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  • Catholic Cardinal meets Saudi king in Historic Visit to Riyadh
     

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has met French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran during the first visit to the Kingdom by such a senior Catholic authority, according to the SPA. The move follows other overtures by Saudi Arabia’s leadership in recent weeks to other faiths, and a visit by Lebanon’s Christian Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai in November. Interfaith dialogue has been […]

     
  • Arab Leaders Gather in Dhahran to Unite on Regional Challenges
     

    Arab leaders gathered in Dhahran this weekend for the 29th session of the Arab Summit, held for the first time at the recently-opened King Abdulaziz International Cultural Center in Dhahran. The group called on Sunday for an international probe into the “criminal” use of chemical weapons in Syria and condemned what it saw as Iran’s […]

     
  • Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Attends High-Powered Dinner in Los Angeles with Studio Brass, Stars
     

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and members of his entourage were welcomed to Hollywood last night with a high-powered dinner hosted by the Entertainment industry’s elite, according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter. An intimate dinner was held at Rupert Murdoch’s estate with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Morgan Freeman, James Cameron, Michael Douglas, Disney CEO […]

     
  • Now West, Crown Prince Salman Meets with Tech Elite in Seattle
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with some of the world’s most prominent technology executives in Seattle this weekend as part of his three-week long official visit to the United States. The powerful millennial has prioritized technology as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 social and economic reform blueprint, and has used the newly-empowered Public […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s Swings for Fences With ‘Bold, Risky’ Solar Bet
     

    Saudi Arabia and SoftBank signed a MOU to build a $200 billion solar power project this week in New York, dwarfing all other existing or planned projects in the world and placing the Kingdom and its 3,000 hours of sunshine a year into a global leadership position in the renewable energy field. The project, unveiled in New York this week […]

     
  • Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with SoftBank CEO in New York
     

    The Saudi Press Agency on Monday tweeted a photo of a meeting between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, saying they are “looking for a number of investment opportunities.” Crown Prince Mohammed, who wore a western-style business suit, arrived in New York for a week of meetings after visiting Boston, Massachusetts. […]

     
  • Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Harvard, MIT in Boston
     

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Harvard University and MIT in Boston, Massachusetts over the weekend to tour two of America’s premiere higher education campuses and talk about the importance of research and entrepreneurship to Vision 2030. The visit to Boston is the second stop in a weeks long tour across the United States, his first […]

     
  • Reports: Crown Prince and Delegation to Meet with Tech, Defense, Banking Giants
     

    Two separate reports from Bloomberg confirm that Saudi officials are eying meetings with major banking houses and technology giants during the Crown Prince’s nearly three-week long visit to the United States. The delegation currently visiting the United States will seek to meet with executives from Amazon, Apple, Google, Pfizer and other companies as they hunt for […]

     
  • Interview: Bechtel’s Millennial Saudi Country Manager Abdulrahman Al-Ghabban Discusses Company’s Activities and Ambitions in Vision 2030 Era
     

    San Francisco-based Bechtel is one of the largest engineering, construction, and project management companies in the world, and it’s been doing business in Saudi Arabia for 75 years. Following the announcement of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic and social reform plan, the company hired its first Saudi national as country head of its operations in the Kingdom […]

     
  • Report Says ‘Comprehensive Solution’ for Yemen Civil War under Negotiation between Saudi Arabia, Houthis
     

    Saudi Arabia and armed Houthi forces are holding heretofore secret talks to try to end the three-year-old war, diplomats and Yemeni political sources told Reuters. Two diplomats and two Yemeni officials said Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam had been in direct communication with Saudi officials in Oman on a “comprehensive solution” to the conflict, the report said. “There are consultations […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Diriyah Urban Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

    Get on your bike. The Diriyah Urban Festival is riding into town, showcasing the best of breakdancing, parkour and skateboarding. Plus, it will host the BMX Freestyle World Cup 2023 for the first time in the kingdom. If you love biking culture, then this is for you. The festival brings the sport to thrilling life with BMX, mountain bikes, and scooters. Visitors can watch demonstrations, shows and workshops. Plus, you can be wowed by parkour performers and watch parkour competitions.

  • Five dead in Israeli raid on Palestinian militants in W.Bank

    Israeli forces killed a number of armed fighters on Monday during a raid on a refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Jericho aimed at capturing suspected Hamas militants, the Israeli military said in a statement. Five people were killed, governor of Jericho Jihad Abu al-Assal said, in the raid in Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in southern Jericho and eight were arrested, according to a statement published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

  • Saudi Arabia’s king appoints Ayman Alsayari as new central bank governor, replacing Fahad al-Mubarak

    Saudi Arabia's king appointed Ayman Alsayari as central bank governor replacing Fahad al-Mubarak, a decree carried on the state media on Thursday said. Alsayari was vice-governor for investment and research at the central bank and is a member of the board of directors of Saudi Arabia's National Debt Management Center. Al-Mubarak would now become an adviser at the royal court, a separate decree said. He had taken the helm at Saudi Central Bank in January 2021 in his second stint in one of the most sensitive positions in the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter. He was previously governor from 2011 to 2016.

  • Qatar expands regional energy footprint with new stake in Lebanon

    QatarEnergy has agreed to explore Lebanon’s territorial waters for oil and natural gas deposits as part of a consortium with France’s TotalEnergies and Italy’s ENI. The state-owned energy giant will control 30 % of the joint venture under the deal, effectively replacing a Russian company. The Qatari foray into the Levant comes as Doha is reportedly also considering investing in TotalEnergies’ 27B USD agreement on energy projects in Iraq.

  • Lebanon devalues official exchange rate by 90%

    Lebanon devalued its official exchange rate for the first time in 25 years on Wednesday, weakening it by 90% but still leaving the local currency well below its market value. The pound has crashed since a financial meltdown in 2019 after decades of corruption, profligate spending and mismanagement by the ruling elite in Lebanon which has left the crisis to fester despite soaring poverty.

  • Israeli settlers attack Palestinians across West Bank

    Wafa said at least 144 Israeli settler attacks — some minor rock-throwing incidents, others much more violent — were reported on Saturday across the West Bank, the occupied territory that Palestinians envision as part of their future state. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities on Sunday began demolishing Palestinian homes in retaliation for Friday’s synagogue shooting and pledged an expansion of West Bank settlements, which could further inflame an already volatile situation.

  • Saudi’s Al Rajhi Bank 2022 net profit rises 16% on higher operating income

    The bank attributed its annual results on higher operating income - which rose 11% helped by net financing and investment income - fees from banking services, exchange income and other operating income. Loans and advances last year stood at 568.34 billion riyals, gaining 25.5% over 2021, while deposits rose 10.3% to 564.93 billion riyals.

  • Saudi Arabia’s judiciary sentences murderer of pilot Bandar Al-Qarhadi to death

    In an ongoing brutal murder case involving a young pilot that has shook the streets of Saudi Arabia, a Saudi court yesterday sentenced to death the defendant, Alkhaleej Online news website has reported. Lawyer and counselor Abdulaziz Al-Qulaisi said on his Twitter account: "After a month and a half of the trial, the death sentence was issued in the case of the murdered and martyr Bandar Al-Qarhadi, as a punishment against the defendant." Last month Bandar Al-Qarhadi's was handcuffed to his car by a friend before setting his body on fire on a street in Jeddah. A video of Qarhaidi screaming "What did I do?" before dying of serious burns circulated on social media.

  • Goldman’s Top Middle East Private Banker Leaves After Two Years

    Gabriel Aractingi departed from the US bank earlier this month due to personal reasons, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the information isn’t public. Aractingi joined Goldman Sachs in April 2021 to run its MENA private wealth management unit out of Geneva.

  • Israel hits Gaza as conflict flares after West Bank clashes

    Israeli jets struck Gaza overnight on Friday in retaliation for two rockets fired by Palestinian militants, further escalating tensions after one of the worst days of violence in the occupied West Bank in years. The rockets fired from Gaza overnight set off alarms in Israeli communities near the border with the southern coastal strip controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas but there were no reports of casualties.