MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia signs 2 PPAs for Al Ghat, Wa’ad Al Shamal wind projects

  Saudi Power Procurement Co. (principal buyer) and a consortium led by the Japanese Marubeni Co. signed two power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the 600-megawatts (MW) Al Ghat and 500-MW Wa'ad Al Shamal wind farm projects.

• Big Airbus order overshadows Boeing at Riyadh conference
  Saudia Group, owner of Saudia airline and budget carrier flyadeal, placed a hefty order for 105 Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab narrow-body aircraft on Monday, marking a bounce-back for the European planemaker just months after Boeing had been tipped to win more Saudi business.
  Ibrahim Al Omar, Saudia Group's director general, described the order for 12 A320neo and 93 A321neo single-aisle aircraft as the largest in the country's history.

• US, Saudis close to deal on defense pact, White House says
  The United States and Saudi Arabia are close to a final agreement on a bilateral defense pact after the U.S. national security adviser made significant progress in talks with the Saudis over the weekend, the White House said on Monday.
  White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the two sides are "closer than we've ever been" on a bilateral agreement that is now "near final."
  U.S. and Saudi negotiators are seeking to complete work on a bilateral accord expected to call for formal U.S. guarantees to defend the kingdom as well as Saudi access to more advanced U.S. weaponry, in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country.

• IBM makes more AI models open source and lands Saudi Arabia deal
  International Business Machines (IBM.N), opens new tab on Tuesday said that it will release a family of artificial intelligence models as open-source software, and that it will help Saudi Arabia train an AI system in Arabic.
  The Armonk, New York-based company has taken a different approach to making money from AI than some of its rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and others that are tightly guarding their AI models and charging for access to them. Similar to Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, IBM is instead providing open access to the models themselves and on Wednesday opened its "Granite" family of AI models for companies to customize.

• Saudi Arabia launches summer program with mega lineup of events to boost tourism

  Saudi Arabia has launched its summer program with a lineup of major events taking place across seven destinations in the Kingdom, the Saudi Tourism Authority announced on Monday, in a bid to boost domestic and regional tourism.

  The program will run for four months until the end of September across seven destinations: Aseer, Al Baha, Taif, the Red Sea (a new destination), Jeddah, Riyadh, and AlUla.

• Over 267,000 Hajj pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia

  A total of 267,657 pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from all over the world to perform the annual pilgrimage of Hajj until the end of Sunday. The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) said on Monday that this figure includes pilgrims who came via Saudi airports, seaports and land entry points. The overwhelming majority of pilgrims came by air.

• Tickets for Saudi Arabia’s first ever UFC fight in Riyadh go on sale

  Tickets for the first ever Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh are now on sale, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday. Australian Robert Whittaker and Russian Khamzat Chimaev will face off on June 22 at the Kingdom Arena.

• WTA signs multi-year partnership with Saudi PIF
  The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will become the first-ever naming partner of the WTA's rankings, the two organisations announced on Monday, as part of a multi-year partnership. The announcement marks the PIF's latest foray into tennis, after the men's ATP tour also signed a multi-year "strategic partnership" earlier this year. "Together, we look forward to sharing the journey of our talented players across the season, as we continue to grow the sport, creating more fans of tennis and inspiring more young people to take up the game," WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti said in a statement.

• U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Lenderking’s Travel to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman
  U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is traveling to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman this week to continue discussions with partners regarding the peace process in Yemen and an immediate end to the reckless Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.  The Houthis’ continued attacks threaten progress toward achieving a durable resolution to the conflict in Yemen and obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis and people in need across the region.

• Saudi Arabia says would rather develop homegrown talent than recruit foreign athletes

  Saudi Arabia will look to homegrown talent to expand its base of elite athletes rather than follow its neighbors down the path of naturalizing foreigners, the media chief of the Saudi Olympic Committee told Reuters. Funding from the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which manages more than $700 billion in assets, has rocketed the country to major-player status in world of sport over a few short years.

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