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QUOTED
“The move to one sale per year has been something we have been discussing for some time now. We needed to respond to the new needs of Middle Eastern collectors who are hungry for a curated sale of quality works…Collectors have matured in their choices and their buying. The majority of top modern Middle Eastern artworks have been sold over the last 10 years and are not yet back out on the market And most institutions have no intention to resell their work. This means that now we are looking at helping the contemporary scene and the contemporary market.”
-Caroline Louca, auction house Christie’s new managing director in the Middle East, on the decision to nix its annual March auction in Dubai, an indication of the overall success of the market. The event will now be folded into a London sale scheduled to take place in October. [artnet.com]
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TOP STORY
The number of Saudi tourists visiting Dubai in 2019 dropped as Saudi Arabia begins to see major gains in its domestic tourism market and local entertainment offerings. [more]
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TOP STORY
Officials in Saudi Arabia are taking precautions to stop the spread of a new coronavirus from China, screening arriving passengers and nurses to prevent a public health threat, according to reports. [more]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic have become one of the first three Asian teams to secure a trip to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Fifa reports. [more]
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TOP STORY
Oil demand growth is set to trend higher this year compared with 2019, a recent report from Jadwa Investment finds, citing OPEC forecasts and other global economic factors. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Frank Kane in arabnews.com : The announcement was made at a special meeting at Davos to consider the strategic priorities for Saudi Arabia as it prepares to stage the G20 meeting of world leaders in the Kingdom in November, the first time the power-summit has been held in the Middle East.
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Via Reem Mehio in stepfeed.com: The kingdom has made sure to set and organize its objectives in different segments. In 2018, the country’s National Renewable Energy Program put into place a plan to reach a target of 27.3 GW in just five years — currently, the plan is in its third year of action. The second phase of this plan was to reach 58.7 GW of solar power by the 12th year.
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Via Ashley Parker, Anne Gearan, Ruth Eglash and Steve Hendrix in washingtonpost.com : Vice President Pence extended the invitations while in Israel, where he met with the embattled longtime Israeli leader and his lesser-known rival, and hours later Trump said he would probably release the plan as soon as next week.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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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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The growth forecast for the Middle East and Central Asia was revised slightly lower – to 2.8 per cent in 2024, from...[By Khatija Haque via thenationalnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia and Lebanon's installations at the Venice Biennale seek to redress the balance by questioning masculine views and Western myths surrounding the portrayal...[By Rebecca Ann Hughes via euronews.com]
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Middle East countries spent 4.2 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence in 2023, the highest rate globally, as ...[By Deena Kamel via thenationalnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy a majority stake in Saudi Telecom Co.’s tower unit for 8.7 billion riyals ($2.3 billion)...[By Dana Khraiche via ]
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The Schengen Area, which includes 29 European countries, was expanded last February to include Bulgaria and Romania, eliminating all air and maritime...[By Mona Farag via thenationalnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of more aid into the territory amid Israel’s war...[via alarabiya.net]
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The institute noted that three largest spenders in the region — Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey — all increased military spending last year. Saudi Arabia...[By Adam Lucente via al-monitor.com]
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The head of Saudi Arabia’s state oil company praised China’s exports of green technology, echoing Beijing’s talking points in what appeared to be a deliberate...[via semafor.com]
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“Iran is very hard to read,” McKenzie said. “So I would say the fact that things are quiet for a while does not mean that...[By Lolita Baldor via militarytimes.com via AP]
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Populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr convened the march after the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi paramilitary chief in Baghdad this month. His...[By John Davison and Aziz El Yaakoubi via reuters.com]
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Lebanon’s anti-government uprising entered its 100th day on Friday with protesters in a much darker mood, reflected in their new rallying cry....[By Hamza Hendawi via thenational.ae]
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According to cyberthreat intelligence firm Recorded Future, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses trusted intermediaries to manage contracts with independent groups. These intermediaries are loyal...[By Dorothy Denning via navytimes.com]
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Yemen’s government wants to resume direct peace talks with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to end a brutal five-year conflict, but getting the insurgents back to the...[By Glen Carey and Mohammed Hatem via bloomberg.com]
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Ethiopia and Somalia have not faced an infestation on this scale for 25 years, while Kenya has not seen a locust threat this size for...[via bbc.com]
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The future of the EU deal, which curtailed an exodus of migrants into Europe, is expected to be an essential part of talks between Merkel...[By Dorian Jones via voanews.com]
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Newsflash: The entire top 10 of YouTube’s popular global artists chart right now perform non-English-language music.
With the exception of four Puerto Rican artists (Daddy Yankee,...[By Tim Ingham via musicbusinessworldwide.com]
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