MUST-READS

• U.S. energy secretary to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE next week, officials say

  U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next week to work on “climate co-operation” and other issues, two Biden administration officials told Reuters on Friday. The visit will run from Tuesday through Thursday, with Granholm visiting the UAE first, one of the officials said. It will be her first trip to the region as secretary.

  “The visit is a continuation of long-standing engagement between the U.S. and this region,” the officials said.

• Saudi Arabia plans $100 billion investment to develop aviation sector

  A significant portion of the investments, over $50 billion, will go to developing the country’s airports. Moreover, the Kingdom expects airlines to place new aircraft orders worth around $40 billion. The remaining $10 billion will go to other aviation projects across Saudi Arabia, including $5 billion to special logistics zones in the major airports of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

• Saudi Arabia to reveal roadmap to turn aviation sector into $2bn industry

  Details of the roadmap will be set out at the 2024 Future Aviation Forum, convening 5,000 leaders, including private investors, operators, and service providers, set to be held in Riyadh from May 20 to 22. The plan comes after Saudi Arabia revised its 2030 tourism target upwards from 100 million to 150 million visitors in October 2023. The forum is set to be hosted by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and the organization’s President Abdulaziz-Al Duailej said: “General aviation is vital to growing high-value sectors of the Saudi economy, including tourism, business and entertainment events.

• Half of Gaza water sites damaged or destroyed, BBC satellite data reveals

  Hundreds of Gaza's water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Israel began military action against Hamas, satellite analysis by BBC Verify has found.

  Damage to a major supplies depot has also severely disrupted repairs.

  The lack of clean water and flows of untreated sewage pose a serious threat to health, say aid agencies.

  The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that Hamas cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.

  The destruction comes despite Israel's duty to protect critical infrastructure under the rules of war, unless there is evidence sites are being used for military reasons, say human rights lawyers.

• UN General Assembly backs Palestinian bid for membership
  The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."
  The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the United States vetoed it in the U.N. Security Council last month.

• Saudi Arabia woos investors with lucrative business environment

  Khairy added: “The Kingdom has already started to take serious steps to capitalize on its exceptional location through the establishment of logistics and free trade zones, coupled with efforts to diversify the economy under Vision 2030, attracts foreign investment and fosters trade partnerships.”

• Why Netflix’s Honeymoonish director thinks the Middle East needs more rom-coms

  Honeymoonish is the first Arab film to reach number one on Netflix's weekly Top 10 chart of the most-watched non-English TV films, accumulating 14 million views in its second week of release.

  It is a surprising and exciting result for the cast, crew and particularly for Lebanese director Elie El Semaan, considering it is his first film.

  “I'm very happy,” El Semaan tells The National. “The feedback we were getting from day one was bigger than I expected, to be honest. And not only from the Gulf region but from all over the world.”

• Saudi crown prince MBS delays visit to Pakistan for unspecified reasons
  Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has deferred his visit to Pakistan for unspecified reasons, dimming the much-anticipated event that Islamabad was hoping would secure further investments and agreements between the two allies.

  Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had been expected to visit Pakistan on 19 May, but according to media reports, that has now been delayed until a later date while Islamabad and Riyadh continue to work out an agreed-upon schedule.

• Cases of Botulism in Saudi Arabia linked to mayonnaise, product recalled

  Saudi authorities on Saturday announced that the source of recent cases of food poisoning in Riyadh at a popular burger chain in the Kingdom has been tracked to a bacterium found in a mayonnaise product used by the chain. Last month, scores of cases of Botulism were reported in the Kingdom which were linked to the Hamburgini restaurant chain, prompting the authorities to take necessary measures and open a probe into the matter.

• Saudi Arabian universities need to embrace the AI revolution

  The launch in December 2023 of the National Framework for Artificial Intelligence in Digital Learning by the National eLearning Center – set up in 2018 before the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic, which has been a significant game changer in the distance education scenario – confirms the serious commitment of the Saudi establishment to the use of AI at all educational levels.

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