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  • Adesanya vs Imavov: UFC fight Saudi Arabia – start time, card, how to watch

    The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels to Saudi Arabia with an impressive lineup of mixed martial arts (MMA) talent, headlined by a thrilling main event middleweight clash between former two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya of New Zealand and France’s rising star, Nassourdine Imavov. The co-main event features a much-anticipated bout between the all-round brilliance of Shara Magomedov from Russia and the powerful punching Briton, Michael Page.

  • Qatar approves memorandum on nuclear safety cooperation with Saudi Arabia

    The Qatari Cabinet has approved a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in nuclear safety and radiation protection between its Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission. This decision was made during the Cabinet’s regular meeting yesterday morning, chaired by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to the Qatar News Agency (QNA). In 2006, the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) decided to conduct a joint study on the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including electricity generation and water desalination. The six GCC countries agreed to carry out an initial feasibility study, followed by a detailed assessment and an implementation plan. The results of the detailed study, completed in 2010, confirmed the technical and economic feasibility of establishing a joint nuclear power plant.

  • Saudi Arabia: Stricter Exit Visa Rules Implemented for Resident Permits

    Holders of a resident permit who are applying for an exit visa must now have at least 30 days of validity on their resident permit; whereas previously such foreign nationals could apply for an exit visa up until the last day of their resident permit. As a result of this change, resident permit holders whose resident permit has a remaining validity period of less than 30 days must first renew their resident permit before they can apply for an exit visa. This new rule only applies to standard resident permits, as premium resident permits are not subject to any exit visa requirement.

  • Neom provides major update on Saudi gigaproject including 100-year timeframe for the Line

    Neom deputy CEO Rayan Fayez and chief development officer Denis Hickey gave a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they revealed detailed updates on the construction of the Saudi Arabian gigaproject and its regions. The regions of Neom, from north to south, are Trojena in the mountains, Magna on the coast, the Line, islands of Sindalah and the port of Oxagon. Oxagon and the Line are intended to be the economic centres, whereas the remaining four regions are hoped to become tourism and nature destinations. Hickey, an Australian former professional cricketer, now living in Manhattan in New York City while working for Neom, spoke at length about what’s happening across the gigaproject. “We’ve got to start everything from scratch,” he said. “Everybody wants to see things tomorrow, but we are building a whole new state, a whole new city, whole new infrastructure from scratch in a new part of the region, the kingdom. That’s our mission.”

  • Saudi Fencing Team Ranks First in Arab World with 60 Medals

    The Saudi fencing team concluded its participation in the Arab Fencing Championship, which ended yesterday in Bahrain, securing first place in the team rankings with a total of 60 medals (16 gold, 17 silver, and 27 bronze). The championship featured the participation of 12 countries: Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya. Oman came in second place with 21 medals (eight gold, eight silver, and five bronze), while the UAE ranked third with seven medals (three gold, one silver, and three bronze). The Saudi team participated with 127 athletes (42 women and 85 men) across all categories (senior, under 15, under 13, and under 11 years old) and in all three weapons of épée, foil, and sabre (individual and team events).

  • Trump’s envoy meets Netanyahu, visits Gaza after Saudi trip

    U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza on Wednesday, then met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push. Witkoff, whose visit to Gaza was confirmed by a White House official, is in the region to oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to leverage that deal into a broader regional accord that would include Saudi Arabia and Israel formalising diplomatic ties. Witkoff visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The U.S. envoy met with Netanyahu alone for more than two hours, an Israeli official said, before they were joined by other ministers.

  • MBS meets Bill Clinton, former US president, in Riyadh

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met on Wednesday with former US President Bill Clinton, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. MBS met with Clinton at his office in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, SPA said. The two officials held friendly talks, the report added. The meeting was attended by the Kingdom’s ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar, Minister of State and National Security Adviser Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban along with Clinton’s accompanying delegation.

  • Collector Basma Al Sulaiman on the Future of the Saudi Art Market: ‘We Are Not Just Consumers’

    The Gulf has been a hotbed of cultural investment in recent years. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has experienced a burgeoning museum landscape—both public and private—and cultural events launching as part of its Vision 2030 project, a sweeping plan for diversifying the nation’s economy to be less oil-production reliant. As of last year, projects associated with Vision 2030 have reached $1.3 trillion in value. Part of that plan has included expanding luxury retail as well as arts and culture infrastructure. Last year, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund struck a $1 billion deal with Sotheby’s owner, Patrick Drahi, for a minority stake in the firm. Christie’s also recently announced that it is expanding its presence in the Middle East with an outpost in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia— this will be the house’s second location in the region, alongside its Dubai office, which opened in 2005. The Riyadh location will focus on Modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art, as well as jewelry and timepieces, the house said, aiming to draw the kingdom’s wealthy millennials; Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s youngest countries, with roughly 70 percent of the population under the age of 40.

  • Commentary: Historical GCC-Lebanon partnership should be restored

    Several high-level Gulf Cooperation Council officials have visited Lebanon recently to show support for newly elected President Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, his pick for prime minister. Last Thursday, Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Beirut, becoming the first Saudi foreign minister to do so in some 15 years. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya and GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi were in Beirut last Friday. They delivered similar messages to Lebanon’s new leadership. Kuwait holds the current rotating presidency of the GCC and has been keenly interested in restoring Lebanon’s close relations with the Gulf countries. Over the past two decades, Lebanon and the GCC countries became estranged as Hezbollah came to dominate Lebanon’s political, security and economic systems, including its foreign policy, which became aligned with Iran’s. It also dominated law enforcement and parts of the judiciary, frustrating investigations into its members and shielding them from accountability.

  • Saudi Arabia set to become a key wheat flour exporter if government controls relax further

    Flour mills across the Middle East are bracing for intensified competition from Saudi Arabia in the export market as expectations grow that the government will loosen its control over wheat procurement. "It's quite a concern for us," a UAE flour mill said. "Once public organizations have slowly been turning into the private realm, which means they'll be better managed for profit moving forward." Flour mills in Saudi Arabia procure all their wheat from the government body responsible for food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Food Security (GFSA). However, 2025 is expected to be the year when the government's control over wheat purchases comes to an end, which means mills would take charge of imports themselves rather than buying from the GFSA, according to the source.