MUST-READS

• New 9/11 Evidence Points to Deep Saudi Complicity

  Some of the disputes are less about facts than about interpretation. The Capitol video, in the Saudi view, is nothing more than a typical home movie by an enthusiastic tourist; the San Diego video of Bayoumi’s party in the hijackers’ apartment is said to depict a gathering of mosque-goers for some purpose unrelated to the presence of two newly arrived al-Qaeda terrorists. If the court denies the Saudi motion to dismiss in the coming months, we will know whose view of the evidence has been the more persuasive.

• Iranian’s President’s Death Compounds Regional Turmoil

  The unexpected May 19 death of Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi in the crash of the helicopter returning him and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian from an official visit to neighboring Azerbaijan will not produce any short-term changes in Iranian domestic or regional policies. Raisi’s passing will scramble the internal maneuvering to succeed Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i. The crash comes amidst major regional turmoil triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, as well as ongoing public unrest within Iran that caused turnout for parliamentary elections on March 1 to be the lowest since the Islamic Republic came to power in 1979.

• WTA signs multi-year partnership with Saudi PIF
  The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will become the first-ever naming partner of the WTA's rankings, the two organisations announced on Monday, as part of a multi-year partnership.
  The announcement marks the PIF's latest foray into tennis, after the men's ATP tour also signed a multi-year "strategic partnership" earlier this year.
  "Together, we look forward to sharing the journey of our talented players across the season, as we continue to grow the sport, creating more fans of tennis and inspiring more young people to take up the game," WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti said in a statement.

• IBM makes more AI models open source and lands Saudi Arabia deal
  International Business Machines (IBM.N), opens new tab on Tuesday said that it will release a family of artificial intelligence models as open-source software, and that it will help Saudi Arabia train an AI system in Arabic.
  The Armonk, New York-based company has taken a different approach to making money from AI than some of its rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and others that are tightly guarding their AI models and charging for access to them. Similar to Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, IBM is instead providing open access to the models themselves and on Wednesday opened its "Granite" family of AI models for companies to customize.

• Blinken: Israel ‘may not be willing’ to accept Palestinian statehood for Saudi normalization

  Blinken confirmed in testimony to Congress that the United States is seeking a bilateral agreement with Riyadh that involves normalization with Israel. "We have sought to move forward in negotiating the bilateral US-Saudi aspects of a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But even if we were to conclude those agreements — and I believe we actually can conclude them relatively quickly, given all the work that's been done — they could not go forward and the overall package could not go forward, absent other things that have to happen for normalization to proceed," the top US diplomat said. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/05/blinken-israel-may-not-be-willing-accept-palestinian-statehood-saudi#ixzz8axdXIPGk

• US says Israel-Saudi normalisation needs Gaza quiet, talks on Palestinian rule
  Forging formal Israeli-Saudi relations as part of an emerging trilateral deal involving Washington would require a calming of the Gaza war and a discussion of prospects for Palestinian governance, the U.S. envoy to Jerusalem said on Tuesday.
  "There's going to have to be some period of quiet, I think, in Gaza, and there's going to have to be a conversation about how do you deal with the question of the future of Palestinian governance," ambassador Jack Lew said.

• Saudi Arabia’s Future Aviation Forum tallies $19 billion in deals

  Leading the dealmakers was Saudia Group, which owns flag carrier Saudia Airline and low-cost flyadeal, announcing an order with Airbus on Monday for 105 narrow-body aircraft. The deal for an undisclosed price was described as the largest purchase ever from a Saudi airline. Saudia’s Airbus order was a setback for Boeing, which has yet to close a deal being negotiated with the kingdom’s new airline, Riyadh Air.

• Saudi crown prince reassures nation about king’s health during Cabinet meeting

  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made reassuring comments about King Salman’s health during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Saudi Press Agency reported. The king underwent medical tests at royal clinics at Al-Salam Palace on Sunday after he suffered from a high temperature and joint pain, SPA said. He was diagnosed with lung inflammation and prescribed a course of antibiotics as treatement at the palace in Jeddah.

• Saudi Stocks Trail Emerging Peers for First Time Since Pandemic

  The Tadawul All Share Index is nearly 6% behind the MSCI Emerging Markets gauge so far this year, the first time it’s trailed in the period since 2020 when tumbling demand battered oil prices. Once again, Saudi shares are tracking a drop in crude, while authorities have reportedly scaled back the futuristic Neom development — a major driver for several sectors in the market in the past few years.

• Blueprint Foresees Dramatic Expansion of Saudi Aviation Sector

  Sweeping new proposals for Saudi general aviation herald official government sanction that would increase airports, aircraft operators, and MROs for the sector, which includes business aviation. The roadmap—"Saudi Arabia: A New Global Hub for General Aviation"—anticipates tourism growing 2.5 times by 2030 and an overall SAR$365 billion ($97 billion) to be spent on tourism and aviation.

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