MUST-READS

• Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom

  Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region. Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.

• Gulf telcos should ignore Europe’s fading allure

  Long-suffering investors in Gulf telecom operators would be forgiven for shuddering when reading a recent S&P Global Ratings report. Here they will learn that the region’s leading telcos “want to scale up their business and geographic footprints by increasing their exposure to stable European markets”. Why the palpitations among minority shareholders? Well, e& (formerly Etisalat), Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Ooredoo – the former telecom monopolies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively – wasted tens of billions of dollars between them on misadventures abroad in the noughties and 2010s.

• Saudi Arabia could rank as Europe’s 5th largest tech hub if in EU: Minister

  Abdullah Al-Swaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said Saudi Arabia could have ranked the fifth-largest tech hub in Europe if part of the European Union (EU). Speaking at LEAP 25 Conference, the minister emphasized that attracting top thinkers, major investors, and innovators from around the world would drive progress not only for Saudi Arabia but also for the region and the entire world. He highlighted the Kingdom's ongoing efforts to mitigate challenges related to skills, digitization, and governance.

• Saudi Arabia Wants To Supply Europe With Green Hydrogen

  With global interest in hydrogen accelerating, he sees the project as especially well placed to capitalize on Saudi Arabia’s natural advantages. “We have the scale, location, and the partnerships in place that give us a significant lead,” he said, describing NGHC as a potential model for Saudi Arabia’s broader push into renewable energy and a significant part of Vision 2030’s economic transformation goals, NGHC has signed a 30-year distribution contract with Air Products to bring its green hydrogen to international markets in the form of ammonia, which makes it easier to transport and distribute. NGHC is not the only company in Saudi Arabia that is making green hydrogen a central part of its future. Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) in Berlin, an instrumentality of the German government, has signed a letter of intent with Saudi-based ACWA Power to supply it with 200,000 tons of green hydrogen beginning in 2030. Is there a need for so much green hydrogen? One steel plant in Duisburg is expected to require 143,000 tons of it per year.

• 5-year jail and fine of SR30 million for exporting petroleum products without a license

  According to the new law, which replaced the Petroleum Products Trade Law, petroleum must be sold and purchased at the global price. It is stipulated in the law that anyone who exports a priced petroleum product outside the Kingdom without a license shall face imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, and a fine not exceeding SR30 million or not exceeding twice the value of the petroleum product in question at the global price at the time of its seizure, whichever is higher, in addition to confiscating the seized items.

• Saudi Arabia’s path to carbon neutrality: Analysis of the role of Hajj pilgrimage, energy consumption, and economic growth

  Saudi Arabia's religious sites stimulate economic growth and create green jobs through sustainable tourism. Tourism expansion may raise carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions due to energy use. Thus, this article examines 1970–2019 time series data to assess how Hajj pilgrims, energy consumption, and economic growth affect Saudi Arabia's CO₂ emissions. The transport segment is the leading generator of CO₂ pollution due to the heightened energy consumption related to travel and tourism (Irfan et al., 2023). The tourism business has been a foremost contributor to GDP expansion in developed as well as emerging nations over the past forty years, playing a pointed function in the globe's economic evolution (Wijesekara et al., 2022).

• Saudi Foreign Minister Meets with EU High Representative

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met today in Riyadh with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas on the sidelines of the Expanded Ministerial Meeting on Syria. The two officials discussed the shared cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the European Union and reviewed regional and international developments of mutual interest.

• Russian gas era in Europe ends as Ukraine stops transit
  Russian gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine came to a halt on New Year's Day, marking the end of decades of Moscow's dominance over Europe's energy markets. The gas had kept flowing despite nearly three years of war, but Russia's gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped at 0500 GMT after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement. The widely expected stoppage will not impact prices for consumers in the European Union - unlike in 2022, when falling supplies from Russia sent prices to record highs, worsened a cost-of-living crisis and hit the bloc's competitiveness. The last remaining EU buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine, such as Slovakia and Austria, have arranged alternative supply, while Hungary will keep receiving Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea.

• Women’s football rankings – Africa’s stars step up in Europe and Saudi Arabia

  Africa's women's football stars continue to impress around the world in December, despite the crowd-pleasing NWSL season coming to an end in November. Nigeria has always had tremendous depth in the goalscoring department and this was demonstrated in December as Ifeoma Onumonu, Jennifer Echegini, Gift Monday and Rinsola Babajide all scored for their respective clubs. Given that our rankings are form-based, many of the best African players miss out this month on account of having had little to no playing time, but when the 2025 NWSL season kicks off, the likes of Barbra Banda, Temwa Chawinga and Racheal Kundananji are likely to return.

• The Camel Museum: A Living Symbol of Authentic Saudi Culture

  Believing in the importance of participating in this national celebration of the camel, we at “Northwest Bus” launched a distinctive competition for designing a bus sticker inspired by the Year of the Camel. We invited all creative students across the Kingdom to participate with their ideas and innovative designs to take part in this historical journey and express their pride in this cherished national symbol.  In conclusion, let us celebrate the Year of the Camel with a spirit of pride and heritage, and look forward to a bright future that combines authenticity, progress, and pride in our national identity. 

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