MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia Gears Up to Host the Fourth Edition of the Saudi Media Forum 2025

  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is gearing up to host the fourth edition of the Saudi Media Forum 2025, set to take place in the capital, Riyadh, from February 19 to 21. This prestigious event reaffirms its status as the largest media gathering in the region and a global platform that unites top decision-makers, industry experts, and innovators in the media sector.

• Commentary: Why Saudi Arabia insists on a Palestinian state

  However, it is often overlooked that Saudi Arabia is not an emotional state and its policies are not based on reactive measures. Instead, the country operates according to a strategic vision that prioritizes its national security first and the broader Arab national security second. Consequently, Riyadh has not limited itself to narrow calculations but has instead considered the larger context of the Middle East. It recognizes the genuine threat posed by aggressive Israeli policies, understanding that the destruction of Gaza, assaults on the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians will not lead to peace. Rather, these actions are likely to foster further extremism and violence, potentially creating a new generation that is willing to take up arms against Israel — not only within the Occupied Territories but also among sympathizers from various countries around the world, which could lead to wider conflicts.

• Golf Saudi ambassadors delivered excitement under the lights for home crowd at LIV Golf Riyadh

  Competing in front of the passionate home crowd, Golf Saudi ambassadors Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Jason Kokrak not only showcased their skills on the green but also their commitment to developing golf in Saudi Arabia. By supporting grassroots programs, mentoring emerging talent, and promoting Saudi golf on the global stage, they are helping shape the future of the game in the country. Adding to the local presence, Khaled Attieh, one of Saudi’s newest professional players and a recently announced Golf Saudi ambassador, was selected as reserve for the 2025 season-opening LIV event. His participation further underscored Saudi’s growing impact on the sport, as he gained valuable experience among some of the world’s top golfers.

• Saudi Neom, DataVolt sign agreement for $5 billion AI project
  Saudi Arabia's NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development, has signed a deal with DataVolt to develop a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) net zero artificial intelligence project in its Oxagon industrial zone, the Saudi state news agency reported on Monday.
  The project, which will operate as an integrated data centre, would see investment worth $5 billion in the first phase, SPA reported, adding it is set to be operational in 2028. It comes as the kingdom races to become an artificial intelligence hub, amid regional competition from the UAE and Qatar, capitalising on booming demand for generative AI technology, which requires vast amounts of processing power. Last year, the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan pitched the kingdom as a prospective hub for artificial intelligence activity outside the United States, citing its energy resources and funding capacity.

• Meet your sole mate at Sneaker Con in Riyadh

  Billed as “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth,” Sneaker Con is one of the world’s largest sneaker conventions, which has previously been held in cities across North America, Europe, and Asia. Its Riyadh edition — the first in Saudi Arabia — runs until Feb. 19 at ANB Arena. One visitor, Fares Indejani, highlighted the growing sneaker culture in Riyadh, pointing out that sneakers have become an integral part of personal style and expression. He told Arab News about the impact of the event on the local sneaker community. “These sneaker communities are micro-communities that are often isolated and don’t really have a dedicated space,” he said. “But this event changes that … you can just walk in and meet others like you.

• AI chip startup Groq secures $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia

  The startup has an existing agreement with Aramco Digital, the technology subsidiary of oil major Aramco, through which the companies built a critical AI hub in the region in December. Groq told Reuters it will receive funds over the course of this year to expand its existing data center in Dammam. The company's chips, which specialize in fast responses from chatbots and other large language models, are subject to U.S. export controls, but Groq said it has obtained the licenses it needs to ship them to Dammam.

  • Yahoo - Saudi Arabia Just Poured $1.5 Billion Into AI--And This Startup Is Leading the Charge
• What Trump’s steel tariffs mean to the Middle East

  Donald Trump’s proposed US steel tariffs will put Turkish producers most at risk in the Middle East, while Gulf steel exporters will be sheltered from the worst of the damage, experts have told AGBI. On Sunday Mr Trump, the newly elected US president, said he would soon unveil 25 percent import taxes on all steel and aluminium imports to the United States, adding that these would be for “everyone”. Kaye Ayub, head of price analysis at the UK steel market insights company MEPS International, told AGBI: “With these new tariffs in place, a significant volume of steel will need to find alternative customers.  “Suppliers in the Middle East will find themselves competing with producers in Asia, and particularly China, as exports are redirected from the US to other markets, increasing competition in the region.”

• Saudi Arabia emerges as the epicentre of Media & Entertainment in 2025

  According to a January 2025 Statista report, Saudi Arabia leads the MENA media industry, holding a dominant 30% market share. This month Saudi Arabia appears to be the hub for everyone in Media & Entertainment, with Leap, followed by the Future of Media Exhibition (FOMEX) from February 19-21, and the BroadcastPro Summit KSA on February 25. We will have a stand at FOMEX too and look forward to meeting many of you there. It’s that final burst of activity before everything calms down for Ramadan – or will it?

• Commentary: Trump’s Alternate Reality in the Middle East

  This bizarro world solution for the Middle East isn’t going to happen. There is no appetite around the globe for accepting millions of Palestinians from Gaza. There is no way for Jordan—even if it were willing to accept still more Palestinian refugees than those already living there—to receive hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza. There is no way to get them from Gaza to Jordan, short of outlandish round-the-clock air lifts or some sort of forced death march through the Negev desert. The only location that makes any practical sense is Egypt, but Cairo is not going to accept the transfer of significant numbers of Palestinians from Gaza into Sinai or anywhere else in their country. This is a policy that dates back to the era of King Farouk, when in 1951 or 1952 it was decided to absolutely not allow the transfer of Palestinians into Egypt from Gaza. There is virtually nothing the United States can offer Egypt (within the realm of reality) that would induce Cairo to change this policy; withholding the current military aid package would certainly not be sufficient to produce that result.

• Saudi Arabia reiterates rejection of Israeli comments on displacement of Palestinians from their land

  Saudi Arabia on Sunday reiterated its categorical rejection of statements regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land, particularly those made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it rejected “such statements that aim to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are subjected to.” The ministry likewise expressed its appreciation of the “condemnation, disapproval and total rejection announced by the brotherly countries” regarding the Israeli leader’s comments. “The Kingdom also points out that this extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means to the brotherly people of Palestine and their emotional, historical and legal connection to this land, and it does not think that the Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place, as it has completely destroyed the Gaza Strip, killed and injured more than 160,000, most of them children and women, without the slightest human feeling or moral responsibility,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said.

  • Saudi Gazette - Saudi Arabia rejects Netanyahu’s remarks, accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in Gaza
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