Author: Steven Sahiounie

RIYADH: Investors eyeing opportunities in Saudi Arabia’s mining sector stand to gain from a new incentive package totaling nearly SR685 million ($182 million) in financial facilitation.

Iran’s Constitutional Council has approved the results of the recent parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections across the country, the spokesman for the council said. Speaking to the state TV on Monday night, Hadi Tahan Nazif said the Constitutional Council has confirmed the correctness and validity of elections in 208 polling areas for the parliamentary elections and in all of polling areas of the Assembly of Experts voting in 31 provinces across the country. He also noted that the run-off parliamentary elections will be held on May 10. The countrywide elections for the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts were…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has soared in an annual global ranking of sovereign wealth organizations, thanks to a 55 percent increase in assets under management.

The army air defenses repelled on Tuesday an Israeli missile aggression that targeted military points in Damascus countryside and shot down some missiles. A military source stated in a statement to SANA that “at approximately 02:10 a.m. on Tuesday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a number of military points in the Damascus countryside.” The source added: “Our air defenses repelled the aggression’s missiles and shot down some of them.” The source noted that the aggression caused only material losses. Source: SANA

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made a phone call to Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Saudi Press Agency said early Tuesday. The Crown Prince congratulated Putin on being re-elected for a new presidential term. Putin thanked the crown prince for his noble feelings. “The call stressed distinguished bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields,” the SPA reported. Earlier, King Salman and the Crown Prince sent separate cables congratulating the Russian president. Source: Arab News

DHAHRAN: Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser today emphasized the need for a new, realistic pathway for the energy transition that includes oil and gas. In a keynote speech at CERAWeek 2024 in Houston, Texas, Nasser said the current transition strategy “is visibly failing on most fronts as it collides with five hard realities.”

Tokyo is reviewing its decision to suspend funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the Japanese foreign minister said. “You mentioned several countries already starting refunding of UNRWA, and I understand that each country has their own situation and considerations,” Yoko Kamikawa told reporters at UN headquarters in New York on Monday. “Japan is also discussing and reviewing our response to the situation with a great sense of urgency,” she added, Anadolu Agency reported. Israeli authorities have accused some of UNRWA’s employees in Gaza of taking part in the Palestinian resistance forces’ Oct. 7 attack on occupied Palestinian…

Contracts with domestic energy firms are aimed at boosting daily production in major fields of the sanctions-hit country

Saudi Arabia has urged UNESCO to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The appeal was made by Fahd bin Mayouf Al-Ruwaili, the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France and the Principality of Monaco and permanent representative of the Kingdom to UNESCO. Al-Ruwaili led the Kingdom’s delegation at the 219th session of UNESCO’s executive board meeting in Paris, which ends on March 27, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Kingdom’s delegation took part in the opening session, with the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, and other national bodies participating. In his speech, Al-Ruwaili highlighted Saudi Arabia’s ongoing…

Crude prices soared to $86 per barrel on Monday, hitting a four-month high, with industry experts attributing the surge to China’s strong economic data and Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.