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QUOTED
“I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime…If I had tried to get such a gathering together back then, they would have shut it down. But now this is a forum for everyone. And I couldn’t be happier. Sometimes I get a customer who complains about the music, or mixing, but I just tell them things have changed.”
-Saudi coffee shop owner Monira Salman Quaratah, who hosted on Thursday a women’s empowerment forum that drew more than 15 local and foreign women to speak to a new foundation, Saudi Women Stories. [The Guardian]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Aramco sold 3 billion shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) each in its IPO, raising $25.6 billion, making it the world’s biggest IPO.
The IPO values Aramco at roughly $1.7 trillion, making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world ahead of Apple, which is worth about $1.15 trillion. It also soared past the previous record IPO, China’s Alibaba when it made its 2014 public debut. [more]
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TOP STORY
In a bid to attract top talent and spark innovation in the Kingdom, Saudi Arabia has announced that it would grant full citizenship to “scientists, intellectuals, and innovators” from key sectors and focuses, according to reports. [more]
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TOP STORY
Tiger Woods has declined to play in the upcoming Saudi Invitational golf tournament early next year, citing one of the busiest tour schedules for the Master’s champ in recent years, and defended the decision by Phil Mickelson and others to play.
Woods said that he understood that the decision could be difficult for some athletes, but noted that sports have a way of bringing people together and to help “heal.”
“I understand the politics behind it,” Woods said at a news conference. “But also the game of golf can help heal a lot of that, too. It can help grow it. And also a lot of top players are going to be playing there that particular week.”
“It’s traditionally not a golf hotbed, the Middle East,” Woods said. “But it has grown quite a bit. I remember going to Dubai for my very first time and seeing maybe two or three buildings in the skyline. Now there is a New York City skyline. Again, golf has grown. There were only a few courses when I went to Dubai and now they’re everywhere. Same with Abu Dhabi, and maybe eventually in Saudi Arabia.”
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TOP STORY
Qatar defeated the United Arab Emirates, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Cup being played in Doha, Qatar on Monday. The win advances the host country’s team to a semifinal match against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
The match between the two teams has extra intrigue as the two nations play each other for the first time since several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have boycotted Qatar over disagreements on several issues.
However, evidence that the diplomatic standoff is thawing continues to mount. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Frank Kane in arabnews.com : Samba Capital, the lead manager for the record-setting share sale, announced that 5.06 million individual subscribers bought shares in the offer, spending nearly SR50 billion ($13.3 billion). Most of them did so online, or via the special ATM arrangements for the IPO.
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Via Shadia Nasralla in reuters.com : Saudi Arabia and Russia won backing for deeper output cuts from OPEC and allied oil producers on Friday as they look to head off global oversupply in 2020 and sustain prices.
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in arabnews.com : A tiny handful of Saudi fans were present in Qatar Thursday to see their side’s hard-won 1-0 Gulf Cup semifinal victory over the hosts whose supporters dominated the cavernous Al-Janoub stadium.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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Saudi Arabia's oil production is expected to reach 11 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, according to Amine Mati, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Mission Chief for...[via argaam.com]
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Inclement weather, which recently gripped the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, has sent prices of fish in the region going up by up to...[By Ramadan Al Sherbin via gulfnews.com]
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The Saudi badminton team dominated the medals on the second day of the badminton competition, held at the Sheikh Zayed Sports Complex in Fujairah.
This took...[via spa.gov]
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The Egyptian government denied on Sunday that any foreign investment deal in prime Red Sea coastal land in Ras Gamila has yet been officially...[By Nabila El-Gaafary via newarab.com]
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The revenues of the cinema sector in Saudi Arabia from April 2018 until March of current year amounted to about SR3.7 billion, while the total...[via saudigazette.com]
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Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF has agreed to buy a 51% stake in Telecommunication Towers Company...[By Federico Maccioni via reuters.com]
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As the world marks International Mother Earth Day on April 22, Saudi Arabia continues its effort to mitigate the effects of climate change, accelerate its...[By Ghadi Joudah via arabnews.com]
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Cinema ticket prices are expected to go down drastically in Saudi Arabia following the decision of the Film Commission to cut licensing fees for practicing...[via saudigazette.com]
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Bigwigs behind a Saudi megacity dogged by questions about its viability have wrapped up a tour courting Chinese investors, detailing plans for a futuristic ski...[By Holmes Chan and Robbie Corey-Boulet via finance.yahoo]
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Instead of recycling revenues from oil exports into, say, US Treasuries for future generations, sovereign wealth is being used to kick-start a regional economic and...[By Megren Al-Shaalan, Marwan Elaraby and Renad Younes via thebanker.com]
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“We hope the head of the new government and it’s members are chosen within the constitutional deadline and according to the aspirations of the people...[By Samya Kullab and Murtada Faraj via apnews.com]
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The United States military struggled on Thursday to explain its plans for potential increases in U.S. forces in the Middle East amid concerns Iran could...[By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart via reuters.com]
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France, Britain and Germany will ratchet up pressure on Iran in coming weeks by triggering a dispute mechanism if Tehran continues its prohibited moves away from...[By Laurence Norman via wsj.com]
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In the aggregate, Tehran is able, despite the maximum pressure campaign, to deter an assault on Iran by threatening to inflict substantial damage on the...[By Kenneth Katzman via atlanticcouncil.org]
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France plans to convene a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon on Dec. 11 to mobilize assistance for the country as it grapples...[By Tom Perry and John Irish via reuters.com]
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"The Middle East was late to the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. This time, it must be ahead of the curve," Khalid Al Rumaihi,...[By Damian Radcliffe via zdnet.com]
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All this may sound like good news to Haftar, who, for the first time, could conceivably take Tripoli. But the battlefield advantages that come with...[By Frederic Wehrey via foreignpolicy.com]
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With their water already stolen by Israeli settlers and facing legal discrimination, residents say any formal move will make little difference...[By Qassam Muaddi via middleeasteye.net]
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Egypt’s famed archaeologist and a former antiquities minister, Zahi Hawass, is launching a campaign for the restitution of treasures from Europe’s leading museums. “I am...[By Martin Bailey via theartnewspaper.com]
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