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  • Anti-corruption squad arrests Saudi government employees

    Government employees were among 145 people arrested in Saudi Arabia over corruption charges last month. The country’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) conducted 1,462 “oversight visits” in December, during which 390 accused individuals were investigated and the arrests made. Those involved worked for a range of government agencies including the ministries of the interior, defence, justice, health, education, municipalities and housing, Nazaha said. Those arrested, some of whom were released on bail, are accused of crimes including bribery and abuse of authority.

  • BYD Pulls Ahead of Tesla to Become Largest EV Maker

    After years on top of the global electric vehicle market, Tesla has lost the title of world’s largest EV producer to Chinese powerhouse BYD. In 2024, Tesla made 1,774,442 electric vehicles, 4,500 shy of BYD’s 1,777,965. After first surpassing Tesla’s quarterly vehicle production in Q4 2023, BYD fell back behind its U.S. competitor in subsequent quarters. In Q4 2024, however, China’s number 1 car brand outproduced Tesla by almost 150,000 vehicles, making it the world’s new leading EV manufacturer.

  • All 6 lines of Riyadh Metro operational with rollout of Orange Line

    The Line 3 (Orange Line) covering Madinah Road would connect the east of Riyadh to its west, and extends from Jeddah Road in the west to the second eastern ring road adjacent to the Khashm Al-Aan area in the east with a total length of 41 km. This marks the completion of the phased operation of the six lines of the Riyadh Metro network according to the plan previously announced when the project was inaugurated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Nov. 27, 2024. The RCRC said in a statement that at 6:00 am on Sunday, passengers will be received on the Orange Line at the following five stations: Jeddah Road Station, Tuwaiq Station, Douh Station, Harun Al-Rashid Road Station, and Al-Naseem Station, which is one of the transfer stations that connects the Orange Line and the Purple Line. The commission also announced the operation of three new stations on the Blue Line that connects the Olaya Street to Batha and these are Al-Morooj Station, Bank Al-Bilad Station, and King Fahd Library Station. Three lines that started operations in the initial phase on Dec. 1 were the 1st line (Blue Line); 4th line (Yellow Line); and the 6th line (Purple Line). In the second phase, two more lines — Line 2 (Red Line) and Line 5 (Green Line) — became operational on Dec. 15.

  • Milan star thanks Saudi fans for inspiring Supercoppa comeback

    Milan forward Tammy Abraham has hailed the impact of the support in Riyadh as his side booked their place in the Supercoppa Italiana final. The Englishman and his teammates trailed Juventus 1-0 in the closing stages before a Christian Pulisic penalty and bizarre own goal turned the contest on its head. Following the fightback, Milan's reward for victory in coach Sergio Conceição's first game in charge is a final against Inter with Supercoppa glory at stake in Saudi Arabia. "Thank to you everyone who came to watch the game and supported us today. It was a beautiful atmosphere in a beautiful country, a beautiful support," Abraham said afterwards.

  • German, French foreign ministers meet Syria’s new rulers in Damascus

    The foreign ministers of Germany and France said they wanted to forge a new relationship with Syria and urged a peaceful transition as they met its de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday on behalf of the European Union. Germany's Annalena Baerbock and France's Jean-Noel Barrot are the first ministers from the EU to visit Syria since rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8 and forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war, ending his family's decades-long rule. Their trip is meant to send a message of cautious optimism to the Islamist rebels led by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), showing an openness to acknowledging the new rulers while also urging moderation and respect for minorities' rights.

  • Riyadh’s King Khalid Airport named world’s most on-time large and global airport

    Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has been named winner in both the ‘Large’ and ‘Global’ Airport categories in Cirium’s 2024 On-Time Performance report. It was a double celebration for Saudi Arabia as Saudia was a close runner-up with 86.35 per cent among the airlines. Saudi was second only to Aeromexico, Mexico’s flag carrier, which was named the most On-Time ‘Global Airline’ in 2024 with a 86.7 per cent on-time rate. American giant Delta Air Lines secured third place with 83.46 per cent. Qatar Airways, with 82.83 per cent on-time arrivals and 82.56 per cent on-time departure, was placed fifth globally, one place behind LATAM Airlines at fourth.

  • Senior Saudi officials meet new Syrian counterparts in Riyadh

    Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met their new Syrian counterparts during a trip to Riyadh. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani met Prince Faisal at the Saudi Foreign Ministry before the pair joined a larger meeting with Prince Khalid. “We discussed developments in Syria and explored ways to support the transitional political process in achieving the Syrian people’s aspirations for security, stability, and unity,” Prince Khalid said after their meeting.

  • Something old, something new: GCC energy trends in 2025

    The oil price is currently a bit lower than the GCC countries would like it, set to end the year at around $74 per barrel for Brent crude. At this price, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait run moderate budget deficits, while the UAE, Qatar and Oman will record decent surpluses. Revenues are high enough to avoid a crisis and provide ample funds for growth; low enough to encourage reform and ward off complacency. So GCC energy policies in 2025 have the following recipe: maximise oil and gas revenues, continue development and reform of the traditional petroleum sector, and expand into new energy and related businesses, both at home and abroad. Opec+ has not enjoyed a successful year. Despite continuing its production restraint, including extension of the voluntary cuts by some members throughout 2024, oil prices ended in virtually the same place as they began. They have slipped steadily since briefly topping $91 per barrel in April.

  • GASTAT: Saudi Women’s Participation in the Labor Force Reaches 36.2%

    The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released today the Labor Market Bulletin for the third quarter of 2024. Figures show that the unemployment rate among Saudis in Q3 of 2024 was 7.8%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over Q2 of this same year, and a year-on-year decrease of 1 percentage point from Q3 2023. The bulletin also shows that the Saudi and non-Saudi labor force stood, in Q3 of this year, at 66.6%, a 0.4 percentage point increase over Q2 of 2024. Among Saudis, the labor force grew by 0.7 percentage points in Q3 2024, to reach 51.5%, marking a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points. The employment-to-population ratio among Saudis went up by 0.2 percentage points, reaching 47.4%, or an annual growth of 1.1 percentage points. The bulletin also highlighted the growth of Saudi women's participation in the labor force, which increased by 0.8 percentage points, to 36.2%, in the mentioned period.

  • Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate hits 3.7%: GASTAT

    Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent in the third quarter of 2024, down 0.5 percentage points from last year, official data showed. According to data released by the General Authority for Statistics, labor force participation across Saudis and non-Saudis reached 66.6 percent during the third quarter, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 0.2 percentage points and a quarterly rise of 0.4 percentage points. The unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points compared to the second quarter of this year.