MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia’s network of spending and influence detailed before getting 2034 World Cup from FIFA

  Saudi Arabia’s growing influence and massive spending in global sports ahead of being confirmed by FIFA as the 2034 World Cup host was detailed on Monday in a report that cited risks to good governance off the field. More than 900 sponsor deals — more than one-third traced to the $925 billion Saudi sovereign wealth fund — and a network of officials with overlapping state, business and sports roles were cited by Play The Game, a publicly funded sports ethics institute in Denmark. The oil-rich kingdom’s investment of tens of billions of dollars in soccer, golf, boxing, tennis, the Esports Olympics and a yet-to-be-built ski resort will get its most coveted prize next week from FIFA, the 2034 World Cup in men’s soccer.

• Opinion: He who believed in Saudi Arabia and he who did not

  Everyone knows about economic and military cooperation, but now it is cultural cooperation that bears the French label at the magnificent site of AlUla. Ambition and quality are necessary to strengthen our relations with the Kingdom, but we also need an understanding of the challenges of this modernization. There are still important aspects of cooperation to be developed, such as intelligence and the fight against terrorism. You may not be aware that Riyadh is home to a particularly impressive center for combating cyberterrorism, the Etidal Center, which monitors social networks and websites.

• Persian onager returns to Saudi Arabia after over a century of absence

  In April 2024, seven Persian onagers were translocated from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature’s (RSCN) Shaumari Reserve in Jordan to the Reserve, establishing the first wild population in the Kingdom in over a century. The onagers, following their 935-kilometer journey, have adapted well to their new habitat, celebrated by the birth of the first foal in the Reserve — a pivotal milestone in Saudi Arabia’s rewilding efforts.

• Saudi’s Regional Headquarters (RHQ) Program

  As the year draws to an end, it is evident that a vast number of corporate giants consider the RHQ program a worthwhile one. To date, over 540 multinational companies have become participants, exceeding Saudi Arabia’s original target of 500 companies by 2030. Participants span a number of sectors and include technology firms like Amazon and Google, as well as the professional services companies PwC and Deloitte. More recently, the asset management giant BlackRock announced that it received approval to set up its regional headquarters in Riyadh ahead of its plans to launch an investment platform called BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management (BRIM), which aims to bring more FDI into the Kingdom.

• Fuel oil smuggling network rakes in $1 billion for Iran and its proxies
  A sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that some experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office in 2022, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The operation exploits a government policy under which Iraq allocates fuel oil to asphalt plants at heavily subsidised prices and involves a network of companies, groups and individuals in Iraq, Iran and Gulf states, according to the five people and three Western intelligence reports, two from August this year and one which was undated.

• After decades, China sputters as engine of global oil demand growth
  China's crude oil imports are on track to peak as soon as next year as transport fuel demand begins to decline for the world's top crude buyer, ending the country's decades-long run as the dominant driver of expanding oil consumption. The speed of its transition to electric mobility has stunned oil producers and investors. No single market is positioned to replace Chinese demand, which has made up 41% of annual global oil consumption growth averaging 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) over the past three decades, according to the Statistical Review of World Energy. EV and hybrid sales in China topped combustion engine vehicle sales for the first time in July, eating into China's need to import crude for refiners to make gasoline, with prolonged economic weakness also slowing overall oil consumption.

• Apple, HP and Dell lose market share in Gulf

  Samsung remains the Gulf’s smartphone brand of choice. The South Korean company accounted for 40.1 percent of phone shipments to the GCC in the first nine months of 2024, down from 40.6 percent in the same period in 2023, according to analyst IDC. Apple suffered a bigger decline in Gulf market share while shipments increased for the Chinese duo Xiaomi and Transsion. Overall, smartphone shipments for Q1 to Q3 rose 8.9 percent year on year. Many consumers in the Middle East and North Africa have been boycotting American food and beverage brands in protest at the US government’s support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.

• Fifa praises ‘impressive’ Saudi World Cup 2034 bid

  The vast construction projects proposed by Saudi Arabia for the 2034 Fifa World Cup are impressive, but present a medium risk of not being completed in time, football’s governing body Fifa has warned. In a 110-page bid evaluation document, Fifa’s inspection team said Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to fulfill its ambitious promises for the tournament and to comply with the federation’s standards. Saudi Arabia is the only candidate in the running to host the 2034 tournament, and its bid to hold the World Cup in 10 years’ time was fast-tracked in October 2023. It will be ratified by the Fifa Congress on December 11.

• Saudi Arabia opens world’s longest driverless transit system

  The Riyadh Metro began operation on December 1, with the opening of three of its lines (another line is opening in January with two more to follow soon after). It has a total length of 176 km (109 miles) and connects key districts, business centers, and cultural landmarks throughout Saudi Arabia's capital city.With an eventual capacity of 3.6 million daily passengers once fully complete, the train network is expected to reduce road traffic significantly throughout Riyadh and correspondingly reduce CO2 by some 12.5 million tons (roughly 10.8 million tonnes), annually.

• Riyadh Metro welcomes passengers as first phase launches

  Riyadh Metro welcomed on Sunday its first passengers in the much-anticipated launch that included the commencement of three lines. As part of the initial launching phase, Line 1, the Al Olaya-Al Batha route (Blue Line), alongside with Line 4, King Khalid International Airport Road (Yellow Line), and Line 6, stretching across Abdulrahman bin Auf Road and Sheikh Hassan bin Hussein bin Ali Road (Purple Line), all went into effect. Phase two of the project will launch on December 15 and will include opening Line 2, King Abdullah Road (Red Line), and Line 5, King Abdulaziz Road (Green Line), according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The final phase is slated for January 5, 2025, when Line 3, Al Madinah Al Munawwarah Road (Orange Line), goes into operation, marking the full activation of all six lines, spanning 176 kilometers and servicing 85 stations, including four main hubs.

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