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  • Russia President, Saudi Crown Prince discuss Palestine-Israel conflict, situation with oil markets

    Russian President, Vladimir Putin, discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the situation with the global oil market with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), over the telephone, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The talk was initiated by the Saudi side and two leaders marked their positions on a possible settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis, according to a statement, Anadolu Agency reports. “The importance of continuing close coordination in OPEC Plus was emphasized. The effectiveness and timeliness of the steps taken in this format to ensure balance in the global energy market were noted,” it added.

  • Israeli government celebrates Trump’s victory amid its concerns about Biden’s final policy moves

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to call President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him for his victory in the Nov. 5 US election and to appoint a new ambassador to Washington — a hard-liner from the settler movement. Throughout his years in office, Netanyahu has shown a clear preference for the Republican Party, often being accused of meddling in US politics and eroding the bipartisan nature of American support for Israel.

  • What a Donald Trump Victory Means for the Middle East

    Expectations that Trump’s second term will see him renewing pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, push for an end to regional conflicts and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be welcomed in Gulf capitals. Trump's already indicated that one of his priorities would be to expand the Abraham Accords to include normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. His transactional approach to foreign policy, the return of familiar faces from his previous administration, and expectations that pressure over human rights will come to an end will also be well received. But in other areas, the new administration's goals may clash with the interests of Gulf rulers. Plans for American 'energy dominance' could weigh on oil prices at a time when OPEC members are already constraining supply and losing market share.

  • Saudi King, Crown Prince congratulate Trump on US election victory

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday congratulated Donald Trump for winning the US presidential election, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. In a cable sent to Trump, King Salman also praised the “historically close [bilateral] relations that everyone seeks to strengthen and develop in all fields.”

  • Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival Highlights Local Productions Depicting Social Change in Arab Galas Strand

    Films from Saudi Arabia form the core of the Red Sea International Film Festival’s Arab Spectacular five-picture strand, which features world premieres of a trio of new Saudi titles exploring societal changes in the kingdom. One case in point is “Hobal,” the new allegorical drama by Saudi director Abdulaziz Alshlahei (“The Tambour of Retribution”). The film follows a Bedouin family whose members are forced by its patriarch to live in isolation in the desert due to fear of an infectious disease during the 1990s when Saudi was starting to open up to the outside world.

  • Saudi Arabia condemns latest violence in Sudan, urges conflict parties to respect laws

    War has raged in Sudan since April 2023 between the army under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. At least 124 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting in al-Jazira state over the past 10 days, according to the United Nations. Saudi Arabia also called on the warring parties to respect the Treaty of Jeddah and urged them to agree on a ceasefire and facilitate the delivery of human aid to those affected in the war-torn country.

  • Rafael Nadal gives brutally honest verdict on Saudi Arabia criticism and sportswashing claims

    “What happens is that there comes a certain moment when you can be in one place or another, based on your opinion. I respect all opinions, as long as mine are also respected,” Nadal began. “Do they pay me to come here? Yes. But we must not lose perspective. You come here and what do you think? Are you doing good or bad? Because the only problem in the end is that you get paid for it. “Because, really, by coming here, you help the country. And those who speak in such a drastic way against the country, very well. “So, what do you want? For them to continue being bad, for them to continue keeping the country locked up, with more inequality? There is only one reality. “In the end, by coming here, we make events happen and tourists come, something that didn’t happen four or five years ago.

  • Blinken urges halt to Middle East conflict as Israel bombs historic Lebanese port

     U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed on Wednesday for a halt to fighting between Israel and militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, but heavy Israeli air strikes on a large historic Lebanese port city demonstrated that there was no respite. Israel began to bomb the UNESCO-listed port of Tyre in south Lebanon roughly three hours after issuing an order online for residents to flee central areas. Huge clouds of thick smoke billowed above residential buildings.

  • World Bank predicts strong economic growth for UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2025

    Saudi Arabia’s economy is projected to remain resilient, with GDP expected to grow by 1.6% this year and accelerate to 4.9% in 2025. Inflation in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to remain stable at 2.1% in 2024 and rise slightly to 2.3% in 2025. Both figures are below the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) average, forecasted at 2.2% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025.

  • Walking a Tightrope: How Gulf States are Navigating the Iran-Israel Conflict

    While Washington and Tel Aviv often present their partnerships with the Gulf as a success, the reality is more complex. Since 2021—and particularly after the March 2023 reconciliation agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia—the GCC states have increasingly prioritized diplomacy over confrontation, engagement over isolation, and regional dialogue over military escalation. This is a major shift from the time of the Donald Trump administration, when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates openly supported the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, hoping to contain Tehran’s influence through U.S. and Israeli security guarantees.