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  • Saudi media shifts tone on Israel and Hamas after Trump’s Gaza plan

    Saudi media have launched an unprecedented wave of criticism against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump following their recent remarks on plans for the forced displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza. The reaction has marked a noticeable significant shift in the kingdom's media coverage of Israel and Hamas, which has been picked up on by several pan-Arab outlets. This is significant given that Saudi media is generally seen as towing the government line on key issues and has a record of echoing state foreign policy. What stood out in the official response was the deliberate omission of Netanyahu's official title, with the state-run Al-Ikhbariya channel later confirming that it was intentional. "The name of the state no longer applies to Israel," a commentator on the channel said, reinforcing a stronger Saudi stance following years of talk on normalisation.

  • PIF becomes title sponsor of Saudi Ladies International

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the new title partner of the renamed PIF Saudi Ladies International, a partnership which also sees the prize money for the tournament being increased to match that offered for the equivalent men’s tournament. The PIF Saudi Ladies International returns February 13-15 at Riyadh Golf Club and will also see a new format with tour professionals taking part in both an individual and team competition.

  • Trump says he might meet Putin in Saudi Arabia after call on Ukraine

    Trump made the comment a few hours after speaking with Putin in their first publicly disclosed call since Trump took office. Trump said they had agreed on "starting negotiations immediately" to end the war in Ukraine, which is approaching its third anniversary. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump floated the idea of meeting Putin in Saudi Arabia, along with the Saudi crown prince. He did not lay out a timeline and said he would deal with Putin on the phone in the meantime. In an interview with the Economist published on Wednesday, Zelensky had said he'd had little contact with Trump's team and raised concerns about "any decision-making" on Ukraine taking place without Kyiv's involvement.  

  • Trump says he and Putin expect to meet, probably in Saudi Arabia

    US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not think it was practical for Ukraine to join NATO and that it was unlikely Ukraine will get back all of its land. Trump discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the US president’s first big step toward diplomacy in a conflict he has promised to end. Trump said he and Putin expect to meet in the future, probably in Saudi Arabia.

  • How LEAP 2025 is Driving AI Investment Across Saudi Arabia

    Michael Champion, CEO of Tahaluf, states: “The massive volume of new investments announced on day one builds on the progress made at LEAP and across the Kingdom in previous years, reaffirming Saudi Arabia’s undisputed status as the primary digital accelerator in the Middle East and North Africa.” Arvind Krishna, Chairman & CEO of IBM, took to the stage to predict quantum computing breakthroughs are “three to five years away”, for significant impacts for pharmaceuticals, energy and AI. Quantum computing emerges as a prominent topic of discussion, exploring how this will solve problems rapidly to drive efficiency and innovation.

  • Saudi puts $15bn into AI as experts debate next steps

    Saudi Arabia is placing big bets on IT, datacentre capability and AI in particular, with the latter a massive focus of the show and an agenda packed out with discussions around applications of AI and its next steps, particularly agentic AI. Projects announced in AI included a $1.5bn agreement between AI infrastructure provider Groq and Aramco Digital – a subsidiary of long-established state oil company Aramco – to expand AI-powered inference infrastructure and cloud computing. Also, Saudi state-owned manufacturing conglomerate ALAT and Lenovo committed $2bn to establish an advanced manufacturing – including semiconductors – and technology centre that integrates AI and robotics.

  • Saudia and Saudi Research and Media Group Announce a Strategic Partnership

    Saudia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's national flag carrier, has announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG), the largest integrated media group in the Middle East and North Africa. This collaboration aims to offer a selection of the group's curated and premium content, including original productions, exclusive documentaries, and cultural and entertainment programs tailored for guests worldwide, to Saudia's BEYOND in-flight entertainment system.

  • Esports Olympics to debut in Saudi Arabia later than expected in 2027

    The first Olympic Esports Games will be hosted in Riyadh in 2027, two years later than expected when a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia was signed last year. The International Olympic Committee said Tuesday its founding partner for the event will be the kingdom’s Esports World Cup Foundation. The first annual Esports World Cup was held last July and August in Riyadh with tens of millions of dollars in prize money paid for games including Call of Duty, Fortnite and Street Fighter. It is unclear which, if any, shooter games the IOC will allow on the Esports Olympics program, which it has repeatedly said must align with Olympic values.

  • Promoting Resilience: Shaping the Future of the GCC Economy Amid Regional and Global Challenges

    The GCC has been a bright spot in the world economy. Member countries have enjoyed sustained growth, contained inflation, and built strong buffers. This success did not happen in a vacuum. GCC countries have been doubling down on difficult but necessary reforms. Diversifying government revenues. Improving the business climate. Increasing access to finance. Making labor markets more flexible and raising women’s participation. These reforms have accelerated economic transformation and diversification. They have unlocked growth in new sectors such as tourism, logistics, finance, and renewable energy.

  • Over 680 exceptional talents and researchers in technology sector obtain Saudi Premium Residency

    The list of holders of Premium Residency under the “Exceptional Competence Residency” product is topped by 5G technology specialists with 16 percent, followed by cloud computing specialists with 15 percent. These fields are the cornerstone of enhancing digital infrastructure, which enhances the Kingdom’s position as a leading country in adopting modern technologies. In the context of supporting innovation, Premium Residency was granted to experts in artificial intelligence and machine learning, who constituted 12 percent of the talents who were granted Premium Residency. These fields are among the priorities in the Kingdom, due to their role in contributing to the development of many sectors such as healthcare, education, and digital industries. Big data experts constitute 13 percent of the number of Premium Residency recipients, and it is one of the specializations that is witnessing rapid global growth in advanced economies that rely on the analysis of large and complex data.