MUST-READS

• Spike Lee to Head Jury of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival

  Spike Lee will preside over the jury of the fourth edition of Saudi Arabia‘s Red Sea Film Festival. “Looking towards our fourth edition, we’re honored to welcome the legendary Spike Lee as our president of jury for the festival this year,” said Jomana Al Rashid, chairwoman of the Red Sea Film Foundation, in an announcement on Thursday. “Spike is a pioneering director whose iconic work has made a lasting impact on both film as a medium and culture at large,” she continued. “His energy, incisiveness and genuine championing of creativity and new voices makes him an ideal fit to lead our jury for this year — we look forward to him engaging with the burgeoning talent in our competition lineup.”

• Indonesia shock Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifier

  Indonesia have shocked Saudi Arabia with a 2-0 win in Jakarta in Group C of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. A goal in each half from Marselino Ferdinan, who plays for Oxford United in England’s second tier, nailed down a victory on Tuesday for the Southeast Asian nation, which last appeared at the World Cup in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies. "Indonesia deserved to win this game,” Saudi coach Herve Renard said. “We have four games left, and it will be tough, but it will be tough for everybody.”

• Here’s how Saudi travelers are picking where to go in 2025

  First, we heard from flight comparison website Skyscanner, revealing that the Kingdom's citizens and residents have their sights set on a wide range of destinations in 2025 including the Italian capital of Rome, Poland's Krakow, Montreal in Canada and Gan in the Maldives. The company also revealed that two Saudi destinations have ranked among the world's top places to go next year, with the UNESCO World Heritage site of AlUla in Saudi's northwest and the capital city of Riyadh recording surging search interest. When travelling with children, nearly three in four Saudis pick destinations that they wanted to visit in their own early years, while places to build lasting memories remain high on the travel agenda, along with those that offer out authentic local experiences.

• Saudi: Over 6.3mln e-transactions processed via Absher in October

  Over 3.8 million transactions were completed via the Absher Individuals platform, including tasks like identity verification, electronic renewals of national ID cards, family registrations, and other related services, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The General Directorate of Passports managed tasks such as issuing exit and re-entry visas, residency permits, electronic passport renewals and issuances.

• Saudi Startup Riyadh Air Gets Over 2,500 Slots At Riyadh Airport

  Filings by Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), a slot coordinator that manages over 75 airports in the world, have showed that Riyadh Air has received over 2,500 slots at Riyadh King Khalid International Airport (RUH). According to the slot coordinator’s initial coordination report, airlines had requested a total of 97,130 slots at the airport serving the Saudi Arabian capital, with ACL allocating only 38.7% of the newly requested landing and takeoff rights for the upcoming International Air Transport Association (IATA) summer season, which will begin on March 30, 2025. Nevertheless, with its slot portfolio, Riyadh Air became the fourth-largest airline at the airport, with 2% of the total allocated flight movements. SAUDIA, the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, will have the largest share of movements, 50.9%.  

• Opinion: Balancing on the Brink – Saudi Arabia’s Delicate Policy

  Although Saudi Arabia has spent years attempting to decrease its reliance on the strait—including through the construction of a 746-mile east-west crude oil pipeline, with a capacity of 5 million barrels per day, to bypass it—Saudi Arabia transports more crude oil and gas condensate through the Strait of Hormuz than any other country, according to tanker tracking data released by Vortexa. About 500,000 barrels per day were transited from Saudi ports in the Persian Gulf to Saudi ports in the Red Sea in 2022.

• Saudi Arabia, China, Iran meet to advance Beijing Agreement

  The second meeting of the Saudi-Chinese-Iranian Joint Tripartite Committee to follow up on the Beijing Agreement was held in Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed bin Abdulkarim Elkhereiji chaired the meeting, with Vice Foreign Minister of China Deng Li and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi present. The Saudi and Iranian representatives reaffirmed their commitment to fully implementing the Beijing Agreement and strengthening neighborly relations through adherence to the UN Charter, the Charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and international law, emphasizing respect for sovereignty, independence, and security.

• NDMC closes the November 2024 Issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program

  The National Debt Management Center announces the closure of November 2024 issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program. The Total Amount Allocated was set at SAR 3.415Bn (three billion and four hundred and fifteen million Saudi Riyals)

• Saudi Arabia voices concern over extremist Israeli statements about West Bank sovereignty and settlements

  The Saudi Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, reiterated its concern over the extremist Israeli statements about imposing sovereignty over the West Bank, and the construction and expansion of settlements. "These Israeli actions undermine peace efforts, threaten the region's security and stability, and represent a blatant violation of international laws and relevant UN resolutions," the Cabinet said. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary said that the Cabinet strongly condemned the continued targeting of Palestinian civilians and relief and humanitarian agencies by the Israeli occupation forces, and called on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities vis-à-vis the continuous aggression faced by the Palestinian people.

• Saudi’s SPPC signs PPAs for 9.2GW power projects

  The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for five independent power producer (IPP) projects, including thermal and solar photovoltaic power projects, totalling 9.2GW.  The PPAs were signed with a consortium of Acwa Power, the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) for Rumah-1. The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is 4.5859 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), while Nairyah-1’s LCOE is 4.6114 cents/kWh.

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