Saudi Pro League announces long-term partnership with Maaden

• The partnership will focus on strengthening Maaden’s position as an employer of choice in Saudi Arabia
• The collaboration will also explore joint initiatives across community engagement and national talent development

Syria inks $7 bn energy deal with Qatari, Turkish, US firms

Generative AI’s most prominent skeptic doubles down

• Marcus's criticism centers on a fundamental belief: generative AI, the predictive technology that churns out seemingly human-level content, is too flawed to be transformative.
• The large language models (LLMs) that power these capabilities are inherently broken, he argues, and will never deliver on Silicon Valley's grand promises.

Musk to exit US government role after rare break with Trump

• The South African-born tech tycoon had said Trump's bill would increase the deficit and undermine the work of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
• Musk, who was a constant presence at Trump's side before returning to his businesses, complained that DOGE had become "whipping boy" for dissatisfaction with the administration

OPEC+ ministers, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, meet as oil output hike looms despite falling prices

• The 22-nation group began a series of cuts in 2022 to prop up crude prices, but Saudi Arabia, Russia and six other members surprised markets recently by sharply raising output
• The move has put pressure on prices, which have also fallen as investors worry that US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught will cause an economic slump and weigh on demand

Global economic outlook worsens, AI emerges as both catalyst and risk

• Nearly all the chief economists (97 percent) place trade policy among the areas of highest uncertainty, followed by monetary policy (49 percent) and fiscal policy (35 percent).
• This uncertainty is expected to weigh on key economic indicators, including trade volumes (70 percent), GDP growth (68 percent) and foreign direct investment (62 percent).

US suspends student visa processing in fresh swipe at foreign applicants

• The government plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.
• Rubio earlier rescinded hundreds of visas and the Trump administration has moved to bar Harvard University from admitting non-Americans.

Hajj pilgrimage to begin on June 4: Saudi state media

• The date was announced by the supreme court in a statement carried by the Saudi press agency.
• Last year, 1.8 million Muslims took part in the hajj, according to official figures

UN says 70% chance that 2025-2029 average global warming will exceed 1.5C threshold

• The planet is therefore expected to remain at historic levels of warming after the two hottest years ever recorded in 2023 and 2024
• The WMO forecasts that the global mean near-surface temperature for each year between 2025 and 2029 will be between 1.2C and 1.9C above the pre-industrial average.

Iran president in Oman as nuclear talks progress

• Pezeshkian travelled to Muscat looking to promote "peace and stability", he said, two days after US President Donald Trump described the latest negotiations as "very, very good".
• "We hope to engage in dialogue to reach a shared perspective and a common voice on promoting peace and stability in the region," Pezeshkian said in a televised speech