Saudi knowledge economy accelerates as Vision 2030 targets move within reach
The government has successfully implemented more than 900 reforms, including restructuring legal and labor frameworks, establishing new public authorities, and...
Economy
WEF flags geoeconomic confrontation as top global risk for 2026
Experts warn economic warfare, misinformation and unchecked AI could amplify global shocks as cooperation weakens across political and trade blocs.
Geostrategy
Business
Abu Dhabi to host Loop CEE travel fair for first time in Middle East
Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Miral will host...
- The luxury travel fair is being organized by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and Miral.
- Over the course of five days, each exhibitor will have the opportunity to conduct 62 appointments, each lasting for 15 minutes.
Geostrategy
G7 foreign ministers met by videoconference over Mideast: Italy
Rome, Italy -- G7 foreign ministers met by videoconference Sunday to discuss the Middle East and expressed "strong concern" over the...
- "Together with our partners, we have expressed strong concern about recent events that threaten to determine a regionalization of the crisis," Italian foreign minister said.
- The foreign ministers, it said, "reiterated the priority of a favorable conclusion of the negotiations on the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages".
Geostrategy
Travellers rush to leave Lebanon amid spiking tensions
Several airlines including Lufthansa and Air France have delayed or suspended flights to Lebanon, and countries have issued urgent calls...
- Fears have spiked that months of cross-border violence could degenerate into all-out conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, who last fought a devastating war in the summer of 2006.
- Embassies have repeatedly urged their citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still available.
Geostrategy
Thousands bid farewell to Ismail Haniyeh in Qatari capital
Haniyeh was laid to rest in Lusail, north of the capital Doha, following funeral prayers at the Gulf emirate's largest mosque...
- "In this moment, I buried my soul under the dirt and I departed. I departed with all the pain of the world in my ribs," she captioned the video uploaded on X.
- Mourners earlier on Friday lined up inside Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, where Haniyeh's casket, draped in a Palestinian flag, was briefly carried in.
Geostrategy
Iran, allies ready Israel response as funerals held for Haniyeh, Shukr
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the funeral of the Lebanese group's top military commander, said Israel and "those who are...
- The international community has called for calm and a focus on securing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip -- which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing.
- The prime minister of key ceasefire broker Qatar said Haniyeh's killing had thrown the whole Gaza war mediation process into doubt.
Business
British Petroleum to develop four new oil and gas fields in Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq signed an agreement with British energy giant British Petroleum on Thursday to develop four oil and gas...
- BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.
- According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate
Geostrategy
UNSC to hold emergency meeting over Hamas chief’s killing
The meeting has been requested by Iran and supported by representatives of Russia, China and Algeria, said a spokesman for...
- Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called on members to "condemn unequivocally and strongly the acts of aggression and terrorist attacks" by Israel.
- He also urged council members to take "immediate action to ensure accountability for these violations of international law," including potential sanctions.
Arts & Culture
World Rally Championship to add Saudi Arabia race to calendar
Paris, France -- World Rally Championship announced Wednesday that it will add races in Saudi Arabia, the Canary Islands and Paraguay...
- Rally Saudi Arabia will end the season on November 27-30 with the event in the Spanish archipelago on April 24-27 and the race in South America on August 28-31.
- It also added the Canary Islands and Paraguay to its calendar next year. Rallys in Croatia, Poland and Latvia are no longer on the circuit.
Business
Day after UAE-Chile CEPA, Dubai Chambers and Pro-Chile sign MoU
Under the MoU, both parties will coordinate events aimed at strengthening ties between exporting companies from Dubai and Chile and...
- The CEPA is projected to increase non-oil bilateral to $750 million by 2030, more than doubling the US$306 million shared in 2023.
- Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said the CEPA is expected to come into effect within the next six months.
Business
BP H1 profits down 79%
Revenue dropped 8 percent to $98 billion in the same period.
- BP said increased volume and lower exploration write-offs were "partly offset by increased depreciation charges and higher costs".
- The group earlier this month flagged to markets that its latest earnings would take a sizeable hit from a cut to oil refining in Germany.
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Saudi knowledge economy accelerates as Vision 2030 targets move within reach
The government has successfully implemented more than 900 reforms, including restructuring legal and labor frameworks, establishing new public authorities, and...
Economy
Company News
Latest News
Gaza rescuers say 25 killed in Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter
Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP more than 100 others wounded in the strike on Dar al-Arqam School...
Geostrategy
AI’s impact on jobs, technology’s touchy topic sparks unease
New York, United States - "Stop Hiring Humans" read a provocative sign at an AI conference in Las Vegas, where...
Business
Russia to hold talks with US in Riyadh Monday: Kremlin
Donald Trump spoke to both Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky this week and the US is also due...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Ukraine to propose sky, sea truce at US talks in Saudi: official
The talks on Tuesday will be the first Ukraine-US meeting since a White House blow-up between Zelensky and US President...
- In Jeddah, the port city close to Islam's holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah, dozens of Ukrainian and Saudi flags flew on a main roundabout near the airport and on thoroughfares.
- US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington wanted to use the talks "to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well".
Geostrategy
Arab leaders propose Gaza reconstruction under Palestinian Authority, reject Trump’s takeover plan
The prospect of the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing Gaza remains far from certain, however, with Israel having ruled out any...
- Tuesday's Arab League summit in Cairo offered an alternative with the adoption of a "comprehensive Arab plan."
- It announced the establishment of a trust fund to pay for the territory's reconstruction, and urged the international community to back it
Arts & Culture
West Bank eviction film ‘No Other Land’ wins best documentary Oscar
Jerusalem -- No Other Land, a documentary about Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, has won the best documentary award...
- Shot in Masafer Yatta near the West Bank city of Hebron, the documentary follows a young Palestinian struggling with forced displacement.
- After a long legal battle with Palestinian communities, an Israeli supreme court ruling in 2022 paved the way for the eviction of the area's more than 1,000 residents.