MUST-READS

• Riyadh Municipality starts receiving qualification applications for future projects

  The Riyadh Region Municipality invited qualified contracting companies with distinguished competence in the fields of implementing and developing roads, to submit their qualification applications.   In a statement, the municipality stated that the applications will be submitted via Kafu platform, and the winners will be classified according to certain standards after reviewing the applications.

• Saudi ports record 13% growth in container handling: Mawani

  Ports in Saudi Arabia recorded a 12.48 percent increase in the number of received containers in March compared to the same period last year, official data showed. The Saudi Ports Authority, also known as Mawani, disclosed that terminals in the Kingdom received 265,148 standard containers in the third month of 2024, marking an annual increase from 235,738.

• Perspective: Saudi Arabia’s Eastward Turn: Shifting Relations with Yemeni Tribes

  Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Yemeni tribes has undergone many changes over recent decades, focused mainly on cultivating direct ties with Yemeni tribal sheikhs. With a shared 1,800 km-long border, the Kingdom has closely monitored developments inside Yemen, placing significant importance on its relationship with tribal leaders as a means of “influenc[ing] internal political decision-making in Yemen in line with its interests.”[1] Such ties, however, are neither fixed nor homogeneous and have evolved based on the mutual interests of both parties. Saudi Arabia’s Eastward Turn: Shifting Relations with Yemeni Tribes - The Yemen Review, Quarterly: January-March 2024 - Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies https://sanaacenter.org/the-yemen-review/jan-mar-2024/22287

• Al-Khobar joins ranks of global smart cities

  Al-Khobar has been recognized as a smart city in the 2024 rankings of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). The city secured the 99th position out of 142 cities worldwide, the institute has announced.

  This listing makes Al-Khobar the fifth Saudi city to be acknowledged as a smart city, joining the ranks of Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah. This achievement underscores the Kingdom's continuous progress in the technology sector.

• Opinion: The Gulf states will not move against Yemen’s Houthis without decisive Western intervention

  Mere strikes on the rebel group will not be sufficient to convince the Gulf states to join in any action in the quagmire that is Yemen from which they have just managed to extract themselves, nor will guarantees of support if they agree to do so. The Gulf states may be more wary than ever of promises from the West, and will not be swayed without first seeing decisive and independent Western military action.

• Opinion: Israel’s strategic defeat and the resurgence of the Palestinian narrative

  Israel’s strategic defeat is encapsulated not by the loss of a single battle but by the crumbling of its moral foundation and the narrative it has long disseminated. As in Vietnam, where the American spirit was broken not by defeat but by the realisation of the moral implications of their actions, Israel stands at a crossroads. It must choose between continuing down a path of moral isolation or embracing a new chapter that acknowledges the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people.

• Israel threatens to retaliate after Turkiye restricts trade ties
  Israel’s foreign minister said that Turkiye has “unilaterally violated” trade agreements with its decision to restrict exports to Israel, and that Israel will respond with its own trade restrictions on products coming from Turkiye, Reuters reports.

  Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan “is again sacrificing the economic interests of the people of Turkiye in order to support Hamas, and we will respond in kind.”

• Opinion: The Greater Middle East Is A Ticking Time Bomb

  “In fact, for many Egyptian political activists — whether those who led the (2011) revolution or were involved in earlier protests — their gateway into politics was the Palestinian cause. The 2011 uprising in Egypt was literally the climax of a process that started with the second Palestinian intifada a decade earlier,” Mr. El-Hamalawy added.

  Even so, Mr. El-Hamalawy, pointing to Mr. Al-Sisi’s harsh crackdown on dissent, cautioned that “we’re not on the verge of another 2011 because there is a substantial difference between dissidents now and then.”

• Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo sent off in Saudi Super Cup semi-final defeat

  In a fiery Saudi Super Cup semi-final clash between Al Nassr and Al Hilal, Cristiano Ronaldo faced a dramatic end as he was shown a straight red card for elbowing an opponent in the closing minutes of the match. The game ended in a 2-1 victory for Al Hilal, with Ronaldo’s dismissal coming when his team were already trailing 2-0. A tense encounter culminated in Ronaldo’s sending off for an elbow on Ali Al-Bulayhi even though Al Nassr found a late consolation goal.

• Saudi Arabia’s air and space forces merger to happen this year: Sources

  Saudi Arabia plans to merge its air and space forces into a single organization sometime this year, three Saudi military officials told Breaking Defense, in part of what experts say is an ambitious but ultimately long-term plan for the Kingdom to develop robust space-based defense capabilities. While plans can always change, one of the Saudi Ministry of Defense officials — who like the others spoke with Breaking Defense on the condition of anonymity at the World Defense Show outside Riyadh earlier this year — said, “We need space for deterrence. In 2024, MoD will merge air and space forces to defend the assets it has.”

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