MUST-READS

• Emirati and Saudi Ambitions for Next-Generation Fighters

  On September 14, 2024, a senior Emirati official dismissed reports about the country’s interest in resuming long-deadlocked negotiations to purchase Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II aircraft should Donald J. Trump secure a second presidential term. However, Trump’s return to the White House in January has reignited questions regarding the potential for a resumption of talks. Meanwhile, in mid-October 2024, a Saudi military delegation, led by Royal Saudi Air Force Commander Turki bin Bandar al-Saud, made a state visit to Turkey, where it met with top figures in the defense sector, including Defence Industries Agency Chairman Haluk Gorgun and Turkish Aerospace Industries officials. Rich in symbolism is the picture portraying the Saudi commander and Defence Industries Agency chief alongside a KAAN aircraft – Turkish Aerospace Industries fifth-generation fighter jet. Two months later, several media outlets circulated news about Saudi Arabia’s intention to procure a hundred KAAN units.

• Fashion Trust Arabia Unites Creative Voices in Middle Eastern Fashion

  Since 2018, Qatar’s cultural scene has been enriched by a unique program highlighting Middle Eastern fashion. Fashion Trust Arabia is an annual fashion competition envisioned under the leadership of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, mother of the Qatari emir, and co-run by her daughter, Sheikha Al Mayassa Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and Tania Fares. The event convenes the Middle East’s best and brightest to celebrate fashion, innovation, and community in the region. In October 2024, Fashion Trust Arabia marked its sixth year. For the first time, it was held outside of Qatar – in Marrakesh alongside the Years of Culture Qatar-Morocco 2024. Qatar Museums’ Years of Culture program, which was launched in 2012 by Sheikha Al Mayassa, seeks to develop creative connections between Qatar and each year’s focus country, often through artist exchanges, volunteering trips, and a season full of exhibitions aimed at deepening cultural understanding.

• Opec+ market share to fall as US ramps up oil output

  The Opec+ group’s market share was 53 percent when it was set up in 2016. That figure is likely to drop to 46 percent in 2025 and 2026, even as Opec+ gradually reverses 2023 cuts in production quotas and actually increases supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Opec+ supply is expected to grow by 100,000 barrels per day this year to 35.8 million bpd and by 600,000 bpd next year. Unlike the Opec+ members, the US is not subject to quotas. “Opec+ has to resume executing its initial plan, pumping back (oil), at least to hold back part of the market share it is losing,” Choeib Boutamine, CEO of Ranadrill Consulting, a training and consulting company in Algeria, told AGBI.

• PIF’s $1bn Dazn deal creates new Mena sports streamer

  Surj Sports Investment, a unit of Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired a minority stake in UK-based global sports network Dazn. The deal, believed to be worth $1 billion, will establish new broadcasting joint venture Dazn Mena, which the companies say will broadcast live and on-demand sports from Saudi Arabia. The partnership will also capitalise “on the significant growth in demand for high-quality sports broadcasting,” the companies said – a signal that Dazn Mena could rival Qatari broadcasting giant Bein Sports. Danny Townsend, CEO at Surj Sports Investment, said the investment would help Surj “achieve its mandate of driving fan engagement, encouraging sports participation and unlocking game-changing opportunities, and further showcasing the region as a destination for world-class sports.”

• Saudi Arabia to host first-ever Olympic Esports games in 2027: Video

  The first-ever Olympic Esports games will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The IOC hasn’t released which games will be apart of the event yet. NBC News’ Dana Griffin spoke with professional Esports player, Alvin Avila who shared his excitement for the games. 

• Saudi stock exchange expects to have a record year of listings in 2025, CEO says

  More than 50 applications are currently under review by the regulator and the exchange, Al-Rumaih said, adding that around 100 applications are with advisors waiting to be submitted to the regulator. Fifteen IPO applications have been approved, Al-Rumaih said, speaking on the sidelines of the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s bourse is the Gulf Arab region’s largest, with average traded value of over $1 billion. The market opened up to foreign investors in 2015. A run of IPOs in the Gulf is due partly to local governments’ economic diversification strategies and listings by private groups and family businesses.

• Rubio: Russia, US need to normalize embassy staffing

  American negotiators who met with Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said the two countries agreed on “four principles” that will move cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine forward — starting with the restaffing of embassies. “For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters after the meeting, sitting alongside national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The meeting between the U.S. officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Vladimir Putin aide Yuri Ushakov — which lasted roughly 4.5 hours — is an “important first step” of a “long and difficult journey,” Rubio said.

• Saudi prince proving crucial to Trump efforts to end Ukraine, Gaza wars

  Top U.S. and Russian officials wrapped up their meetings Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss a pathway to end the war in Ukraine, days before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is set to convene a summit with leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to discuss an Arab response to U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to take over Gaza. The two separate talks reflect the growing role of the prince in Trump's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The Saudi talks signaled a major détente between Washington and Moscow and an abrupt end of U.S. policy under former President Joe Biden to isolate Russia and support Ukraine "for as long as it takes."

• Hamas will free 6 Israeli hostages and the bodies of 4 others

  Hamas said Tuesday it will release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday instead of three, as well as the bodies of four others on Thursday. The surprise increase by the militant group apparently comes in return for Israel allowing mobile homes and construction equipment into the devastated Gaza Strip. Israel is expected to continue releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many serving life sentences for deadly attacks, in exchange for hostages. The warring sides have yet to negotiate a second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire. Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and take over the territory.

• Middle East Balance of Power Continues to Shift

  The setbacks suffered by Iran and its Axis of Resistance partners in their post-October 7 battles against Israel have set the stage for a realignment of the Middle East balance of power. The leading beneficiary of the power shift is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has sparred with Iran for regional influence since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. Another competitor of both Saudi Arabia and Iran, Türkiye, has benefitted from the overthrow of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by Turkish-backed Sunni Islamist armed dissidents. At the same time, the Kingdom by no means regards Iran as eliminated from the region’s power structure. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has stated an intent to rebuild Iran’s resistance axis gradually, including in Syria. In March 2023, under pressure from the Iran-led Axis and doubtful the U.S. would continue to protect the Arab Gulf monarchies, Saudi leaders, using China’s mediation, finalized a restoration of relations with Tehran in March 2023.

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