MUST-READS

• Trump hails Saudi Arabia at investment event in Miami

  This was the first time a US president has spoken at the Miami event. Elon Musk, who co-heads Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, was also there. As part of an increasingly high-profile relationship with the United States under President Trump, earlier this week Saudi Arabia hosted talks between the US and Russian foreign ministers aimed at paving the way for a resolution to the Ukraine war. In late January, during the first phone call Trump held with a foreign leader after returning to the White House, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, pledged $600 billion of trade and investment in the US over Trump’s four-year term.

• A Guide to Saudi Arabia
  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may be progressing to the future at hastened speed, but its history dates all the way back to the Al Saud dynasty in 1744. With the opening of the UNESCO-listed Hegra site, a collection of ancient, preserved tombs and rock formations carved in the first century by Nabatean tribes, visitors are flocking to Saudi Arabia. History buffs have no shortage of options between the six UNESCO World Heritage sites. Archaeological landmarks showing traces of Neolithic period human settlement can be found in the verdant Al Ahsa Oasis where millions of date trees sprout from the ground and hot and cold springs refresh. Alternatively, wander the mudbrick home-lined alleyways at the 15^th century Al Turaif. And then there’s Hima in the southwest, which is situated on an old caravan route with some of the oldest inscriptions and rock carvings in the world. Animal and human scenes spanning thousands of years abound at two petroglyph sites in Al Hail.

• Trump calls Saudi Arabia a ‘special place with special leaders’

  US President Donald Trump thanked Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for hosting talks between Washington and Moscow last week, calling the Kingdom a “special place with special leaders.” Speaking at the opening of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, Trump said it was “a tremendous honor” to be the first American president to address the FII Institute. The US president singled out Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his efforts in this regard. “But in particular, we have to thank [Crown] Prince Mohammed bin Salman for hosting these historic talks that went very, very well,” Trump said. Launched in 2017, FII brings together investors, policymakers, government officials and international private sector executives from across the globe.

• Saudi Arabia’s Shrewd Embrace of Ahmed Al Sharaa

  In late December, Al Sharaa sat down with the Saudi pan-Arab news channel Al Arabiya for his first television interview as Syria’s leader. Al Sharaa’s choice of venue did not go unnoticed on the Syrian street and around the region. In the interview, the new president echoed MBS’s view that the region should focus on economic cooperation and investment over armed conflicts, praised Saudi Arabia’s crucial role regionally and globally, and made a point to reminisce about his childhood in Riyadh and his wish to walk its streets again. On the Saudi side, this opening gambit of the new Syrian administration is a smart one for the Kingdom’s own interests. MBS has made clear his desire for more calm in the region, allowing him to focus Saudi Arabia’s resources on his domestic reform agenda and economic diversification campaign rather than regional problems. The fall of the Assad regime has benefited Riyadh in a second crucial way: it has meant the near-total destruction of Assad’s captagon trafficking ring, which had impacted Saudi Arabia more than any other country in the region. Ensuring Syria’s stability to prevent a vacuum that allows for the continuation of the drug trade is a core Saudi national interest.

• Saudi Arabia’s Shrewd Embrace of Ahmed Al Sharaa

  In late December, Al Sharaa sat down with the Saudi pan-Arab news channel Al Arabiya for his first television interview as Syria’s leader. Al Sharaa’s choice of venue did not go unnoticed on the Syrian street and around the region. In the interview, the new president echoed MBS’s view that the region should focus on economic cooperation and investment over armed conflicts, praised Saudi Arabia’s crucial role regionally and globally, and made a point to reminisce about his childhood in Riyadh and his wish to walk its streets again. On the Saudi side, this opening gambit of the new Syrian administration is a smart one for the Kingdom’s own interests. MBS has made clear his desire for more calm in the region, allowing him to focus Saudi Arabia’s resources on his domestic reform agenda and economic diversification campaign rather than regional problems. The fall of the Assad regime has benefited Riyadh in a second crucial way: it has meant the near-total destruction of Assad’s captagon trafficking ring, which had impacted Saudi Arabia more than any other country in the region. Ensuring Syria’s stability to prevent a vacuum that allows for the continuation of the drug trade is a core Saudi national interest.

• Council pressed to act over Saudi ‘sportswashing’

  Human rights campaigners have met Newcastle's council leader to demand stronger action against alleged "sportswashing" by Saudi Arabia. The delegation, including citizens whose family members have been jailed in the Gulf state, sat down with the authority's leader Karen Kilgour. Political leaders have come under pressure over the North East's links to Saudi Arabia since the 2021 takeover of Newcastle United by a consortium led by the nation's Public Investment Fund (PIF). Kilgour said human rights abuses were "completely at odds with the values we hold dearly" in Newcastle but it was for the government to raise concerns. Newcastle United and the Saudi government did not comment.

• Forever Young Outside, Romantic Warrior Inside for Saudi Cup

  Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}), a Group 1 winner at the back end of 2024 in the Tokyo Daishoten and third in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will jump from the widest alley in barrier 14 for Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. Post positions were drawn Wednesday evening at the racecourse. Katie McDonald (ex Mallyon) was assigned the somewhat unenviable task of pulling the post position for Hong Kong Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and by all accounts, she performed well after electing the three hole. Her husband James McDonald rides the last-out G1 Jebel Hatta hero for trainer Danny Shum.

• NDMC closes the February 2025 Issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program

  The National Debt Management Center announces the closure of February 2025 issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program. The Total Amount Allocated was set at SAR 3.071Bn (three billion and seventy-one million Saudi Riyals)

• Saudi Arabia’s rise as a global diplomacy broker

  Saudi Arabia is solidifying its position as a global and regional diplomatic hub. On Friday, Riyadh will host the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in addition to Jordan and Egypt, to discuss an Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing its 2.2 million inhabitants. Once approved, the plan will be presented at the meeting of Arab leaders in Cairo at the end of the month. It will become a counterproposal to President Donald Trump’s plan to displace the people of Gaza while taking over the beleaguered enclave and turning it into a regional riviera. So, when Jordan’s King Abdullah met with Trump at the White House last week, his response to Trump’s idea was that Arab leaders had been invited by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country has rejected any attempt to displace the Palestinians from their land, to work on an Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza without the displacement of its people.

• HRSD Ministry says amendments to Labor Law take effect today

  The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) announced that amendments to the Labor Law will take effect from today, Feb. 19, aiming to enhance job stability and improve labor market efficiency to meet the needs of the private sector. The new amendments include changes to 38 articles of the law, the removal of seven articles, and the addition of two new articles. These changes intend to improve contractual relationships among labor market participants, safeguard their rights, and foster a more attractive and stable work environment in alignment with the labor market strategy.

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