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  • At Dinner with Foreign Policy Experts, Obama Previews Plans to Escalate Attacks on IS Without Congressional Approval
     

    When President Obama announced that he would not strike Syria without Congressional approval in 2013 following a chemical attack by Syria’s President Assad, Gulf allies of the U.S. determined to see Assad overthrown were put off at the unwillingness of a U.S. President to follow through on a previously set “red line.” “While I believe […]

     
  • Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: ‘The Easiest Part is the Buildings, the Hardest Part is What is Behind the Walls’
     

    The 150,000 Saudi students studying overseas and 83,000 in the United States are just one part of Saudi Arabia’s higher education plans, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James B. Smith said in a recent FocusKSA video with SUSRIS Editor-in-Chief Patrick Ryan.     Saudi Arabia has invested big in infrastructure for higher education, Smith said, and […]

     
  • Shifting Gender Norms in Saudi Arabia
     

    Though often caricatured as backwards and traditional, Saudi gender roles are undergoing a reconfiguration. Previously, the majority of Saudi women did not work outside of the home and relied on male relatives to manage many aspects of family life. Globalization and economic necessity, not necessarily liberal values, are propelling more Saudi women into work outside […]

     
  • C3 US-Arab Business Summit Set for October 6, 2014 in New York City
     

    Since 2012, C3 Summit, in collaboration with the US State Department, US Chamber of Commerce and the US Department of Commerce, has been producing US-Arab Summits focusing on healthcare, commerce and economic development between the Arab region and North America.   Given the continuing growth and importance of the business sector to both regions, C3 has developed the US-Arab […]

     
  • The Best SPA Photos from the Month of August 2014
     

    In the August edition of the 10 best photos from the Saudi Press Agency, Egypt’s President Sisi visits Saudi Arabia and performs the Umrah, Crown Prince Salman visits France and more. [CLICK HERE TO VIEW IMAGES FROM THE SPA FROM AUGUST 2014]

     
  • King Abdullah’s Message to the World: Destroy the Islamic State Before It Spreads to the West
     

    At a meeting for new diplomats in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah warned that the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) may spread to Europe and the United States if it is not first destroyed in Iraq and Syria. According to the AFP/Yahoo, King Abdullah made the blunt remarks at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for […]

     
  • 5 Things to Know about the TASI Opening
     

    Last month’s announcement that the Saudi Arabian stock market, known as the Tadawul or TASI, would open to foreign investment has created waves of optimism from news outlets to seasoned investors. Most think the opening of the market will be great for investors and provide extra liquidity and capital into the market, but the Saudi […]

     
  • Formidable
     

    Although many in the intelligence community assert that American (at least) foreign policy leaders had been alerted to the threat of re-emerging Sunni extremism in Iraq, the seemingly sudden appearance of ISIS (also Islamic State, IS, ISIL or Da’ish) in June 2014 has forced the United States along with its regional allies, Europe and even […]

     
  • Where are U.S. Airstrikes Bombing Islamic State Locations in Iraq From?
     

    Craig Whitlock in the Washington Post reports that recent U.S. airstrikes into Iraq on Islamic State targets are taking off from bases in Qatar and the UAE in addition to aircraft carriers in the Arabian Gulf, but neither government is directly admitting it at this time. That the U.S. is using Gulf allies as their […]

     
  • How Chairman and Owner of the Atlantic David Bradley Played a Key Role in Journalist’s Release
     

    Adam Goldman and Karen DeYoung detail in the Washington Post the role of David Bradley, Chairman and Owner of the Atlantic Media Group, and how the executive worked with an unnamed FBI Agent and Ghanim Khalifa al-Kubaisi, the chief of Qatar’s intelligence service, to free Peter Theo Curtis from captivity in Syria. The article draws […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia’s Abutaleb’s KO dashes Israel’s Olympic taekwondo hope

    Taekwondo Olympic medalist Abishag Semberg was left in tears after her defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Abutaleb in the women’s flyweight round of 16 in Paris on Wednesday. Abutaleb, the first Saudi woman to secure direct Olympic qualification, triumphed with scores of 2-6, 5-4 and 10-0. She sealed her victory with two head kicks and two body kicks in the decisive third round.

  • Investor bids invited for six Saudi football teams

    Saudi Arabia this week opened bids for six football teams as part of its new drive to monetise the kingdom’s sport sector and raise its foreign direct investment numbers. Local and international investors are invited to bid for Al-Okhdood, Al-Orouba and Al-Kholoud – all in Saudi Arabia’s top Pro League – as well as Al-Zulfi, Al-Nahda and Al-Ansar. Applications are open until a deadline of September 19.  A negotiation process will then start with the best offers, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing the ministry of sport. A further eight teams will be put up for sale at a later stage.

  • Adidas launches its partnership with Al-Nasr Saudi Club with an advertisement inspired by the game (Roblox)

    Adidas launched today the new kits of the Saudi Al-Nasr Club, according to the partnership signed between the two parties last February, which will last for three years, to become the global company’s sportswear brand, the official partner of the club starting from the 2024/2025 season, as “Adidas” will provide all teams and employees under the umbrella of Al-Nasr with the official uniform.

  • Saudi Arabia says Hamas leader’s killing was ‘blatant violation’ of Iran’s sovereignty

    Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty. The comment by the Saudi deputy foreign minister during an extraordinary meeting of members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was the first by the kingdom, the region's major power alongside Iran, since the killing of the Palestinian Islamist leader in the Iranian capital on July 31.

  • Saudi court overturns death sentence against retired teacher over posts on X

    A Saudi court has overturned the death sentence of a former teacher over social media posts made from anonymous accounts with 10 followers, a UK-based human rights group has reported. Last July, the kingdom's Specialised Criminal Court gave Mohammed al-Ghamdi the death sentence over tweets, including some which focused on unemployment and calling for the release of political prisoners. On Wednesday, Sanad, a UK-based group advocating for Ghamdi, said it had learned from sources inside the kingdom that the Court of Appeal had cancelled the sentence.

  • Saudi Takes 2 Million Photos of Neom in ‘Ground X’ Project to Build Investor Trust

    Saudi Arabia wants investors to know its ambitious Neom development is on track. Its effort is called “Ground X” and is meant to show live feeds of construction sites, project deadlines, and a “progress library” for each zone of Neom, including Sindalah, The Line and Trojena. The Ground X website is not open to the public and Skift was not able to review it.  But a public version of the website does give some details: It says it has installed 452 time-lapse cameras, 63 live cameras and more than 300 drone locations across Neom, capturing two million photos and 70,000 videos.

  • Saudi Arabia to host Halo space balloon test flight

    Halo Space, a Spanish company developing a stratospheric balloon for tourists is to conduct its next test flight in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this September. This test flight will be Halo Space’s sixth and use the company’s real-size prototype capsule, Aurora, which will ascend 30km above the Earth’s surface. The primary objective of the flight is to validate the integrated operation of all critical systems developed over the past three years.

  • Houthi presence in region in focus after ‘martyrdom’ of senior commander in Iraq

    A senior commander of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, better known as the Houthis, is claimed to have been killed in a US airstrike in Iraq. The apparent incident has fueled speculation about the Houthis expanding their role in the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’ and pursuing horizontal integration with other members of the regional alliance network . As the region braces for an escalation in the confrontation between the ‘Axis of Resistance’ and Israel, the role of the Houthis in the equation is gaining increasing attention.

  • Lucid Receives $1.5 Billion Lifeline from Saudi Investment Fund

    An affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has thrown struggling electric car maker Lucid Group a $1.5 billion lifeline (second one of the year). This comes as Lucid prepares to launch its first sport utility vehicle amid a downturn in the EV automotive space. Lucid revealed it entered into agreements with its majority stockholder, Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of the Saudi PIF, to purchase $750 million of convertible preferred stock through a private placement and provide a $750 million unsecured loan.

  • The Fork in the Road to AI Regulation

    As urgency grows among regulators, cooperative efforts are emerging. Ten countries and the EU agreed to create “a common understanding of AI safety and align their work on AI research” during May’s AI Seoul Summit, and several nations agreed to share information through their government-backed AI safety institutes.