MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia pushes for US defense pact as 2024 presidential election looms

  Saudi Arabia may be willing to accept a non-binding commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state in its push to get a defense pact with the United States ahead of the 2024 presidential election.  Saudi Arabia had been heading toward normalizing relations with Israel and recognizing the country for the first time thanks to U.S.-led diplomacy. But those efforts were shelved in October after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent counter-offensive that enraged the Arab world.  

• Airbus in Talks With Saudi Arabia for Air Tanker Order

  Airbus SE said it’s in talks to sell Saudi Arabia more A330 tanker military planes as the nation looks to boost its air force capabilities. The country is also considering purchasing the A400M military transport aircraft, according to Jean-Brice Dumont, head of Air Power at Airbus. “We know there is an interest in the A400M, and we will address it with the Saudi Air Force and the Ministry of Defense,” Dumont said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Defense Show that is taking place in Riyadh.

• South Korea, Saudi Arabia sign agreement on defense cooperation

  South Korea and Saudi Arabia on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding to expand defence cooperation, Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said, as Seoul looks to ink further arms sales in the region. The agreement will see the two establish a joint committee to form a working group for weapons systems research and development as well as production to continue cooperation in defence, DAPA said in a press release on Monday.

• Ronaldo-less Al Nassr beats Messi’s Inter Miami 6-0 in Saudi Arabia

  Lionel Messi came on as an 83rd-minute substitute but could do nothing to stop Inter Miami suffering a 6-0 drubbing by an Al Nassr team without Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh on Thursday. The match, billed as possibly the last chance for the multiple Ballon D’Or winners to face each other on the pitch, was part of a friendly tournament also involving Brazilian Neymar’s Al Hilal, the Saudi Pro League leaders.

• Watch: Saudi Arabia’s Cool Crew Give You a Glimpse of Hai Vogue in Al Balad

  It’s almost time for Hai Vogue, where Vogue Arabia will take over Jeddah’s picturesque UNESCO heritage site — Al Balad — for a two-day block party. And the best part? It’s open to the public, so get ready to celebrate the best food, culture, fashion, and celebrities the region has to offer. As we gear up for the one-of-a-kind event, a selection of Saudi Arabia’s coolest names — from actor Sarah Taibah and designer duo Alia and Abeer Oraif, to Olympic rower Husein Alireza and beyond — take you on a tour through Hai Vogue‘s venue.

• McKinsey and BCG accused of withholding information on ties with Saudi Arabia

  Four consulting firms, including McKinsey and BCG, have been accused of failing to comply with a US congressional subpoena of documents related to their work with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The chief executives of the firms, which also include Teneo and the deal advisory business led by Michael Klein, have been summoned to explain themselves at a Senate committee hearing next week, as lawmakers step up a probe into Saudi Arabia’s use of “soft power” in the US. The inquiry began as a result of an agreement by the Saudi Public Investment Fund to take a stake in golf’s US-based PGA Tour, but has grown into a broader examination of the PIF’s investments in the US.

• Saudi project win caps record year

  US-based project management firm Hill International ended 2023 on a high with a major contract win in Saudi Arabia. In a joint venture with Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener, the firm was awarded the contract to provide project management services for the Saudi Landbridge. The estimated $7bn railway project will connect the east and west coasts of the kingdom and is one of the region’s largest infrastructure schemes. For Hill International’s CEO Raouf Ghali (pictured), the award confirms Saudi Arabia’s position as one of the world’s most important and exciting construction markets.

• Saudi’s PIF sets up new company to manufacture robotic systems and heavy machinery

  Alat will focus on manufacturing products for domestic and international markets within seven business units, the PIF said in a statement on Thursday. These include advanced industries and semiconductors, as well as smart appliances, health, devices and buildings, as well as next generation infrastructure. It will manufacture more than 30 product categories including robotic systems, communication systems, advanced computers and digital entertainment products, as well as advanced heavy machinery used in construction, building and mining. The company, chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aims to create 39,000 direct jobs in Saudi Arabia and achieve a direct non-oil gross domestic product contribution of $9.3 billion by 2030.

• Backs to the wall, Gazans fear Israeli assault on last refuge

  Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip on Friday, where the displaced, penned against the border fence in their hundreds of thousands, said they feared a new assault with nowhere left to flee. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now homeless and crammed into Rafah. Tens of thousands more have arrived in recent days, carrying belongings in their arms and pulling children on carts, since Israeli forces launched one of the biggest assaults of the war last week to capture Khan Younis, the main southern city, just to the north of Rafah.

• Saudi Arabia pushes for U.S. defence pact ahead of presidential election

  Saudi Arabia would be willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding, in a bid to get a defence pact with Washington approved before the U.S. presidential election, three sources said. Months of U.S.-led diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel and recognise the country for the first time were shelved by Riyadh in October in the face of mounting Arab anger over the war in Gaza.

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