SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Browse Research Topics

Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Pentagon chief underscores US commitment to Saudi Arabia’s defense

    Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Monday that he had spoken to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to affirm Washington’s commitment to the Kingdom’s defense and to thank him for Riyadh’s work to promote calm in the Middle East. Prince Khalid said the pair reviewed the Saudi-US strategic partnership and ways to bolster defense cooperation. The Pentagon said Austin underscored the United States’ longstanding commitment to Saudi Arabia’s defense and the importance of the US-Saudi defense partnership to regional security. The call took place on Monday night.

  • Israel Defense Chief’s US Trip Delayed as Netanyahu Objects

    A US visit by Israel’s defense chief — billed as a chance for the allies to craft a common strategy in a face-off against Iran — has been postponed, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. An Israeli official, who asked not to be identified discussing the decision, cited last-minute objections to the trip by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has sparred with Netanyahu about the conduct of the yearlong war in Gaza and on other fronts, had been due to fly to Washington for talks on Wednesday about “ongoing Middle East security developments,” the Pentagon had announced.

  • US wary as Israel plans retaliation against Iran

    Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog, speaking at the memorial event, referred to “disagreements” between the American and Israeli governments, saying he told Sullivan when they arose that Israel considered itself in the wake of the October 7 Hamas carnage to be facing an “existential” threat. “For us Israelis, this is an existential challenge,” Herzog said. “And Mr. Sullivan, we met more than once during this war. And whenever there were disagreements, I would always tell you that they emanate from the fact that for us, this is existential war.”

  • Gulf states must not allow use of airspace against Iran, Iranian official says

    Tehran has told Gulf Arab states it would be "unacceptable" if they allowed use of their airspace or military bases against Iran and warned that any such move would draw a response, a senior Iranian official said. The official also said any action by Gulf states to balance oil markets should Iranian energy facilities be hit by Israel was not part of the discussions so far. The comments come amid growing concern over possible Israeli retaliation for last week's Iranian missile attack, as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi visits Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states including Qatar for talks on Wednesday.

  • Abu Dhabi stakes claim on ‘capital of capital’ as world’s richest city

    Abu Dhabi has overtaken Oslo to become the world’s richest city in terms of assets managed by sovereign wealth funds. With $1.7 trillion under management as of October, the UAE capital is now the undisputed “capital of capital” (a slogan Abu Dhabi has been pushing since at least 2023), according to New York-based Global SWF.  If the holdings of the central bank, public pension funds, and royal private offices — which would include the realm of Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan who oversees the Royal Group, under which AI firm G42 is housed — are added, the total would reach $2.3 trillion. Abu Dhabi is likely to maintain its status atop the rankings, with its sovereign wealth coffers forecast to swell to $3.4 trillion by 2030.

  • Reach for the sky: Completion of world’s first 1-km skyscraper in sight

    We now have a completion date for what will be the world's tallest skyscraper – and it's coming sooner than you might think. The amazing structure is expected to be finished by 2028 and will rise to a mind-boggling height of 1,007 m (3,303 ft) in Saudi Arabia. Originally known as the Kingdom Tower and the Mile-High Tower (the latter dropped once it was discovered the ground couldn't support a mile-high structure), the skyscraper was then renamed the Jeddah Tower but has now received yet another new name, the Jeddah Economic Company Tower – or JEC Tower.

  • From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football

    The Saudi Pro League, the second biggest spender in the summer of 2023, behind only the English Premier League, dropped to sixth this year, trailing the "Big Five" European competitions that it aims to rival. According to analysts, Saudi officials are assessing the commercial returns of their record outlay as Saudi Arabia's lavish drive to modernise its oil-reliant economy comes under budgetary strains. "I think they achieved the purpose last year, they put themselves on the map, they put the league on the map," said James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

  • Saudi Arabia Raises Oil Prices to Asia

    Saudi Aramco in the weekend raised the price of its Arab Light grade loading for Asia in November by $0.90 per barrel to a premium of $2.20 a barrel above the Dubai/Oman benchmark. The Dubai/Oman quotes are the benchmark against which Middle Eastern producers price their supply to Asia. Refiners and traders in Asia had expected the rise to be more modest, by about $0.65 per barrel.

  • HALO Space expands testing operations to Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space, and Technology Commission has played a key role in supporting HALO Space’s endeavors. The upcoming full-scale, uncrewed test flight of the Aurora capsule is scheduled for late 2024 and aims to reach altitudes of up to 20 miles (30 kilometers). This flight is expected to be critical for validating the capsule’s systems and safety mechanisms before future commercial flights are planned.

  • Saudi Arabia Box Office Outperforms Western Markets This Year So Far as ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Becomes Country’s Highest-Grossing Film

    Ahead of the second edition of the Saudi Film Confex industry conference in the kingdom’s capital of Riyadh that aims to boost the local film industry, Variety spoke to the Comscore team to break down recent figures that show a 5% dip in admissions (13,663,012 in 2024 vs. 14,455,179 in 2023) combined with a 13% drop in box office grosses ($174,431,499 in 2024 vs. $245,486,760 in 2023). The latter is due to a government move to lower ticket prices.