MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia FM Prince Faisal says he plans to visit Lebanon’s Beirut this week

  Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Tuesday that he plans to visit Beirut this week. “We will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past, in order for us to raise our engagement,” he said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

• Lebanese president says Saudi Arabia to be 1st destination for foreign visits

  Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia will be his “first destination” for foreign visits after assuming office on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports. In a statement, the Lebanese presidential palace confirmed that President Aoun had received a phone call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. During the call, the crown prince conveyed the congratulations of King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Aoun’s election as the president of Lebanon and extended an invitation for him to visit Saudi Arabia. In response, Aoun confirmed that Saudi Arabia would be his first foreign visit, emphasizing the country’s “historical role in supporting Lebanon” and the importance of Lebanon’s Arab identity in shaping its regional relations.

• Stable, if lacking excitement: the outlook for Gulf banks

  Gulf banks have not suffered as a result of the regionalisation of the Gaza war and their financial efficiency has enabled them to maintain earnings in the face of falling international interest rates.  Overseas operations have caused losses for some institutions in recent years: currency devaluation in Egypt, financial crisis and hyperinflation in Lebanon and economic difficulties and high levels of inflation in Turkey all had to be reflected in the profit and loss statements of banks that are active in those countries. However among the larger banks the financial write-downs were easily digested within full earnings statements. More importantly, as we look ahead, the economies of Egypt and Turkey appear to have stabilised and after more than five years of economic depression in Lebanon, the scope for further losses is small.

• Saudi king and crown prince congratulate Joseph Aoun on being elected president of Lebanon

  Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Joseph Aoun on being elected president of Lebanon on Thursday. In a congratulatory cable, King Salman wished Aoun success and the Lebanese people further progress and prosperity.The crown prince sent a similar cable. Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. Thursday’s session was the 13th attempt to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022.

• Lebanon’s parliament chooses army commander Aoun as president, ending a 2-year deadlock

  Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum. The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction. Aoun, no relation to former president Michel Aoun, was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild.

• Saudi Arabia taps Islamic banking to shore up mega-project financing

  Saudi Arabia has borrowed $7bn through Islamic loans as it looks to shore up financing to press ahead with costly mega-projects designed to diversify the kingdom’s economy from relying on energy revenue. The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, announced on Monday that it raised $7bn through "Murabaha" loans supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions. Murabaha is a type of Islamic financing mechanism in which the interest on a loan is already built into the final price paid by the borrower to avoid the payment of interest, which is barred by Islamic law. Investment in sectors such as alcohol, pornography and gambling are prohibited.

• Al-Hogail highlights key milestones in Saudi urban, housing development in 2024

  Majid Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipalities and Housing, highlighted the key milestones witnessed by Saudi cities in 2024, reaffirming the ministry's commitment to achieving Vision 2030 goals and enhancing quality of life.

• US dangles Saudi Arabia’s cash to push candidate for Lebanon’s presidency

  The US has told Lebanese officials that Saudi Arabia is prepared to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct their war-torn country if Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is elected president, one senior Arab official and one former senior US official told Middle East Eye. The carrot of an influx in Saudi cash was dangled by US envoy Amos Hochstein during his trip to Lebanon on Monday, where he lobbied intensely for Aoun, including with Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri. Aoun already has the support of Lebanon’s Sunni Prime Minister Najib Mikati.“The Americans are dead set. They do not want any other candidate but Aoun,” the senior Arab official told MEE. “Hochstein has tied Aoun’s election to Saudi Arabia bankrolling Lebanon’s reconstruction.”

• Saudi Interior Ministry confirms ban on transferring or publishing security surveillance camera recordings

  Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry confirmed that the provisions of the “Use of Security Surveillance Cameras” law prohibit the transfer or publication of security surveillance camera recordings. Security surveillance camera recordings can only be transferred or published with the approval of the ministry or the Presidency of State Security, based on a judicial order, or at the request of an investigating authority. The ministry explained that anyone who violates this rule will be punished with a fine of SR20,000 ($5,327). This includes anyone who transfers or publishes recordings in violation of the law or damages or vandalizes security surveillance camera systems or recordings.

• Saudi Arabia bans use of ‘sponsor,’ mandates ’employer’ for government and private entities
  The Ministry of Commerce in Saudi Arabia has instructed both government and private entities to refrain from using the term 'sponsor' and instead use 'employer' in all official documents. The ministry emphasised that, according to Article 2 of the Labour Law, the term 'employer' refers to "any natural or legal person who employs one or more workers in return for a wage." This directive was conveyed through a letter sent by the Ministry to the Federation of Saudi Chambers, which subsequently issued a circular to chambers of commerce and industry across the Kingdom.

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