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QUOTED
“Just once I wish they would show us doing something good… like baking a cookie or something…. I’ve been to Iran, we have cookies. Just once I want CNN to be like “now we’re gonna go to Muhammad in Iran.” They go to some guy like, “Hello I’m Muhammad and I’m just baking a cookie. I swear to God. No bombs, no flags, nothing. Back to you Bob”.” Iranian-American comedian Maz Jobrani, Beyond Chaos and Conflict, the Middle East is Also a Place of Beauty [Australian Institute of International Affairs]
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TOP STORY
Strong demand helped drive non-oil business activity in Saudi Arabia in March, Reuters reports, with output accelerating to a six-month high. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Christine Burke in bloomberg.com: Efforts toward economic diversification and reforms to business policies have helped the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia post the biggest jumps in Kearney’s 2024 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index. The countries climbed ten spots from 2023, to eighth for the UAE and 14th for Saudi Arabia. Among emerging markets, the two largest Gulf economies ranked second and third, respectively, behind China. Oman also made the emerging market list for the first time, helped by the launch of the Future Fund that will mostly focus on drawing in foreign direct investment.
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Via Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson in reuters.com: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has postponed plans to travel to Saudi Arabia this week as he recovers from a cracked rib following a minor accident, the White House said on Wednesday. Sullivan had been due to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid a U.S. push for progress toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The injury has affected his ability to travel, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. This was a minor accident of his own. It was not caused by anybody. It was not the result of a nefarious act.
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in barrons.com: Stranded abroad by almost a year of war, Saudi Arabias swelling Sudanese community are drawn to Riyadhs Little Khartoum where they can eat, pray and console each other about the conflict ravaging their country.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel and Jordan on a trip through Wednesday, the State Department announced, after...[via alarabiya.net]
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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed on Monday the importance of reaching an “immediate ceasefire” in the...[By Ghinwa Obeid via alarabiya.net]
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Only a real commitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can prevent the war in Gaza from reoccurring, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal...[By Zaynab Khoji via arabnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today pledged to work together to help protect 370 million children annually from polio and lift...[via reliefweb.int]
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With geopolitical upheavals and complex economic challenges destabilizing a fractured world, the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development...[via weforum.org]
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Saudi Arabia on Sunday said the international community has failed Gaza and reiterated its call for a Palestinian state at a global economic summit attended...[via barrons.com]
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Jadaan also called on leaders to “do everything we can” to de-escalate, echoing comments more broadly made by Saudi government officials around...[By Joumanna Bercetche and Mirette Magdy via bloomberg.com]
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“Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives are on track at 87%”, the Saudi minister assured, indicating that there is still a bundle of challenges that requires modifying some projects, accelerating...[via eyeofriyadh.com]
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Saudi Tadawul Group’s shareholders approved the payment of a cash dividend at 23% of capital, or SAR 2.30 a share, for 2023, during the...[via argaam.com]
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The Saudi Seasons, a series of festivals held at different locations in the Kingdom throughout the year, attracts visitors from all over...[By Emilie Davies via linkedin.com]
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Speaking in Riyadh, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the United States "is the only country capable" of preventing Israel's long-feared invasion of Rafah city in...[By Robbie Corey-Boulet and Haitham El-Tabei via al-monitor.com]
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“I’m here on national television telling the Biden administration, if you can land this deal I think you’ll have a lot of Republican...[By Kelly Garrity via politico.com]
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Saudi Arabia has introduced a new regulation mandating the national dress for government employees as a sign of pride in the country’s identity.
According...[By Khitam Al Amir via gulfnews.com]
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Ministers gathering in Riyadh to discuss the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip stressed the urgent need for imposing sanctions on Israel, the Saudi Press Agency reported...[via arabnews.com]
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NEOM, a unit of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, secured a new revolving credit facility (RCF) worth...[By Shamsuddin Mohd via reuters.com]
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Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan on Sunday said the kingdom would adapt to current economic and geopolitical challenges and...[By John Benny and Salim A. Essaid via thenationalnews.com]
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Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Al Swaha, emphasized the transformative shift humanity is undergoing towards artificial intelligence (AI), during a session at...[via saudigazette.com]
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Six months since Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel on a killing spree, Israel's ground campaign to annihilate the Islamist movement has turned much of...[By Peter Graff via reuters.com]
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Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in...[By Jeff Mason via reuters.com]
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Seven people working for the food aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) have been killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
Three of them were British...[By Shayan Sardarizadeh, Benedict Garman & Thomas Spencer via bbc.com]
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Iran faces a dilemma following an Israeli attack on its embassy in Syria: how to retaliate without sparking a wider conflict that Middle East analysts...[By Idrees Ali and Arshad Mohammed via reuters.com]
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The vast majority of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions since 2016 can be traced to a group of 57 fossil fuel and cement producers, researchers said...[By Kate Abnett and Riham Alkousaa via reuters.com]
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Yet the fact that the Palestinian terrorist organization was able to do so was a direct result of Israel’s government and its defense apparatus’ dereliction...[By Boaz Atzili via warontherocks.com]
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A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment. After the meeting Monday, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said that...[By Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee via nbcnews.com]
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“Distressed opportunities that are starting to arise not only because some people need to sell to reimburse their investors but also for refinancing,” Fadi Moussalli,...[By Fareed Rahman via thenationalnews.com]
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