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  • Middle East Airlines Are Set to Revive an Aircraft Buying Spree

    After largely sitting out last year’s flurry of aircraft orders, some of the biggest airlines in the Middle East are now preparing to replenish their fleets, with hundreds of planned purchases set to cement the region as key growth driver for Boeing Co. and Airbus SE. Among the carriers set to add planes is Flydubai, which is looking to purchase at least 200 narrowbody jets plus 100 options, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Neighboring Etihad Airways is meanwhile in talks for as many as 40 widebody aircraft, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations. Joining the fray is Qatar Airways, which is closing in an order for about 230 twin-aisle aircraft in coming months, while Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, is in talks for about a dozen widebody jets, the people said.

  • Despite regional truces, shadow of confrontation with Israel remains over Iraqi ‘resistance’

    The Gaza war has over the past year expanded to include Israeli attacks on Iranian and Syrian territory, and on Iran-allied Hezbollah in Lebanon. In recent months, this has raised significant concerns that a potential wider conflict could extend to Iraq—particularly since the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, an umbrella entity aligned with the Tehran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’, has claimed numerous strikes on Israel. Iraq’s political elite has been divided on how to respond to such threats, especially following Israel’s strike on military sites in Iran only weeks after the attack in the Golan Heights. While some in the administration of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani adopted a hawkish position, expressing a readiness to confront Israel directly in the event of an assault, reports suggest that a tenuous consensus was reached to limit Iraq’s exposure to the fray. That consensus seemingly remains in place.

  • Zelensky delays trip to Saudi Arabia amid US-Russia talks

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has postponed an official visit to Saudi Arabia set for this week amid U.S.-Russia negotiations in Riyadh. Zelensky, who was not planning to participate in the Tuesday talks between Washington and Moscow to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, said he was delaying the trip because of Kyiv’s lack of invitation to the negotiations. He suggested that he wanted to avoid his visit being tied to the meetup. “We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us. I think it was a surprise for many people,” Zelensky said at a news conference in Ankara alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. “We are absolutely honest and open. I don’t want any coincidences. That’s why I’m not going to Saudi Arabia.” Zelensky will now visit Saudi Arabia on March 10. He had said Monday that he planned to visit the country later this week.

  • DAZN Sells Minority Stake to Saudi Arabia’s Surj Sports Investment in Landmark $1 Billion Deal

    The long-gestating deal — widely believed to involve PIF paying $1 billion in exchange for 10 per cent of DAZN — gives Saudi Arabia a piece of DAZN, which in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region rivals powerhouse beIN Sports, from neighboring Qatar. Qatar, incidentally, hosted the FIFA soccer World Cup in 2022, while Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 2034 edition of that event.  Founded in 2007, London-based DAZN, which has been dubbed the “Netflix of sports,” is now operating in more than 200 markets, having gone on a systematic sports rights’ buying spree that caused the streamer to report a £1.2 billion ($1.51 billion) loss for 2023. The deal with Surj Sports will certainly help shore up DAZN’s finances.

  • Trump-Putin meeting not imminent, as first US-Russia talks on Ukraine finish in Riyadh

    Negotiations Tuesday between Russia and the United States led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bilateral talks lasted about 4.5 hours and, according to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's top aide Yuri Ushakov, the negotiations "went well." However, a summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is unlikely to take place next week, as "intensive work" is needed first, according to the aide. The U.S. State Department called the meeting an "important step forward" as Lavrov and Rubio agreed to form high-level negotiating teams to discuss a settlement to the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.”

  • Saudi Arabia’s crown prince wins points for hosting the Russia-US summit on Ukraine

    Crown Prince Mohammed now finds himself at the center of the Trump administration’s outreach to Russia, a country Saudi Arabia carefully maintained ties to during the war through the OPEC+ oil cartel. And with Trump suggesting his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin — something Moscow hopes can bring it in from the cold of Western nations — will take place in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed is likely to remain a top player. In the Saudi-owned, London-published newspaper Asharq Al Awsat, journalist Mishari al-Dhaidi described Tuesday’s U.S.-Russia summit as “restoring dialogue between the two poles of the world.” He called it “a major step on the international political chess arena, revealing the status of Saudi Arabia and its positive influence for the benefit of the people all the people.”

  • Opec+ market share to fall as US ramps up oil output

    The Opec+ group’s market share was 53 percent when it was set up in 2016. That figure is likely to drop to 46 percent in 2025 and 2026, even as Opec+ gradually reverses 2023 cuts in production quotas and actually increases supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Opec+ supply is expected to grow by 100,000 barrels per day this year to 35.8 million bpd and by 600,000 bpd next year. Unlike the Opec+ members, the US is not subject to quotas. “Opec+ has to resume executing its initial plan, pumping back (oil), at least to hold back part of the market share it is losing,” Choeib Boutamine, CEO of Ranadrill Consulting, a training and consulting company in Algeria, told AGBI.

  • PIF’s $1bn Dazn deal creates new Mena sports streamer

    Surj Sports Investment, a unit of Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired a minority stake in UK-based global sports network Dazn. The deal, believed to be worth $1 billion, will establish new broadcasting joint venture Dazn Mena, which the companies say will broadcast live and on-demand sports from Saudi Arabia. The partnership will also capitalise “on the significant growth in demand for high-quality sports broadcasting,” the companies said – a signal that Dazn Mena could rival Qatari broadcasting giant Bein Sports. Danny Townsend, CEO at Surj Sports Investment, said the investment would help Surj “achieve its mandate of driving fan engagement, encouraging sports participation and unlocking game-changing opportunities, and further showcasing the region as a destination for world-class sports.”

  • Saudi Arabia to host first-ever Olympic Esports games in 2027: Video

    The first-ever Olympic Esports games will be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The IOC hasn’t released which games will be apart of the event yet. NBC News’ Dana Griffin spoke with professional Esports player, Alvin Avila who shared his excitement for the games. 

  • Saudi stock exchange expects to have a record year of listings in 2025, CEO says

    More than 50 applications are currently under review by the regulator and the exchange, Al-Rumaih said, adding that around 100 applications are with advisors waiting to be submitted to the regulator. Fifteen IPO applications have been approved, Al-Rumaih said, speaking on the sidelines of the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s bourse is the Gulf Arab region’s largest, with average traded value of over $1 billion. The market opened up to foreign investors in 2015. A run of IPOs in the Gulf is due partly to local governments’ economic diversification strategies and listings by private groups and family businesses.