MUST-READS

• Princess Reema, Saudi Ambassador, Navigates Rough Waters in Washington

  In the five tumultuous years since her arrival, Saudi Arabia’s fortunes in Washington, and Princess Reema’s, have turned. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the need for Saudi support in the oil markets led Mr. Biden to a diplomatic fist-bump with the crown prince in Jeddah in the summer of 2022. Princess Reema, with the assistance of her kingdom’s multimillion-dollar lobbying and publicity machine, has been a high-profile part of the grudging détente.

• Opinion: Premier Tour proposals signify Saudi influence and a tipping point for tennis

  For decades, the length of the season has put a strain on players and it is one of numerous complaints that have gone unresolved. Players outside the top 100 also still struggle to break even, with inflation devouring the modest prize money on the ITF World Tennis Tour. The calendar is fractured and illogical, failing to minimise travel distances between tournaments along with the sport’s carbon footprint.

• Saudi Aramco Suspends Two Oil Contractors

  Aramco has served notices of temporary suspension to two oilfield service contractors, Zawya has reported, citing the companies. According to one of them, Borr Drilling Limited, the suspension will begin this month and last for a year, the report said. Borr Drilling operates the Arabia I rig in Saudi Arabia and said it would look to move the rig elsewhere for the duration of the suspension. The other company, Valaris, has also received a suspension for one rig, out of a fleet of 19 that its Saudi subsidiary operates in the kingdom. The contract for the rig was ending at the end of this year, the report noted.

• Aramco and GCT Semiconductor sign 5G, AI deal in Saudi Arabia

  Saudi Arabian state-owned Oil Group Aramco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with chip company GCT Semiconductor to bolster the country’s 4G and 5G ecosystem through the development of mission-critical and public safety networks. While financial terms and the length of the MoU were not disclosed, GCT shared in a press statement that the pair will design and co-develop chipsets and modules for LTE, 5G and NTN spectrum in order to “support the localization of wireless end-user devices and IoT manufacturing.”

• Solar Spider Targets Saudi Arabia Banks via New Malware

  The sophisticated threat group behind a complex JavaScript remote access Trojan (RAT) known as JSOutProx has released a new version of the malware to target organizations in the Middle East. Cybersecurity services firm Resecurity analyzed technical details of multiple incidents involving the JSOutProx malware targeting financial customers and delivering either a fake SWIFT payment notification if targeting an enterprise, or a MoneyGram template when targeting private citizens, the company wrote in a report published this week. The threat group has targeted government organizations in India and Taiwan, as well as financial organizations in the Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia, India — and now Saudi Arabia.

• Saudis Scale Back Ambition for $1.5 Trillion Desert Project Neom

  Saudi Arabia has scaled back its medium-term ambitions for the desert development of Neom, the biggest project within Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans for diversifying the oil-dependent economy, according to people familiar with the matter. By 2030, the government at one point hoped to have 1.5 million residents living in The Line, a sprawling, futuristic city it plans to contain within a pair of mirror-clad skyscrapers. Now, officials expect the development will house fewer than 300,000 residents by that time, according to a person familiar with the matter.

• Hamas says Gaza truce talks still deadlocked despite reports of progress

  A Hamas official said on Monday no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo also attended by Israeli, Qatar and U.S. representatives, after the Egyptian hosts said headway had been achieved on the agenda. Western powers have voiced outrage over what they see as an unacceptably high Palestinian civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis arising from Israel's military onslaught to destroy Hamas in tiny, densely populated Gaza.

• Saudi crown prince meets Pakistani premier, stresses India-Pakistan dialogue

  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said dialogue was needed to resolve heightened friction between arch-rivals Pakistan and India during a meeting in Riyadh with visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif was making his first overseas visit since winning power in elections in February. He met with bin Salman on Sunday. "The two sides stressed the importance of dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve the outstanding issues between the two countries, especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to ensure peace and stability in the region," a joint statement released by Pakistan's foreign office and the Saudi government said.

• War in Middle East: Israel Has Responses Ready for Iran Scenarios

  Military officials said on Sunday that Israel is pulling some troops out of the city of Khan Younis in Gaza, saying it had ended its mission there as the war against Hamas reached the six-month mark. Israel said its 98th Commando Division had moved out of Khan Younis and the Gaza Strip “to recuperate and prepare for future operations.”

• PBOC to Give $69 Billion in Loans to Boost Science, Technology

  The People’s Bank of China said it will set up a relending program of as much as 500 billion yuan ($69 billion) to support innovation and project upgrades in the science and technology sectors. The loans will have an interest rate of 1.75% and a tenor of one year, which can be extended twice for an additional year, according to a statement posted on the PBOC’s website Sunday. The loan quota will be allocated to 21 banks. The refinancing program is set to help small- and medium-sized technology firms in their initial startup and growth stages and provide credit support to high-end projects, it said.

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