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  • Arab states slam Netanyahu over suggestion to move Palestinians to Saudi Arabia

    Arab governments have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks that a Palestinian state should be established in Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza – suggested earlier this week that Palestinians should be moved to Saudi Arabia which has "a lot of land," calling a Palestinian state a "security threat" to Israel. Riyadh quickly rebuffed the Israeli leader's comments in a foreign ministry statement, reiterating that normalisation with Israel would only be possible if an independent Palestinian state was established. Netanyahu and his far-right government have outright rejected a Palestinian state, which many Palestinians want to see include the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital. The comments came amid Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, where he appeared alongside US President Donald Trump, who unveiled a controversial plan to "take over" Gaza and displace millions of Palestinians

  • UN accused of censoring criticism of Saudi Arabia at flagship internet conference

    The UN removed criticism of the Saudi government from the official transcript of a key UN conference and threatened to eject a Saudi researcher from the gathering held in Riyadh in December, Human Rights Watch has said. The organisation described the fallout from the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN IGF) as “the latest example” of a repressive government hosting a major UN conference which saw civil society representatives censored and intimidated. Deborah Brown, HRW’s deputy technology, rights and investigations director, said: "The UN and its member states should put an end to a climate of intimidation and censorship toward diplomats, journalists, human rights advocates, and other civil society representatives at UN conferences." "Restricting participants’ ability to speak freely about internet policy issues, including issues relevant in the host country, undermines the IGF’s purpose," she said.

  • Influencers’ role in helping Saudi Arabia end the scourge of smoking

    A recent forecast by Euromonitor International suggests that cigarette consumption in Saudi Arabia will hold steady this year. The research firm also predicts that the market for vapes, heated tobacco, and smokeless tobacco is about to explode, quintupling in size by 2028.[1] Given that up to one in three young Saudi adults is thought to use e-cigarettes, this comes as no surprise. In short, smoking remains stubbornly popular in the Kingdom, as does vaping among young adults. Bending the curve will require the adoption and skillful deployment of social media influencer techniques that better align with how our youth absorb information.  The good news is that any such effort can – and should – build on the laudable stop-smoking efforts ongoing in the Kingdom. Since launching its first anti-smoking campaign in the early 2000s, the Kingdom has banned smoking in public places, imposed a 100% duty on cigarettes, and set up more than 1,000 smoking cessation clinics across the country.[2] Last year, the Public Investment Fund launched Badael, which sells Saudi-made nicotine pouches and is developing other tobacco alternatives for smokers. These policies, among many others, have been overwhelmingly successful.

  • Saudi Arabia’s population crosses 35mln, with non-Saudis constituting 44.4%

    Saudi Arabia's population reached 35.3 million until the middle of the year 2024, according to the latest estimates of the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). Saudi citizens constitute 55.6 percent of the total population while non-Saudis represent 44.4 percent. There has been an annual increase of 1.6 million in the number of people, with a growth rate of 4.7 percent during the period until mid-2024, compared to mid-2023. The annual growth rate stood at 4.6 percent compared to the base period in May 2022. The authority report stated that the total population of Saudis exceeded 19.6 million by mid-2024, with an annual growth rate of two percent, compared to 19.3 million in mid-2023, while the population of non-Saudis reached nearly 15.7 million by the middle of last year, compared to 14.5 million people until mid-2023.

  • Saudi Arabia’s population surges 4.7% to 35.3M in H1 2024

    Saudi Arabia's population grew at an annual rate of 4.7% to stand at 35.3 million by the end of the first half of 2024. In 2024, Saudi residents exceeded a tally of 19.6 million, while non-Saudi residents totaled approximately 15.7 million, a recent bulletin from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reported. According to the GASTAT’s estimates, the Saudi population growth reached about 1.6 million people compared to mid-2023, when the growth rate amounted to about 33.7 million people. Saudis accounted for 24.4% of this increase, while males made up roughly 70.8% of the total population growth. The number of Saudis grew by approximately 389,300 people compared to 2023, while the non-Saudi population added around 1.21 million.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Billion-Dollar VC Boom: How SVC Is Shaping The Kingdom’s Financial Future

    Saudi Arabia has solidified its position as the top destination for venture capital (VC) investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the second consecutive year. According to data from MAGNiTT, the Kingdom secured $750 million in VC funding in 2024, accounting for 40 percent of total regional VC capital. The nation also witnessed a 16 percent increase in deal flow, closing 178 deals—the highest in the region. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed with $613 million in VC investments across 188 deals, leading the region in deal volume and achieving 12 exits.

  • Oil prices attempt to bounce off 2025 lows after Saudi Arabia raises crude prices

    Oil futures ticked higher early Thursday, seeing a modest bounce off 2025 lows after Saudi Arabia's state-owned petroleum company significantly raised physical crude prices for Asia. WTI and Brent ended Wednesday at their lowest since December, sinking on worries over U.S. tariffs on China and data that showed a large jump in U.S. crude inventories last week. Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, on Thursday said it had significantly raised the price of physical crude for Asian buyers. Aramco raised the March price of its flagship Arab light crude to Asia to $3.90 a barrel over the Oman/Dubai crude benchmark, an increase of $2.90 a barrel from February.

  • Saudi Arabia removes restrictions on foreign on-demand charter flights

    The move builds on impressive growth in Saudi’s private aviation market with 23, 612 business jet flights recorded in 2024, an increase of more than 4,600 flights on 2923 figures. Domestic flights accounted to 9,206 (+26% on 2023) movements last year. In line with Saudi Arabia’s aviation strategy as part of Vision 2030, GACA’s General Aviation Roadmap was launched in May 2024 to establish the country as a general aviation hub in the region. There is currently an unprecedented infrastructure programme underway to establish new private airports and terminals across the Kingdom. GACA’s roadmap will deliver six dedicated business aviation airports and a further nine dedicated business aviation hubs. It will also increase the FBO and MRO capacity for business jets.

  • Characterization of paleodrainages in desert regions of Saudi Arabia multisatellite images with field based study

    In Saudi Arabia, a number of linear geomorphological features with uncertain origin have been observed from space, but they do not belong to any existed drainage systems. They are ancient watercourses carried water in the past during the Holocene deluge, and they were affected by global climate change and geological processes turning them into dry and buried channels filled by sediments, and these are described as “Paleodrainages”.

  • Art Week Riyadh 2025: A New Era for Saudi Arabia’s Thriving Art Scene

    The Visual Arts Commission of Saudi Arabia proudly announces the inaugural edition of Art Week Riyadh, a groundbreaking initiative celebrating the Kingdom’s dynamic art scene. Taking place from 6 to 13 April 2025, this event will bring together leading local and international galleries, cultural institutions, artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts under the theme “At The Edge.” As a non-commercial initiative, Art Week Riyadh is designed to foster collaboration, exchange, and innovation within Saudi Arabia’s growing art ecosystem. With programming that honors the past, celebrates the present, and invests in the future, the event will highlight the depth and breadth of Saudi’s artistic landscape.