Recent stories from sustg

  • As Fasting Ends, the Lessons of Ramadan Linger
     

    Before we began our three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of Ramadan, I came across an article in a Saudi newspaper with a checklist of what makes a successful Ramadan. First on the list: Recognizing that one can change for the better and acquiring patience and strong will. This month my deficiencies have shone […]

     
  • What Islamic Advertising in Saudi Arabia Looks Like
     

    This image of McDonald’s famous Golden Arches — the ne plus ultra of a Western brand — looks jarring in Arabic script. But in the Middle East and parts of Asia, that’s McDonald’s all-American brand.

     
  • Saudis Back Syria Rebels, Mindful of Past
     

    Overcome by the suffering of civilians in warring Syria, a professor in Saudi Arabia’s capital strips off his watch on live television to give as aid. A Saudi bride on her wedding night offers up her entire dowry of $13,000. Parents bring their children to donation centers set up around the Saudi kingdom, watching proudly […]

     
  • Seasonality and the Saudi Stock Market
     

    A recently released note by Jadwa Investment discusses the effect that seasonal trends have on the Saudi economy, noting that while all economies have seasonal trends, “for Saudi Arabia these trends are more pronounced than for most other global economies…The slowdown in activity in the third quarter due to the long hot summer is a key driver […]

     
  • Saudi construction sector to gather steam in H2 2012
     

    The Saudi construction sector will further gather steam in the second half of 2012, the National Commercial Bank “Construction Contracts Index” for the second quarter of this year released Saturday indicated. NCB Construction Contracts Index reached 309.12 points by the end of the second quarter of 2012, with the total value of awarded contracts reaching […]

     
  • Saudi Athletes in London
     

    London 2012 was historic for both Saudi Arabia and the Olympic games. Saudi Arabia sent its first female athletes ever to the Olympics, completing a strong talking point for the games’ organizers: London 2012 was the first time every country competing in the Olympics sent at least one woman. Sarah Attar (800m) and Wojdan Shahrkhani (Judo) […]

     
  • Saudi success in show jumping underscores shift in equestrian order, helps its Olympic future
     

    Saudi Arabia appeared on the equestrian show jumping map in at the Sydney Games in 2000 when Khaled Al Eid won an individual bronze. He qualified for London but had to withdraw in July after his horse, Presley Boy, developed laminitis, a painful inflammation of the hoof. Some had considered the Sydney medal a blip, […]

     
  • The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
     

    A new book on the long confrontation between the US and Iran blames the George W. Bush administration for squandering opportunities to improve relations with Tehran and invading Iraq in 2003 without recognizing that Iran would wind up being the power broker in that country. These criticisms are remarkable given their source: David Crist, author […]

     
  • Graph of the Day – Saudi Oil Production Since 2008
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released Chartbook for the month of August 2012 found that  the Saudi Arabian economy overall remained “robust.” Included in that report is a look at the oil sector in Saudi Arabia. Oil prices “climbed in July because of renewed political tensions with Iran and rising global stock markets,” Jadwa noted.

     
  • Saudi students to establish Islamic center at Murray State University
     

    Saudi students at Murray State University in Kentucky have received a license to establish an Islamic center where they can organize cultural and social programs along with observing religious rites. Saudi students had been performing their prayers and Iftar in a rented building in which other Arab and Muslim students participated. The city’s mayor and […]

     

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