deposit in the Central Bank of Jordan, guarantees to the World […]

     
  • Design Released for Saudi Arabia’s New Global Business School in Jeddah
     

    Renderings of the forthcoming Global Business School in Jeddah have been published online, depicting a massive building that will serve as a modern campus for the educational institution in Saudi Arabia’s second largest city. The new business school, which will have both Saudi and international students, is expected to open in 2020 and will operate […]

     
  • Will Trump’s JCPoA Decision Affect U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Talks?
     

    President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the so-called Iran deal may have an effect on the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, according to analysts, as Energy Secretary Rick Perry hopes to steer Saudi nuclear negotiators into an “acceptable 123 agreement with additional protocols.” The U.S. is hoping to position Westinghouse among […]

     
  • Arab Leaders Gather in Dhahran to Unite on Regional Challenges
     

    Arab leaders gathered in Dhahran this weekend for the 29th session of the Arab Summit, held for the first time at the recently-opened King Abdulaziz International Cultural Center in Dhahran. The group called on Sunday for an international probe into the “criminal” use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what it saw as Iran’s […]

     
  • King Salman Opens Annual Janadriyah Festival as Kingdom Puts Saudi Culture On Display
     

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday attended the opening ceremony of the Kingdom’s 32nd National Festival for Heritage and Culture, held in Janadriyah village on the northern outskirts of Riyadh.  The annual festival, known as the Janadriyah Festival, is a vibrant display of Saudi cultural traditions and heritage, and lasts 18 days. The festival’s first day saw King […]

     
  • New Turmoil in Yemen as Separatists Surround Presidential Palace in Aden
     

    Infighting between forces supported by the Saudi and UAE-led coalition in Yemen to restore power to the legitimate government in Yemen is threatening to derail the larger campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, according to reports. Clashes broke out between the two once-friendly sides in Aden, Yemen this week, where the pro-Saudi elected government of […]

     
  • Report: Locations Scouted for Potential Nuclear Power Plant Sites in Saudi Arabia
     

    Saudi Arabia is eying initial work on two sites for its first nuclear power plants, a report in MEED said, as the Kingdom looks to bolster alternative sources of energy to free up oil for export and power the growth needed for its Vision 2030 program. The kingdom has shortlisted two sites “and has invited […]

     
  • Saudi Alternative Energy Sector Set for Big Year with Localization in Focus
     

    With U.S. shale now forecasted by analysts and the U.S. EIA to out-produce Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2018, and Saudi Arabia needing to burn less of its own oil for domestic use and continue toward a more sustainable economy, alternative energy in the Kingdom has never been hotter. Saudi leaders have long talked about the benefit of a […]

     
  • First Utility-Scale Solar Plant Planned for Northern Saudi Arabia Receives Bids
     

    Saudi Arabia has announced a shortlist of bidders for the first utility-scale solar plant planned for northern Saudi Arabia, according to reports. The planned 300-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) project is in Sakaka, Al-Jouf province. “All of the bids opened today (Tuesday) will now undergo stringent technical, financial and legal evaluation,” Turki al-Shehri, the head of the […]

     
  • Saudi Aramco, Partners Launch Offshore Focused Shipyard at Ras Al-Khair Industrial City
     

    Saudi Aramco and partners announced a joint venture to build a shipyard on the kingdom’s east coast, part of the Saudi Arabian government’s drive to diversify the economy beyond oil. Along with UAE-based Lamprell, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), and South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries, Saudi Aramco says the shipyard will be focused on […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Egypt eyeing rapprochement with Iran amid Tehran’s warming ties with UAE, Saudi Arabia

    The prospect of closer ties between the world’s most populous Shiite nation and the Sunni-majority Egypt after more than four decades of estrangement serves the interests of both countries, recent think tank reports suggest, and follows a trend of powerful Arab nations forging closer ties with Iran, partly in a bid to bring calm to a tumultuous region.

  • UAE denies sending weapons to RSF amid Sudan war

    The United Arab Emirates Sunday denied a report claiming weapons were found in its aid shipments to refugees of the Sudan war, arguing it "does not take sides" in the conflict. Fighting since April 15 between the forces of rival Sudanese generals vying for power has killed at least 3,900 people, according to conservative estimates by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

  • Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions

    According to multiple sources close to Nvidia and its manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the chipmaker will ship about 550,000 of its latest H100 chips globally in 2023, primarily to US tech companies. Nvidia declined to comment. In Saudi Arabia, Kaust will receive 3000 of these specialist chips, worth about $US120 million in total, by the end of 2023, according to two people close to the university’s AI labs.

  • Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions

    According to people familiar with the moves, Saudi Arabia has bought at least 3000 of Nvidia’s H100 chips – a $US40,000 ($61,570) processor described by Nvidia chief Jensen Huang as “the world’s first computer [chip] designed for generative AI” – via the public research institution King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust). Meanwhile, the UAE has also secured access to thousands of Nvidia chips and has already developed its own open-source large language model, known as Falcon, at the state-owned Technology Innovation Institute in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi.

  • Barbie blockbuster sparks new fashion craze in UAE, Middle East

    ‘Barbiecore’, inspired by the latest global blockbuster movie ‘Barbie’, is fast emerging as the new fashion trend among millennials and middle-aged alike in the UAE and the larger Middle East region of late, eliciting nostalgia while infusing fashion with playfulness and joy, industry insiders said.

  • Saudi Arabia and UAE race to buy Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions

    Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are buying up thousands of the high-performance Nvidia chips crucial for building artificial intelligence software, joining a global AI arms race that is squeezing the supply of Silicon Valley’s hottest commodity. The Gulf powerhouses have publicly stated their goal of becoming leaders in AI as they pursue ambitious plans to turbocharge their economies. But the push has also raised concerns about potential misuse of the technology by the oil-rich states’ autocratic leaders.

  • How the UAE has quietly slimmed Saudi Arabia’s lead in the oil game

    “Saudi Arabia is cutting massively. At least Russia says it’s cutting. The UAE has cut to the bare minimum,” Viktor Katona, the head of crude analysis at Kpler, an energy consulting firm, told MEE. “The end result is that Saudi Arabia is doing all the work and the UAE has oil prices 15 percent higher than they were a month ago. By any means, the UAE is the big winner this summer.”

  • UAE, a US Ally, Looks to China and Russia for Deeper Ties

    The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, is a key American ally who counts on the United States to defend his country. But he has traveled twice to Russia over the past year to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin, and in June, his country was celebrated as the guest of honor at the Russian leader’s flagship investment forum. Later this month, the Emirati and Chinese air forces plan to train together for the first time, a notable shift for an oil-rich Gulf nation that has long relied on American fighter jets, weapons and protection.

  • Opinion: Saudi and UAE Leaders Push New Nationalist Projects to Secure Authority

    A new form of state-sponsored nationalism is rapidly taking root inside the two most powerful Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Whether it be efforts to maintain high oil prices, the introduction of domestic mega projects, ventures into global sports, or increased outreach to Russia and China, almost all domestic and foreign policies the Saudi and UAE governments have pursued can be traced back to these nationalist strategies.

  • Japan and the UAE Partner to Tackle the Energy Transition

    Cooperation on UAE-produced clean energy serves Japan’s interest in diversifying its renewable energy mix while also boosting the UAE’s global position as a reliable green energy supplier.