MUST-READS

• Saudi crown prince, US national security adviser meet on bilateral deal
  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met to discuss an almost 'finalized' draft of a deal between Washington and Riyadh, the Saudi state news agency reported on Sunday.
  The meeting in the Saudi city of Dhahran reviewed "the semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the two countries, which are almost being finalised," a statement read.

• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, hardline ally of Supreme Leader, killed in helicopter crash
  Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed after his helicopter crashed in poor weather in mountains near the Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
  The charred wreckage of the helicopter which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other passengers and crew was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.

• Unveiling “The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia”: A Roadmap to Energy Leadership

  Faculty and researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and King Abdullah Petroleum Studies & Research Center (KAPSARC) have unveiled a new publication: "The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia." With a foreword by KAPSARC President Fahad Alajlan and KAUST President Tony Chan and co-edited by KAUST research scientist Dr Saumitra Saxena, this book charts new energy discourse, offering a comprehensive analysis of the emerging global hydrogen economy through the lens of one of the world's foremost energy providers, Saudi Arabia.

• Surf’s up in the Saudi desert: Huge water park joins Qiddiya giga-project

  Aquarabia is part of the larger Qiddiya giga-project near the country's capital Riyadh, which is being headed by the Bjarke Ingels Group. We've no word on the water park's exact size, but from the renders at least, this thing looks huge, and is described as the largest of its kind in the region.

• Awakening the sleeping giant: How Saudi Arabia plans to attract more foreign tourists

  Saudi Arabia plans to become a travel hot spot, ploughing $800 billion in tourism investments to develop the sector and setting a revised target of attracting 150 million visitors by the end of the decade. But a key part of that effort is luring international travellers to explore the lesser-discovered country.

• Hezbollah introduces new weapons and tactics against Israel as war in Gaza drags on

  Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but the one on Thursday appears to have been the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace. The group has stepped up its attacks on Israel in recent weeks, particularly since the Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. It has struck deeper inside Israel and introduced new and more advanced weaponry.

• Ranked: The World’s 50 Largest Private Equity Firms

  In 2023, private equity firms controlled $8.2 trillion in assets globally according to McKinsey & Company, a figure that has rapidly expanded since the industry first emerged 40 years ago. As large investors such as pension funds and insurance companies increasingly look to private markets, these alternative asset managers have seen their assets grow by more than twofold in the last five years.

• This 256 km highway in Saudi Arabia is world’s longest road without a bend

  Saudi Arabia's Highway 10 has emerged as the world's longest straight road, surpassing Australia's Eyre Highway, according to the Guinness World Records. This achievement marks a significant milestone in transportation infrastructure, offering travellers an unparalleled journey across vast distances with unobstructed views. This 256-kilometre (159-mile) asphalt stretch cuts through the vast Rub Al-Khali desert, also known as the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world, without any bends left or right, or any appreciable gradient up or down.

• Saudi experts on urban heritage give lectures in Paris

  Experts on urban heritage from Saudi Arabia are giving a series of lectures on the topic at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization offices in Paris. Organized by the Saudi Heritage Commission, the program of four lectures explores some of the initiatives developed by the organization and the wider strategies on urban heritage in the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The first lecture delved into material and intangible methods for preserving urban heritage, while the second looked at the development of traditional architecture in Al-Ahsa.

• Commentary: Religious tolerance is at the core of the Gulf’s strategic thinking

  It has become fashionable for many modern secularists to demonise religion as being a major barrier to peace. When they learn someone is devout, it often wrongly conjures up images of extreme confessional intolerance, such as the Spanish Inquisition torturing suspected heretics based on flimsy evidence. It is perhaps not a surprise, then, that the significant role religion plays in daily life in Gulf countries – including the political and legal systems – occasionally draws antipathy and hysterically negative media coverage in the West.

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