News related to
Riyadh

Arab coalition shoots down drone fired from Yemen toward Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: The Arab coalition said on Thursday it intercepted and downed a drone fired from Yemen toward Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi Press Agency. More to follow…

UAE ramps up post Covid-19 economy

COUNTRY LATEST UPDATES Saudi Arabia                Covid-19 pandemic latest: Total confirmed cases: 301,323 Recoveries: 272,911 Deaths: 3,470 Actions to slow the spread of Covid-19: 3 August: Pilgrims returning from Hajj must quarantine for 14 days and will be monitored using electronic bands to ensure compliance.  28 July: Health Ministry to assign a health leader for every 50 pilgrims at this year’s scaled-back […]

Atkins sets up a new structure for Middle East business

As companies worldwide continue laying-off workers, Atkins has unveiled a new business structure for their business in Africa and the Middle East. The new business structure is set to start taking effect from July 1st, 2020, based around two main markets of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This structure will also allow Atkins to align their services with client projects and country […]

Fund scam complicates Malaysia ties with Gulf Arabs

By James M. Dorsey Disclosures of taped phone calls between embattled former prime minister Najib Razak and a person believed to be United Arab Emirate crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed go a long way to explain Malaysian efforts to counter UAE and Saudi influence in the Muslim world. The disclosures are the latest incident in what have been complex, if not strained relations with the UAE and Saudi Arabia […]

The Saudi Aramco IPO idea that was a winner: But what next?

By Matein Khalid I had recommended buying the Tadawul ETF iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia (symbol KSA on NYSE) on November 30 to benefit from the post-IPO surge in the price of the Saudi Aramco IPO shares on the Tadawul. This tactical trade was a beauty even before Saudi Aramco shares soared 20% on its Thursday December 12 to peak at 38.7 Saudi riyals (SAR). As I expected, […]

$500b worth family businesses to be inherited in Middle East

By Arabian Post Staff More than US$500 billion (Dh1.8 trillion) worth of family wealth will be passed on to the next generations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region within the next decade, experts at the 4th Wealth Arabia Summit (WAS) said on Tuesday. According to WealthX, a global intelligence solutions provider, more than US$15 trillion worth of family wealth will be passed over to the […]

Air Arabia third quarter profit up 57%

By Arabian Post Staff Air Arabia announced a record net profit of AED 471 million for the three months ending September 30, 2019; an increase of 57 per cent compared to the AED 300 million reported for the same period last year. The company’s turnover for the third quarter of 2019 increased by 12 per cent to AED 1.438 billion, compared to AED 1.282 billion in the […]

Houthis a grave concern for Saudis

By Manish Rai  Recent attacks launched by Houthis rebels on critical installations of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a significant leap in their capabilities. The story of how Ansar Allah (official name of Houthi movement) moved from small-arms ambushes to medium-range ballistic missile and sophisticated drone attacks deep inside enemy territory in just half a decade illustrates that how an ambitious militant group can capture and use a […]

Khashoggi bullet: An insight into Saudi strategic thinking

|By James M. Dorsey| Continued, albeit slower-paced US and Turkish leaks potentially provide insight into far more than the circumstances of the October killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. They focus attention on crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic thinking as well as his tightened control of the kingdom’s media. In the latest disclosure, The New York Times, quoting anonymous US intelligence sources, reported […]

Bullish British pound trade ideas was a winner!

|By Matein Khalid| I had recommended buying the British pound at 1.2700 against the US dollar in successive columns in the past two weeks. Sterling is at 1.3200 as I write, the trade is already hugely profitable. Cable has now closed above its crucial 200 day moving average in a clear trend reversal. As markets dismiss the risk of a no deal Brexit, I believe the pound […]

Shifting Middle East sands spotlight diverging US-Saudi interests

|By James M. Dorsey| A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists garner hope from the fact that the US Senate may […]

Imran Khan puts himself between a rock and a hard place

By James M. Dorsey Less than a week in office, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has made blasphemy one of his first issues, empowering militants and initiating international moves, long heralded by Saudi Arabia, that would restrict press freedom by pushing for a global ban. Mr. Khan, in his first address as prime minister to the Pakistani Senate, said he intended to raise the blasphemy issue in […]

Iran: Is Trump shooting from the hip or following a script?

By James M. Dorsey Message to Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Tel Aviv: Not to worry, US President Donald J. Trump has no intention of meeting his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, unconditionally. On the contrary, Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement that he is willing to talk to Mr. Rouhani is likely part of a plan formulated almost a year before he returned to government service by his national security advisor John […]

Whither Wahabism?

By James M. Dorsey Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could well dash expectations that he is gunning for a break with Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism rather than a shaving off of the rough edges of Wahhabi ideology that has been woven into the kingdom’s fabric since its founding more than eighty years ago. Prince Mohammed has fuelled expectations by fostering Islamic scholars who advocate a revision of […]

Pakistan’s failed bid to keep off terror finance list

By James M. Dorsey The Pakistani government’s removal of a virulently anti-Shiite militant from its terrorism list at the very moment that an international money laundering and terrorism finance watchdog was deciding to put the country on a watchlist highlights Pakistan’s struggle to come to grips with militancy. The decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that was reported by Pakistani media but has yet to be announced […]

Will OPEC, Russia policy shift mean $56 Brent?

​ |By Matein Khalid| Crude oil prices plunged by 7% in two sessions as Saudi Arabia and Russia confirmed that they would release 1 million barrels a day in the wet barrel markets. Speculative froth in the oil futures markets vanished, to be replaced by a new trading calculus based on the realities of supply and demand – as well as the unknowable (and unquantifiable!) arc of […]

King of Jordan: Balancing on a ever tight rope

By James M. Dorsey A look at a decade of failed social, economic and political reform in Jordan goes a far way to explain recent mass anti-government protests demanding the resignation of the government. The protests, prompting concerns about the survival of the Hashemite dynasty, also bear witness to the fallout of the region’s epic power struggles and the pitfalls of government failures to respond to long-standing […]

 Saudi Arabian equities are global winners in 2018! 

|By Matein Khalid| I had written an article titled “six reasons to be bullish Saudi equities in 2018, published in the KT on January 28. Yet I was surprised to see Saudi Arabian equities become the world’s second best performing stock market in 2018 after Egypt. The Saudi equity index fund (KSA) I recommended in my column is up 18% at a time when the MSCI emerging markets […]

Saudi Moroccan soccer spat symbolises Arab world’s new politics

By James M. Dorsey A Saudi Moroccan soccer spat speaks volumes about the depth of change in the Arab world. The spat over Saudi Arabia’s refusal to support a Moroccan bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 World Cup tells the tale of the rise of individual country nationalism at the expense of Arab solidarity, Saudi determination to safeguard its alliance with the United States at whatever cost, […]

Gulf crisis escalates as major corporations are forced to take sides

By James M. Dorsey The Gulf crisis that pits a United Arab Emirates-Saudi-led alliance against Qatar is escalating in discreet but no less worrisome ways that effect major third-party commercial interests and could increase international pressure for a resolution of the dispute. In a major shift away from Saudi and UAE restraint in attempting to force the international community and multi-nationals from taking sides in the 11-month […]

Saudi engagement in Iraq: Exception that confirms the rule

By James M. Dorsey Stepped up Saudi efforts to forge close diplomatic, economic and cultural ties to Shia-majority Iraq in a bid to counter significant Iranian influence in the country appear to be paying off. The Saudi initiative demonstrates the kingdom’s ability to engage rather than exclusively pursue a muscular, assertive and confrontational policy towards the Islamic republic and its perceived allies. It raises the question whether […]

Four macro heartbeats of global finance in 2018

|By Matein Khalid| When I first started on a Treasury bond futures trading desk in New York fresh out of Wharton, a senior mentor once advised to keep track of the four heartbeats of gold finance in real time. The price of money (interest rates), the price of currency (the US dollar), the price of oil and the price of gold.   The price of money can be […]

Saudi economic transformation unstoppable, says BoA-ML

|By Arabian Post Staff| In a major endorsement to Saudi economic reforms initiated by Crown Prince Mohammad Salman, a top executive of American financial giant Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation will be “unstoppable” and there has already been a positive shift in the Kingdom’s business culture. Hootan Yazhari, managing director of the bank’s Dubai-based research department, said there are key moves being […]

Al Waleeed’s arrest may be the price for offending Trump

|By K Raveendran| The arrest of wealthy Saudi prince Al Waleed, whose investments ranging from Citibank to Apple to Twitter, making him the most high profile Arab investor on the global stage, may involve more than internal power struggle within the Saudi ruling establishment and the new Crown Prince’s spirited fight against corruption. Al Waleed may have paid a heavy price for his spat with Donald Trump […]