MUST-READS

• Oil turns lower after Trump says he’ll ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring the price down

  Crude oil futures fell Thursday after President Donald Trump urged Saudi Arabia and OPEC to cut their prices. U.S. crude oil fell 82 cents, or 1.09%, to close at $74.62 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 71 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $78.29 per barrel. Oil was higher on the session before Trump began speaking. Trump accused the Saudis and OPEC of fueling the war in Ukraine through high oil prices, claiming the fighting would end if they allowed global crude prices to fall. Russia is one of the largest oil exporters in the world and the revenues from those sales support its war. “I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil,” Trump said in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum. “If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately.”

• Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest $600 billion in U.S. over next 4 years

  Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip. Trump’s 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also underscored his administration’s close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued deals across the region as well. “The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said. The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well. .

• Trump holds first foreign leader call with Saudi crown prince

  President Trump held his first official call with a foreign leader since being sworn in for his second term with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a controversial figure who Trump on Thursday praised as a “fantastic guy.” Trump spoke with the crown prince Wednesday, according to a readout from the White House. The two discussed security concerns in the Middle East and stabilizing the region, as well as planned investments by Saudi Arabia in the United States.  The president, addressing political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, highlighted reports that Saudi Arabia plans to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. in the coming years.  “I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion,” Trump said. “I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them.”

• Saudi Arabia weighs global mining deals as sector consolidates
  Saudi Arabia is looking for mining deals in a push to secure supplies of critical minerals for its industrialization plan, just as a wave of attempted consolidation sweeps the sector. Joining the consolidation drive “could be a good way of entering the market or getting at least access to different assets in a more structured way,” Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He didn’t elaborate whether this would be buying stakes in assets or buying companies outright. Deals have been on Saudi Arabia’s radar for a while as it pushes through with an ambitious economic transformation plan. The overseas drive has had limited results so far with just one major completed deal and another in the works in Pakistan, but recent dealmaking efforts by major companies may give the Saudis an opportunity to deploy their cash.

• A new era for nuclear energy beckons as projects, policies and investments increase

  The report, The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy, shows the fresh impetus behind nuclear in the form of new policies, projects, investments and technological advances, such as small modular reactors (SMRs). It provides a comprehensive assessment of the current situation, identifying the major challenges that need to be addressed to build on the current momentum and enable a new era to take hold. This includes insights on how to finance new nuclear projects while ensuring reliable and diversified supply chains for building and fuelling them. “It’s clear today that the strong comeback for nuclear energy that the IEA predicted several years ago is well underway, with nuclear set to generate a record level of electricity in 2025,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

• Climbing a Saudi ‘treasure’: Video
  Saudi climbing instructor Makki Alkurdi takes CNN to Treasure Island, a rock located just 20 minutes from the capital city Riyadh.

• Floating solar could reach LCOE of $0.053/kWh in Saudi Arabia
  Scientists from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia have conducted a techno-economic analysis to assess the country’s potential for floating PV (FPV) development and have found that the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of floating PV project could be as low as $0.053/kWh. The study assessed techno-economic feasibility at three distinct locations with varying climates and topographies: the King Fahad Dam, a gravity dam on Wadi Bisha, 35 km south of Bisha in the ‘Asir Region; the Wadi Namar Dam, located south of Riyadh; and the Hali Dam, situated 14 km east of Keyad in Mecca Province. The scientists reported that the King Fahd and Wadi Hali sites offer greater depth, likely improving cooling and boosting efficiency. Maximum solar irradiation at King Fahd reaches 2.38 MW/m²/year, compared to 2.19 MW/m²/year at Wadi Namar and 2.07 MW/m²/year at Wadi Hali.

• GCC banks to issue over $30bn in US dollar debt in 2025: Fitch Ratings

  Gulf Cooperation Council banks are projected to issue over $30 billion in US dollar-denominated debt in 2025, following a record $42 billion in 2024, Fitch Ratings said in a new report.  The surge in debt issuance is set to be driven by nearly $23 billion in maturing debt, lower US dollar interest rates, and strong regional credit demand, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  This comes as GCC banks accounted for 18 percent of total US dollar debt issuance by emerging-market banks in 2024, with this figure rising to 36 percent if Chinese banks are excluded. Favorable global financing conditions, supported by high oil prices projected to remain around $70 per barrel in 2025, are anticipated to continue bolstering investor confidence in the region.

• Saudi women’s football sees 195 percent surge in professional players: NEOM report

  Women’s football in Saudi Arabia has experienced “remarkable transformation” since 2018, with over 70,000 girls now participating at the grassroots level, more than 1,500 registered players nationwide and the number of professional female players surging by 195 percent, according to a new report. The report, “Pioneering Change: Women’s Football in Saudi Arabia,” published by the Kingdom’s mega project NEOM in partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), details the rapid development of women’s football in the Kingdom as part of its Vision 2030 reform agenda. The most significant growth has occurred at the grassroots level, with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s (SAFF) Girls’ Schools League seeing participation surge 46 percent year-on-year to reach more than 70,000 players in 2023.

• Iran inflation reaches 31.8% as housing, transport costs surge

  Iran's annual inflation rate reached 31.8% in January 2025, with monthly inflation climbing to 2.9%, the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) reported on January 22, releasing its data one day later than scheduled. The year-on-year increase in consumer prices showed significant pressure from government services, with miscellaneous goods and services rising 41.7%, housing utilities and fuel up 37.9%, and education costs increasing 33.9%. The data was released two days after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, amid a further weakening of the Iranian rial (IRR) against the greenback, to trade at just shy of IRR830,000 to the USD.

• 10 of 63018 results<< 1 … 83 84 85 … 6,302 >>