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QUOTED
“For me, it is an honour that the league is growing and many star players are coming to make the league even better and more competitive. To be the first one — let’s say a star — to come here is an honour, but what I’m looking forward to is the next five to 10 years of the league still improving. Not only the first teams, but also the academies.” Cristiano Ronaldo Talks Life In Saudi Arabia, Growth Of Saudi Pro League [Sports Illustrated]
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TOP STORY
With the Dakar Rally already underway from January 3 to January 17, Saudi Arabia has kicked off another year full of sporting events in 2025. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Valentina Pasquali in agbi.com: Saudi officials have signed a preliminary deal this week to issue residential mortgage-backed securities, a first for the Gulf. The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC), which is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and the Hassana Investment Company, which manages the assets of the national social security and pension fund, signed the memorandum of understanding on January 1. “Our partnership with Hassana marks a significant milestone in supporting the evolution of the housing finance landscape and fostering the development of Saudi Arabia’s capital markets,” SRC’s chief executive Majeed Al Abduljabbar said in a statement. Mortgage-backed securities are investments like bonds. Each is a share in a bundle of home loans and other real estate debt bought from the banks or government entities that issued them. Investors in mortgage-backed securities receive periodic payments like bond coupon payments.
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in saudigazette.com: The Line 3 (Orange Line) covering Madinah Road would connect the east of Riyadh to its west, and extends from Jeddah Road in the west to the second eastern ring road adjacent to the Khashm Al-Aan area in the east with a total length of 41 km. This marks the completion of the phased operation of the six lines of the Riyadh Metro network according to the plan previously announced when the project was inaugurated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Nov. 27, 2024. The RCRC said in a statement that at 6:00 am on Sunday, passengers will be received on the Orange Line at the following five stations: Jeddah Road Station, Tuwaiq Station, Douh Station, Harun Al-Rashid Road Station, and Al-Naseem Station, which is one of the transfer stations that connects the Orange Line and the Purple Line. The commission also announced the operation of three new stations on the Blue Line that connects the Olaya Street to Batha and these are Al-Morooj Station, Bank Al-Bilad Station, and King Fahd Library Station. Three lines that started operations in the initial phase on Dec. 1 were the 1st line (Blue Line); 4th line (Yellow Line); and the 6th line (Purple Line). In the second phase, two more lines — Line 2 (Red Line) and Line 5 (Green Line) — became operational on Dec. 15.
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in insideworldfootball.com: Adding another tournament to a busy decade of football events, Saudi Arabia will host the 2026 Gulf Cup. The news was confirmed on the sidelines of the current Gulf Cup in Kuwait where the tournament’s general assembly unanimously awarded the finals to Saudi Arabia next year. A prestigious prize in the region, the Gulf Cup was first played in 1970. It’s the fifth time that Saudi Arabia will organise the tournament, having welcomed the regional finals in 1972, 1988,2002 and 2014. The staging represents another boost to the country’s hosting credentials. Last year, Saudi Arabia welcomed the Club World Cup, the first FIFA tournament on Saudi soil since the Confederations Cup in 1997.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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Wages for Saudis in the private sector rose by 45 per cent in 2024, as Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development...[By Khitam Al Amir via gulfnews.com]
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Prince Faisal reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to supporting Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity while emphasizing efforts to achieve security, stability, and prosperity for the...[via eurasiareview.com]
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The State Department approves the possible sale of 20 MK 54 MOD 0 Lightweight Torpedoes to Saudi Arabia for $78.5 million, according...[via alarabiya.net]
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Speaking in an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Araghchi said that the newly restored Iranian-Saudi ties have a lot of potential that haven’t been...[via alarabiya.net]
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Saudi Arabia has finalised an arrangement for securing a shariah-compliant revolving credit facility worth $2.5 billion, the...[By Enas Alashray and Ahmed Tolba via reuters.com]
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Government employees were among 145 people arrested in Saudi Arabia over corruption charges last month. The country’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) conducted 1,462 “oversight visits”...[By Gavin Gibbon via agbi.com]
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Rising sea levels driven by the climate crisis will overwhelm many of the world’s biggest oil ports, analysis indicates. Thirteen of the ports with the...[By Damian Carrington via theguardian.com]
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On the back of the busiest sporting year Saudi Arabia has ever had, punctuated by news of the nation’s successful 2034 FIFA...[By Mark Lomas via alarabiya.net]
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This is a collection of 37 photos chosen by AP photo editors.
...[via apnews.com]
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South Africa’s strong legacy at the Dakar Rally continues in 2025, with more than half of the vehicles at the event in Saudi Arabia being...[via youtube.com]
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Since Ronaldo's arrival in the SPL, the league has grown leaps and bounds. Players like Karim Benzema, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, and...[By Apratim Banerjee via si.com]
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Milan forward Tammy Abraham has hailed the impact of the support in Riyadh as his side booked their place in the Supercoppa Italiana final. The Englishman...[via yahoo.com]
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Travel and tourism service providers and booking platforms have been ordered by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism to remove unlicensed hospitality facilities from their listings...[By Neil Halligan via agbi.com]
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The Saudi Ministry of Interior’s Absher Business platform has introduced updated fees for seven services offered to establishments, according to Okaz newspaper. Among the changes,...[via gulfnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia's national teams who competed in international science and academic contests had tremendous success, winning 107 global awards across 25 events held between September...[via mawhiba.org]
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The Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) has launched the Next Saudi Generation Program to support and develop Saudi talent in motorsports. The program, conducted in...[via spa.gov]
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The Saudi Arabian group SAVOLA has sold all its assets in Iran for 705 million Saudi riyals (approximately $188 million) and is exiting the country. SAVOLA,...[via iranfocus.com]
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The Islamic State has lost thousands of fighters to death or prison and suffered the demise of its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and...[By Alissa J. Rubin via nytimes.com]
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Asia-Pacific’s economies are likely to experience labor market shifts because of artificial intelligence, with advanced economies being affected more. About half of all jobs in...[By Tristan Hennig, Shujaat Khan via imf.org]
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After years on top of the global electric vehicle market, Tesla has lost the title of world’s largest EV producer to Chinese powerhouse BYD....[By Felix Richter via statista.com]
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