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QUOTED
“Rather like our weather, it’s a dry country. Everyone has their own culture, and we’re happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture, but we don’t want to change our culture for someone else, OK? And I mean, really, you can’t live without a drink?” Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, Saudi ambassador tells World Cup fans: ‘You can have fun without alcohol’ [The Guardian]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Arabia’s Premium Residency Program which is intended to increase the number of highly skilled individuals, entrepreneurs, and investors residing long-term in Saudi Arabia got a big boost at Leap ’25. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Hadeel Al Sayegh, Pesha Magid and Maha El Dahan in reuters.com: U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a meeting of global financiers and tech executives hosted by Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund in Miami later in February, according to several people with knowledge of the event. Trumps participation would come after Saudi Arabia condemned his call to displace Palestinians from Gaza as part of a U.S.-led rebuilding plan. It also follows Trumps call in January for Riyadh to invest $1 trillion in the U.S. – a figure about matching the size of the Saudi PIF sovereign funds assets. According to the people, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, Trump is scheduled to deliver an in-person address at the gathering. A Riyadh-based representative for the FII Priority summit, opens new tab, scheduled for February 19 to 21, declined to comment. Representatives for the U.S. embassy in Riyadh didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Via Barak Ravid in axios.com: Trump made the comment a few hours after speaking with Putin in their first publicly disclosed call since Trump took office. Trump said they had agreed on starting negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine, which is approaching its third anniversary. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump floated the idea of meeting Putin in Saudi Arabia, along with the Saudi crown prince. He did not lay out a timeline and said he would deal with Putin on the phone in the meantime. In an interview with the Economist published on Wednesday, Zelensky had said hed had little contact with Trumps team and raised concerns about any decision-making on Ukraine taking place without Kyivs involvement.
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Via Julianne Geiger in oilprice.com: While some U.S. refiners are scaling back, Saudi Arabia’s Motiva Enterprises just made a power move. The Saudi Aramco-owned refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has quietly expanded its capacity, now processing a record 654,000 barrels per day—officially making it the largest refinery in the United States above Exxon’s Beaumont and Marathon’s Galveston Bay. Motiva pulled this off without a flashy billion-dollar project—just good old-fashioned optimization, removing bottlenecks in the system to squeeze out more production. And they did it at a time when smaller, less efficient refineries are dropping like flies. LyondellBasell’s Houston plant is closing. Phillips 66’s Los Angeles refinery is shutting down.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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Saudi Arabia‘s Red Sea Global’s newest ultra-luxury offering, Desert Rock Resort, has quickly established itself as a global draw since...[By Tala Michel Issa via arabianbusiness.com]
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The report sheds light on financial performance during the fourth quarter of last year, including revenues, expenditures, and public debt indicators. It highlighted a 21...[via com.sa]
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Unlike Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City, which has dominated English soccer over the past decade, and Qatari-backed Paris Saint-Germain, which has done likewise in France, it...[By James Robson via apnews.com]
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Trump’s renewal of the maximum pressure campaign could lead to rising tensions in the Gulf after a brief period of relative stability. The Saudis remember...[By Sultan al-Amer via newlinesinstitute.org]
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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Mark Carney on Friday, on the occasion of the formation of the new government headed by him...[via arabnews.com]
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Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 50 people, including 11 women on prostitution charges, in a new crackdown on “immoral acts” amid ongoing social and...[via middleeastmonitor.com]
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Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the recruitment of domestic workers from Indonesia to Saudi...[via argaam.com]
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The Ministry of Interior conducted inspection campaigns across Saudi Arabia between March 6 and March 12 to ensure compliance with residency, labor, and border security...[via saudigazette.com]
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Saudi Arabia is set to launch a groundbreaking global Twenty20 league, backed by its $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Spearheaded by Australian cricket figure Neil Maxwell,...[via geosuper.tv]
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The Saudi Architecture Characters Map highlights 19 architectural styles inspired by geographical, natural and cultural characteristics, derived...[via saudigazette.com]
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Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadley witnessed on Sunday the signing of an agreement between the Environment Fund and the Small and...[via saudigazette.com]
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Developer Diriyah Company — backed by Public Investment Fund — secured $1.6 billion in financing to develop the Wadi Safar project, an upscale residential...[By Kelsey Warner via semafor.com]
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The United States will keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until they end...[By Phil Stewart, Mohammed Ghobari and Gabriella Borter via reuters.com]
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Improvements in the availability and quality of digital infrastructure and services have yet to impact productivity growth in the Gulf economies...[By Valentina Pasquali via agbi.com]
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CERAWeek, the annual gathering of the energy elite in Houston, Texas, is an intense crash course in the state of world...[By Frank Kane via agbi.com]
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Between 10am and 4:30pm on March 11 the tariff rate on Canadian aluminium and steel imports to the US was hiked...[By Robin Mills via agbi.com]
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S&P Global Ratings has raised Saudi Arabia’s credit rating for the first time in two years, citing the country’s economic...[By John Benny via thenationalnews.com]
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Syria's new rulers are combing through the billion-dollar corporate empires of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's allies, and...[By Timour Azhari via reuters.com]
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