#Saudi Aramco news

[biglisbonnews]

Circular Cities Summit Launches Global Circular Cities Network Pillared By World Professional Organisations Aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SINGAPORE, September 14, 2023 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ -- The inaugural Circular Cities Summit 1.0 (CCS), themed “Game-Changing Innovations for Future Cities” will be held in Singapore … https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/655655225/circular-cities-summit-launches-global-circular-cities-network-pillared-by-world-professional-organisations

[untilthenexttee]

(via Next Tee News - February 19th, 2024 (Off-Weeks, Saudi International, That Logo, and a Beaver)

[shreemetalprices12]

Saudi Aramco intends to capitalise on China’s expanding energy demand by investing 10 billion dollar in a petrochemical & refining complex over the following 3 years.

[umseb]

The Day Sebastian Vettel Decided To Retire From F1 — Then Annoyed Aston Bosses With Climate Campaign

Two years ago, Sebastian Vettel decided to bring an end to his glittering F1 career, so picked up the phone to Matt Bishop, then Aston Martin comms boss. He details the ensuing scramble and Vettel's increasing determination to speak out

Just over two years ago, on Wednesday July 27, 2022, I was forced to do something that I really hate doing: at the eleventh hour I had to cancel a long-standing dinner arrangement with my husband and two of our dearest friends, who live in New York and were on holiday in London for a week. The reason was that, at 5 pm that afternoon, I received a phone call from Sebastian Vettel telling me that he had decided to announce his retirement from Formula 1 in the Hungarian Grand Prix paddock the following day. I was Aston Martin's chief communications officer at the time, and, when something as big as that is sprung on a Formula 1 team's most senior comms/PR operative, he or she has to drop everything and focus on briefing colleagues in confidence, writing press releases, planning social media content, arranging press conferences, and formulating comms/PR strategies designed to optimise the management of a tricky news narrative that in this case would surely unfold rapidly, and perhaps also trickily, over the next 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. I have written above that Vettel had "sprung" his decision on me, but, although the imminence of his announcement was a surprise, its content was not. Four months earlier you will recall that he did not travel to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, since he was recovering from a bout of Covid-19. His place was taken by Nico Hülkenberg, who, despite race-rustiness caused by his not having competed in F1 the previous year, did a typically excellent job.

Seb had made no secret of his disapproval of the Saudi regime when we had all gone there the first time, in December 2021, and, not surprisingly, in March 2022 rumours soon began to spread to the effect that he had invented a Covid-19 diagnosis so as to avoid racing there a second time. The truth was that he had indeed had Covid-19, and that he was indeed still unwell; however, was he disappointed to have had to skip the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix? No, he was not. Two weeks later, in Melbourne, he was back. On the Thursday before the Australian Grand Prix, in the Albert Park paddock, I gave him his comms/PR briefing, as was my habit on the Thursday before every grand prix. We discussed media matters of moment, including his not having raced in Jeddah. "The truth is that I was ill, honestly," he said, "but I admit that I don't like or approve of the country, so if I was going to have to miss a race because of Covid-19 that's probably the one I'd want to miss." He paused, smiled, and added, "I'm pretty sure I'm never going to race there again." Then and there I realised that 2022 would probably be his final season as an F1 driver. Not only was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix going to be a fixture on the F1 calendar for years to come, but also one of Aston Martin's principal sponsors was Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned national oil company. Missing that particular race without a 24-carat excuse would henceforth therefore be impossible for any Aston Martin driver. So, axiomatically, it followed that the only way he could make sure that he would never have to race there again would be to retire from F1 at the end of the year.

On the morning of Thursday, July 28, 2022, having worked until 3 am the night before, my comms/PR team and I issued a video in which our much loved four-time world champion announced his F1 retirement in his own words, and he posted it on his then brand-new Instagram channel at the same time. It included the following sentences, which he spoke with his usual eloquence: "I love this sport but, as much as there's life on track, there's also life off track. Being a racing driver has never been my sole identity. I want to be a great father and a great husband. I believe in change, and progress, and that every little bit you do can make a difference. We all have the same rights, no matter where we come from, what we look like, or whom we love. I'm an optimist and I believe that people are good, but, in addition, I feel that we live in very difficult times. How we shape the next few years will determine the rest of our lives. Talk is not enough. We can't afford to wait. I believe that there's still a race to win." The race to which he was referring was his growing and accelerating commitment to doing whatever he could to leverage his fame and popularity for the good of the inhabitants of planet Earth. That may sound grandiose, but it is also entirely valid. In the two years during which I worked with him, 2021 and 2022, we won awards for the inspirational way in which he did just that.

Just before the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, helped by local schoolchildren, he created an F1 car-shaped 'bee hotel' at the Red Bull Ring. Three weeks later, straight after the British Grand Prix, in which he had raced hard for forty laps until his Aston Martin's Mercedes engine had terminally overheated, he led a group of volunteer litter-pickers to clear the Silverstone grandstands of the trash that irresponsible spectators had left behind. A month after that, in Hungary, infuriated by that country's new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, he wore rainbow-coloured sneakers in the F1 paddock, and he donned a similarly hued T-shirt bearing the legend #SameLove as he took the knee on the grid before the race. Throughout the weekend he had talked to journalists and TV crews intelligently, thoughtfully, and compassionately on the subject of LGBTQ+ rights, equality, and inclusion. In May 2022 he visited and spoke inspirationally at HMP (Her, or now His, Majesty's Prison) Feltham, a young offenders institution in a suburb of west London, formally opening a new workshop in which the teenage inmates could learn how to become car mechanics as part of their rehabilitation. Immediately afterwards he and I took a South Western Railways train to London's Waterloo Station, sitting among regular commuters, so that he could spend time with the pupils of Oasis Johanna Primary School, which is in a disadvantaged part of inner London, and after that we went by Uber taxi to a church in Hackney, in the East End, where the BBC's prestigious political television talk show Question Time would be filmed. As the TV cameras rolled, he conversed fluently on the subjects of Brexit, the UK's cost of living crisis, the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 'partygate' shenanigans, and even Finland's desire to join NATO, consummately out-arguing one of his fellow panellists, Suella Braverman, who was then the Attorney General for England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

In addition, as the months went by, he continued to speak out in support of what he saw as humankind's collective global responsibility to address the climate crisis, doing so with increasing regularity, vehemence, and fearlessness, with the result that he began to irritate the very most senior people at Aston Martin, even though what he said tended to please most journalists and fans. "I don’t care," he said when he learned of his big bosses' disquiet. "I must do what's right." Behind the scenes what he did was perhaps even more admirable. F1 teams receive communications from troubled people all the time. You try to do what you can to help them, but sometimes their difficulties are of the type that human kindness alone cannot resolve. I am thinking of recently bereaved people, terminally ill people, profoundly disabled people, people with debilitating mental health issues, etc. Sometimes all you can do is send them a team cap signed by a driver. It is not much, and it breaks your heart that you cannot do more, but it is better than nothing.

Yet Vettel always tried to do more. On one occasion, I had been contacted by a young man who was deeply depressed. I told Seb about him, and he said, "Let's do a Zoom call with him." So I arranged it. I had thought that Seb might speak for five minutes or so, but no. He chatted animatedly for more than twenty minutes, with touching humility and heart-warming empathy, and I feel confident when I say that those twenty-odd minutes were significant in expediting the lad's mental and emotional recovery. A few months later, Seb hand-wrote the boy a four page letter. He gave it to me at a grand prix-I cannot remember which one-and he instructed me to post it on when I returned to the UK. I read it before I did so, and the tenderness and beauty of Seb's prose brought me to tears. There are many other examples of his remarkable generosity and sensitivity: too many to mention, in fact. This column has been about Vettel the man, not Vettel the driver. He was fast and clever in the cockpit, and I may well write about that side of him one day. I could write much more about Vettel the man, too, for I have dozens of stories that I could tell on that subject, because I worked very closely with him for two years and, more importantly, because he is a truly great man. In my long career I am lucky enough to have spent time in F1 teams with four world champions-Seb, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Jenson Button-and they are all fantastic guys in their own, very different, ways. But, in my 61 years on this planet, I can state with confident and emphatic certainty that Sebastian Vettel, from the small town of Heppenheim, south-west Germany, is one of the most impressive people whom I have ever had the pleasure and honour to know, whether that be inside or outside F1. As he is fond of saying, "You can't always be the best, but you can always do your best." As a maxim to live by, it is hard to beat.

article by matt bishop

[and-loth-cat]

My Childhood Best Friend is from Palestine

I spent three years of my life in Saudi Arabia. My dad worked for Aramco as a pilot, and we lived in a compound right along the Persian Gulf.

There were kids from all over the world at my school, the school even had an International Day assembly where everyone would represent their countries. It was an amazing experience getting to know people from across the globe, and some of my closest friends were from India, Pakistan, and Indonesia. But the one friend I still talk to to this day, almost 6 years after I moved, is from Palestine.

From my understanding, she is safe and living in Jordan currently, but my heart can't help but ache whenever I hear about what is happening to her country. She loved where she was from, and she was proud to be a Palestinian. I think about her every time I see more news about what's being done to her people, and my heart aches for her.

Last night, I had a dream about her, about Palestine. She looked so heartbroken, but she was fighting for her people. As Israel began to bomb Rafah (currently happening right now), she was there, helping her people get out and to safety. I remember something about crossing into Egypt for safety, and just narrowly avoiding the IOF.

At one point, after the IOF killed or pushed out everyone in the town and kicked them all out of Palestine, there was this moment of despair. The country was lost, and my friend was so distraught. However, the Palestinians rose up and began fighting back. I remember seeing a map that slowly began to show Palestine's control spreading North, with the civilians rising up and fighting for their freedom.

I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but I believe it had a happy ending for Palestine.

Unfortunately, I woke up, and the Palestinians are still suffering as I type this. Cities are being bombed, and the IOF will do anything to ensure a full genocide will play out. People are dying, innocent civilians who lived in a beautiful country are losing their lives for no reason.

This has to end.

Contact your reps, donate to organizations helping Palestine, and spread awareness.

Ceasefire now.

[saintescuderia]

welcome to the mini series of the random, mindless thoughts had by a poet disguised in an orange jumpsuit watching cars speed by all weekend. enjoy!

--- note: 5am starts, 7pm finishes. all four days. gotta love formula 1!

thursday: media day!

i want the ferrari jacket

there are school kids here?

i don’t want the ferrari jacket

$7 for a small can of red bull is THEFT

especially since they broke the cost cap

me walking through the “accredited personnel” gate and tapping my special lanyard is a CORE memory

i think my uber driver dropped me off on the opposite side of the track

*stressing about being unable to admire the sights of albert park bc i’m stress-running from the opposite end of the track to my station*

pls don’t be a dick and say i’m late - i know

how is a 5am wake up not early enough HOW?

“last year i was stationed at the corner where charles spun out.”

sole thought = 💀💀💀💀

i. fucking. love. cars.

the whole SENSORY experience of a race ffffffffffffuuuuuck

“be careful taking pictures because that security camera is on us and is straight to race control and the FIA.” is such a cool sentence to hear

a porsche gtr should not be covered with branding idc

i’m definitely going to abuse caffeine this weekend

friday: FP1 / FP2

the sun is rising over the lake as i walk on the albert park track and i’m happy to be alive

especially as i found a toilet that isn’t a port-a-loo

ah, a cafe that does good decent coffee thank GOD

am i going to pay $10 for a croissant?

i'm going to pay $10 for a croissant.

i lived in paris but this one fresh lune choc croissant has topped it all

no like there will never be another croissant experience to beat me eating a fresh pain au chocolat on a f1 circuit as the sun rises over the water with the melbourne skyline in the background

aramco engineers are walking behind me as i shit talk about f1, nice

“it is an increasingly unique experience peeing in a port-a-loo beside a formula one track as cars race by.”

120’000 is a LOT of people

how has the float not broken yet?

metro boomin has released an album as i stand before live formula one. life has PEAKED

fernando alonso is the first F1 driver i ever saw live

there is a shift in formula one as the heritage fans of motor racing are on the out as the next generation of fans absorbed in driver hype and social media takes over and we see this in how F1 has created the new US tracks and made them all into spectacles and fans are here because of it being “cool” instead of caring about cars

… maybe i should buy the redbull jacket instead?

bonus: sole thought during the pitlane walk for the marshals

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

saturday: FP3 / qualifying

the relief of thinking you’re late and then seeing someone you know HA

commentators are now contractually obligated to bring up saudi arabia every time they talk about ollie bearman

jesus they’re as bad as the f1 girlies

i have to watch the grand prix replay after all of this i have no idea what’s actually going on

CHARLES GOES FASTER THAN MAX HA

kimi spinning out has me actively wanting to cry

a safety car FROM THE PIT EXIT

welcome to F2 everyone 👏👏👏

not me lying to the cute irish guy hitting on me about @saintescuderia

a big fat ha at the eshays holding their puffer jackets - even they can’t stand the heat

don’t flex on me that you’re here at F1 when you don’t even know what’s going on yourself bruhhhh

to the red bull fan telling me i’m “dramatic” for rolling under the fence (it’s how marshals have to do it) pls get help

$7 for a calispo is a JOKE

recording F1 quali isn’t even worth it bc they're TOO FAST

JOKES I GOT A PHOTO WITH ALBONO

i’m very lucky for my team of marshals :))))))))))

i’m only going to eat half my muffin

*finishes the whole thing*

sunday: race!

KIMI ANTONELLI!

do i ask for a photo?

*every photo of charles leclerc being abused flashes through my mind*

nah leave him be

five minutes later: i regret not asking him

the group of aussies dressed as lance stroll drunk at 9am have my heart and my respect

i need a coffee

seeing kimi walk right by me has now made so much invested for f2

i really need a coffee

yep they screwed kimi with all those safety cars

i really, really need a coffee

we get to go ON TRACK? for the DRIVERS PARADE

*starts practicing “get well soon” in spanish*

my heart is BEATING

lol jokes carlos didn’t even look at us

*checks footage to see that i accidentally just recorded guanyu zhou next to carlos the whole time :))))*

lol are they putting lewis and charles together all the time?

every marshal: “that was the shittest parade ever.”

i need a drink

pls don’t talk to me for the next two hours

don't meet your heroes kids

but also why the fuck did they do the float in one big car? and do INTERVIEWS? this is legit the one time the drivers can be there JUST for the FANS

F1 can PISS OFF

race start = okay it's happening

waitwaitwaitwaitWAITDIDIJUSTSEECARLOSOVERTAKEMAX?!

nevermind i love him

"race control has asked that you calm down, marshals are supposed to be neutral."

lol at the entirety of albert cheering that max is slowly coming to a DNF

mclaren swapping oscar for lando is DISGUSTING fuck zak brown

somehow, i've forgotten that charles is just there

SEND IT CARLOS VAmos

(this is all because i told you que te mejores pronto!)

daniel ricciardo....man..... aus gp can't market you like this.......

damn yuki got HANDS

ferrari and mclaren having the top 4 places is just *chefs kiss*

lewis just had to stall just pass my sector like i hope ur okay but couldn't u not be ok in front of me?

red bull deserves this after all the FLACK i've copped from red bulls fans ("dramatic" MY ASS)

wait george russell ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

singapore all over again. i can already see the memes.

somehow marshalling a gp has you closer and more removed from the whole thing i have no idea what's going on

(literally the only time i used my F1TV live timing)

finishing after the safety car means i can't stick my head out and clap for carlos FUCK OFF

wait, he came up right UP TO MY SIDE OF THE TRACK TO WAVE

... do you think he noticed me?

[dog-park-dissidents]

holy shit new music !! may i ask which man the new song is about 👁

Out With A Bang is a work of fiction and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. On a completely unrelated note, here is a list of interesting actual persons who are alive today and have real names and addresses:

Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, TotalEnergies Helge Lund, Chairman, BP Bernard Looney, CEO, BP Amin H. Nasser, CEO, Saudi Aramco Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Chairman, Saudi Aramco Zhang Yuzhuou, Chairman, China Petrochemical Mike Wirth, CEO, Chevron Viktor Zubkov, Chairman, Gazprom Alexey Miller, CEO, Gazprom Javad Owji, Chairman, National Iranian Oil Company Ken Mackenzie, Chairperson, BHP Billiton Mike Henry, CEO, BHP Billiton PM Prasad, Chairman, Coal India Octavio Romero Oropeza, CEO, Pemex Jim Grech, CEO, Peabody Energy Ryan Lance, CEO, ConocoPhillips Sultan Al Jaber, CEO, ADNOC Jean Paul Prates, CEO, Petrobras Nawaf Saud Nasser Al-Sabah, CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Toufik Hakkar, CEO, Sonatrach John P Surma, CEO, Marathon Petroleum Joseph Gorder, CEO, Valero Greg Garland, CEO, Phillips 66 Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, President, Pertamina

[reigningmax]

Have you seen this website? https://redbullgivesputinwings.com

I simply don't understand how you are not tired of copy and pasting the SAME MESSAGE so many times now to any blog that shows positivity towards Max.

Max is not responsible for where Redbull the fizzy drink is sold. Nor does he have the power to stop it from getting sold anywhere. Redbull athletes are EVERYWHERE, and not a single one is going to slam the company that's giving them a chance at achieving their goals. This is sports, not the UN, it's not happening.

If you're gonna go full tumblr girlie social justice warrior about Formula 1, then bud I have news for you about every single sponsor of these teams. Monster energy drink is still sold in Russia. Petronas had a hand in literal civil wars and multiple international crimes, Aramco is owned by Saudi princes who are literal murderers, and the list continues.

This is a shitty sport built on shitty politics and not a single person involved is a good person. No one. I know all of you Westerners love to only care about human rights in the west, but instead of being SO mad about an energy drink sold in Russia, maybe look at the big bads in the middle east and north Africa too! What do you think you sending us all the same fucking link over and over is gonna do huh????

[biglisbonnews]

“Accelerating Equity – Environmental justice in the transition to fleet electrification” Edison Energy to host Virtual Impact RoundTable on August 17 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, August 8, 2023 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ -- Edison Energy will hold a virtual roundtable on Thursday, Aug. 17, on the electrification of transportation, and … https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/648718056/accelerating-equity-environmental-justice-in-the-transition-to-fleet-electrification

[untilthenexttee]

Next Tee News - February 19th, 2024 (Off-Weeks, Saudi International, That Logo, and a Beaver

In this episode of Next Tee News, your golf summary for the week in three minutes or less, I delve into the week that was. Patty, Hideki, Tiger, and a Beaver oh my! Until The Next Tee!! #fightandgrind #seeuonthenexttee

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports?

to start with the most concerning and serious point: there has been a complaint to the FIA Compliance Officer and Ethics Committee when Ben Sulayem came out to say they won't be stepping into the allegations of Horner's workplace misconduct because they didn't receive any official complaints, another one came in a few days after (with a warning that media will get the information next) and apparently the victim handed in her own official complaint (as a reminder this comes after reports of Sulayem being investigated for trying to influence the race result and a circuit confirmation last year and allegedly also asking Max Verstappen to publicly support Horner)

Ben Sulayem has also been cleared off the allegations (both over the Saudi Arabia 2023 results overrule and Las Vegas GP intervence)

Guanyu will have his own short documentary called The First One (probably about being the first Chinese driver on the F1 grid)

Alex posted his own merch line, debuting on his app first

Williams will run Alex, Logan and Lia Block (and even James Vowles) at Goodwill - first time in an F1 car for both Lia and James

Pierre made a new investment decision, he now has shares in French football team FC Versailles (in a similar move that the US investors made for Alpine)

there are rumours of Aramco trying to take over Aston Martin and get both Max and Adrian Newey in the team (the source is Formulauno tho)

F1 won't switch to 16 inches tyres like was originally planned for 2026 regulations (they will keep using 18 inches ones but their shape and sizing will be a bit different)

Monaco this year will feature a special floating platform

Este was at some sort of F1 podcast and he mentioned that he raced in F3 against Max and won the title, but it was Max who got a seat in F1 despite finishing p3 (and apparently that made a lot of Max fans angry)

Mercedes are still battling the lack of correspondence between sim and track data, the rumours say they might try some experiments in Australia and potentially push back some scheduled upgrades until they collect more data

GB4 will fund an F1 Academy seat for the highest placed female driver in the series

Guenther Steiner became an F1 columnist (among other things he mentioned he would hire Ollie Bearman and that he should have left Haas much sooner)

Barcelona's circuit invested 50m euros to try to keep them on the race calendar beyond 2026 when Madrid joins

there are rumours that if Max really goes to Mercedes, Toto Wolff has a deal with James Vowles to take Kimi Antonelli in the team

Riccardo Adami said he is ready to be Lewis' race engineer in Ferrari in 2025 (which is not really a piece of news but a lot of people expected Bono to follow Lewis - which despite the anti-poaching clause - can still happen at some point)

Carlos will meet FIA doctors and complete cockpit escaping test on Thursday to see if he is fit to drive in Australia after his surgery, but Ferrari claimed he is ready to race

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber will be called Kick Sauber this week due to Australian policy

Felipe Drugovich signed with LMP2 team but will also keep the Aston Martin reserve driver role

Simone Resta will join Mercedes after being let go off from Haas where he was on loan from Ferrari

Enrico Sampo will also join them as a Head of Performance Software Applications, and it is understood they hope he could help with correlation issues between sim data and on track data (although he will only start in the new position in 2025)

Nikita Mazepin appealed against the sanctions from European Union (because of ties to Russian government), the Court of Justice lifted the sanctions

Lewis posted about Palestine and rightfully calls for immediate and permanent ceasefire

Williams partnered with Sungood as official eyewear partner (after they already have a sponsorship deal with McLaren)

from fan's point of view:

Charles went surfing in Melbourne, and then he went karting

Lewis changed his Instagram icon

it was Mike Krack's birthday yesterday, sorry I missed it king!

(also a fun fact: it was also Prince Albert II.'s 66th birthday a few days ago)

Ollie was asked about Le Mans and said he would take Lewis and Charles and if they don't win, it is his own fault

Oscar was a face of last Esquire issue

apparently there are rumours of George being engaged (how do people come up with stuff like this. no idea.)

Daniel showed a special helmet design for his gp

there is apparently a whole google doc with updated drivers locations??? get help

Alex and Oscar have been the latest hosts on Beyond The Grid episodes

racing results:

Formula E was back on this past weekend with Sam Bird winning for the first time in FE, Mitch Evans in p2 (after getting overtaken on last lap), and Oliver Rowland in p3

[fatehbaz]

Arizona’s Sonoran desert and the Arabian desert [...] are directly linked. [...]

The dairy company Almarai that bought that alfalfa farm in Arizona in 2014 is actually headquartered just outside Riyadh, in a place called Al Kharj. This had been a favorite spot for the first Saudi king Abdulaziz, or Ibn Saud. He tried to set it up as a royal farm in the 1930s and he eventually pulled in Aramco (then the Arabian-American Oil Company, and now Saudi Aramco) to manage the operations. But in the early 1940s, an American geologist Karl S Twitchell (who had spent some of his early years mining in Arizona) convinced the US government to fund his 1942 Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, ultimately aiming to develop the Al Kharj farms and curry favor with King Ibn Saud. This lay the groundwork for another US government-funded mission to send a team of Arizona farmers Al Kharj, with the idea that they could bring their special desert expertise to expand the farm and modernize Saudi agriculture.

The State Department also organized several royal family visits to tour Arizona agriculture -- first in 1943 by princes Faisal and Khalid (both of whom would later become kings of Saudi Arabia) and then in 1947 by Crown Prince Saud al-Saud (who would also become king).

And this second visit to Arizona was pivotal in kicking off Saudi Arabia’s dairy industry in the early 1950s; when Crown Prince Saud became King Saud and took over the Al Kharj farm, he insisted on getting a “Grade A dairy” (as he called it) like what he had seen in Arizona.

Flash forward many decades and a shocking regime of state agricultural subsidies, and it is precisely this early home of Saudi dairy that Almarai and its nearly 100,000 cows are based.

This kind of circularity [...] -- a seemingly modern point of connection actually having much deeper roots. [...]

---

When American settlers and the US military first started to colonize the place that we now know as Arizona after it was acquired in 1848, they really did not know how to deal with the desert environment. But early advocates of US expansionism thought that they could use ideas and approaches from the “Old World” deserts of the Middle East (including farming techniques, plants, and animals, etc.) to conquer the American “New World” deserts. [...] [There was a] wide-ranging political, scientific, military, and cultural system that was needed for American[s] [...] to take over this territory and build US empire domestically. [...] So as US empire started to expand beyond North America, Euro-American settlers and their descendants learned that they could sell this desert expertise abroad, and started to build new colonial networks in the Middle East around the stories of their common arid lands experiences. [...] [It] is not just about domestic empire-building, but is also about US empire-building in the Arabian Peninsula since the mid-1900s. [...]

[T]he “desert” becomes a narrative resource.

In this sense, it is less about the physical characteristics of desert environments and more about how people breathe life into their stories of the desert and how they put these stories to work through a constellation of desires and beliefs about deserts. [...]

[T]hink about Gulf geopolitics beyond mainstream approaches [...], and [...] examine the role of science, expertise, and techno-futures in building and bolstering state power [...]. [T]he University of Arizona could not just sell a prestigious brand-name. Instead, to get an edge, they relied on selling their stories about the desert and their special arid lands expertise. But [...] this was something that had been going on for over one hundred years.

---

Words of: Natalie Koch. From the transcript of an interview published as: “Natalie Koch, Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia (New Texts Out Now).” Published online by Jadaliyya. 17 May 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[velvetsainz]

okay i gotta say it: foisting alphatauri's renaming as a great tragedy of capitalism upon formula 1 racing & motorsport in general is...a bit much. especially in a sport that has been a very frequent and early adopter of sportswashing? baby, they happily race in places that have less-than-stellar current human rights records BECAUSE OF THE MONEY. it has nothing to do with attendance. you think bahrain and qatar are major ticket sellers and people were truly clamoring for races there? NO, OF COURSE NOT. it's b/c their governments poured hundreds of millions of dollars (if not more) of government money into f1 and the FIA in the name of sanitizing their nation's image in light of ongoing reports of abhorrent treatment of migrant workers and violent action against other groups inside and outside of their countries. (does really no one remember the 2022 saudia arabian gp? the fact the drivers HAD to race—despite close proximity of the track to a recent missile strike site—for fear that they wouldn't have been allowed to leave by the saudi government? no one? just me?) saudi arabia, bahrain, qatar, the uae, and azerbijan are important current examples, but this is by no means new for the sport; india, malaysia, apartheid south africa, china (which may be returning to the calendar this year—it remains to be seen if the race will actually happen), russia, peronist argentina, and turkey have all held races previously with similar intentions.

and if you want to talk about sponsors, let's actually go after the sponsors that are truly problematic. aston martin ARAMCO. mercedes-amg PETRONAS. camel, marlboro (and philip morris, in general, including their "mission winnow" shell project), orlen, shell, agip, uralkali, ftx (along with other crypto companies), among a plethora of historic sponsors.

listen: i'm not saying that the "visa cashapp racing bulls" (or "stake f1 team kick sauber", for that matter) is a great name for a team—or even a good one—but there are much bigger, much worse issues in the sport that need more attention and more concern than a shitty team name or two.

[mariacallous]

In the not-too-distant past, Saudi Arabia would have cherished the opportunity for a joint U.S.-U.K. strike targeting Houthi strongholds. After all, Riyadh fought a brutal war against the group for almost a decade. But today, a Western offensive on the Yemeni group is precisely the opposite of what Riyadh wants as it conducts a delicate peace negotiation with the Houthi leadership to extricate itself from Yemen and, it hopes, permanently protect itself from cross-border attacks.

As temperatures rise in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia has therefore chosen to stay out of the conflict. Instead, the lines of communication between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis are staying open as Riyadh avoids overtly siding with Washington, lest it become the target of attacks. For now, this strategy seems to be working—but the larger question remains about whether this will guarantee Saudi Arabia’s protection in the long term.

Early on Jan. 12, U.S. and British warplanes targeted dozens of Houthi military sites in Yemen. A day later, Washington launched new raids on Houthi positions, targeting command centers, ammunition stores, missile launch systems, and drones. Vowing to take revenge, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned container ship on Jan. 15. (Washington retaliated again on Jan. 16.)

These strikes followed two months of Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which the rebels claim demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis say that these strikes are limited to ships affiliated with Israel; in practice, they have targeted any vessels within range. At least 50 countries have been affected by the nearly 30 Houthi attacks on international shipping so far.

It did not take long for most of the world’s leading container-shipping companies to announce decisions to avoid the Red Sea, a vital waterway leading to the Suez Canal, which handles approximately 15 percent of the world’s shipping traffic and as much as one-third of all global container trade.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent Middle East tour was intended to pressure regional actors to keep the conflict in Gaza contained. However, Persian Gulf capitals know the Houthis—and their limited leverage over them—well, and they did not respond with much. In another attempt, the United States urged the Saudis to take the Red Sea crisis into consideration in their peace talks with the rebels and slow down their negotiations.

Nonetheless, both the Houthis and Riyadh opted to continue their discussions, preferring not to let the Red Sea crisis interfere with their progress. Following the U.S.-British strikes, the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed its “great concern” and called for “self-restraint” to avoid an escalation.

Riyadh simply doesn’t have the appetite to embroil itself in another intractable conflict with the Houthis. The kingdom has learned from past lessons through dealing with the rebels militarily and is acutely aware that it risks falling directly in the line of fire.

The 2019 Aramco attacks that were claimed by the Houthis—which targeted two major oil installations and forced the kingdom to temporarily shut down half of its oil production—marked a turning point. This was due to the United States’ lack of response. Feeling betrayed by the Americans, Riyadh quickly recalibrated its foreign policy in the years that followed, seeking diplomatic solutions to its regional headaches instead of relying on Washington to come to its rescue.

These days, Riyadh is instead keeping dialogue open with Iran. A day prior to the strikes on Yemen, Saudi  Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan was contacted by his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The last thing that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, needs is an escalation that disrupts the crucial years leading up to the much-anticipated Vision 2030, an extensive reform plan intended to diversify the national economy. Consequently, the kingdom opted to stay silent amid the Red Sea crisis, hoping that its communication channels with Iran—via a China-brokered deal announced in spring 2023—and the Houthis will shield it from regional turmoil and future Houthi attacks.

These new communication lines are not aimed at stopping Houthi actions in the Red Sea; rather, they are a pragmatic part of a wider effort to isolate the kingdom from any regional escalation, regardless of the circumstances. So far, the strategy appears to be working, and Riyadh has not been targeted. Indeed, part of Saudi Arabia’s decision not to join the U.S.-led maritime coalition against the Houthis is influenced by its experience of bearing the brunt of Iran-U.S. tensions.

Saudi Arabia’s number one priority is protecting itself. The kingdom wants a swift exit from Yemen’s war, and it won’t let the West’s latest spat with the rebels mess this up. Since 2021, negotiations with the Houthis—facilitated by Oman—have been snowballing. Riyadh has finally reached a point of effective communication with the rebels, something that took years to achieve. Hence, Saudi Arabia judges that it is not worthwhile to jeopardize this relationship—which the Saudis see as sufficient to protect themselves from Houthi attacks—just to support the U.S. operations in the Red Sea.

If anything, the recent escalation provided Saudi Arabia with additional incentives to finalize an agreement as soon as possible. Toward the end of November, Riyadh presented a draft proposal to the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, intended to lay the groundwork for future U.N.-led talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthis. Part of the agreement reportedly includes a buffer zone to protect Saudi Arabia’s borders, a top priority for the kingdom.

Riyadh is also feeling smug. The kingdom has long warned Washington about the dangers of the Houthis acquiring more advanced drone capabilities and gaining control of areas close to the Red Sea, but in their eyes, received only lackluster responses. Hence, Saudi Arabia is questioning why it should assist the same Western partners that have spent years criticizing it for its brutal war against the Houthis.

Now that Washington is in the Houthis’ firing line, Riyadh sees no reason to join it there.

But Saudi Arabia’s calculus could be mistaken. A final peace agreement has not yet been secured; what exists is merely a fragile understanding that could collapse at any moment. There is nothing stopping the Houthis from targeting the kingdom—in the Red Sea or its borders—in the future, absent an official peace agreement.

The likelihood of this possibility only increases as the situation escalates. The rebels themselves admit in private that Riyadh’s protection hinges on their decision not to engage in the wider spat. The Houthis are aware of Saudi Arabia’s weak point—its border—and can exploit this whenever they see fit. Just hours after the second spate of strikes made by the United States, the Houthis conducted a military maneuver along the Saudi border, serving as a warning to the kingdom about the potential consequences of siding with the United States.

Complicating matters further, if and when Riyadh decides to resume normalization talks with Israel, the kingdom could once again become a prime target for the rebels. The Houthis have not shied away from voicing their criticism of the Abraham Accords—the U.S.-brokered deal that normalized relations between Israel and some Arab nations in 2020—and this issue has been central to their critique of the United Arab Emirates.

Should Saudi Arabia proceed with normalization talks, there’s a strong possibility that the Houthis might shift the goal posts and declare their intent to target any nation perceived as aligned with Israel, using it as justification to extract further concessions from the Saudis on the peace talks. What is for certain is that Riyadh will need to resume talks with Israel while being mindful of potential future targeting by the rebels.

In an ideal world for the warring sides, their peace talks would remain compartmentalized from the Red Sea crisis. But this is not the reality of today. The region is quickly heating up, and more actors are entering into the fray by the minute that could altogether threaten Yemen’s fragile peace process. If the United States opts for nonmilitary approaches—such as designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization—Houthi participation in future U.N.-led peace talks will be compromised, raising the specter of reigniting the local conflict in Yemen and thus ending the de facto truce.

On the other hand, if the United States and Britain continue to strike Yemen, the Houthis could escalate further, as they have threatened to do, by targeting U.S. military bases in the region, including in Bahrain or even in Gulf capitals that they see as aligning with Israel. At the very least, such attacks would completely derail peace talks and force the Saudis to act, plunging Yemen into a much more complex regional war.

Overall, there are no favorable options left for Saudi Arabia in Yemen. While the strategy of compartmentalizing the two issues has succeeded in protecting Riyadh thus far, this is only a temporary bandage absent an official peace agreement. The future of Yemen’s conflict is now inextricably linked to the upheaval in the Red Sea, and the country’s peace process must now take this uncomfortable reality into consideration.

[f1]

Fernando Alonso is reinstated to third at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FIA reverses penalty decision

Fernando Alonso is reinstated to third at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FIA reverses decision to hand Aston Martin driver a retrospective 10-second penalty Fernando Alonso finished third in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday He was then dropped to fourth after it was ruled his team had worked on the car while he was serving a five-second penalty His team successfully argued there were examples of others not being penalised By Press Association Reporter Published: 19:35 EDT, 19 March 2023 | Updated: 19:35 EDT, 19 March 2023 Fernando Alonso has been handed back his third place at Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. More than three hours after the 41-year-old was controversially stripped of his 100th career podium, following a retrospective 10-second penalty, the FIA announced it had reversed its decision. Mercedes driver George Russell, who earlier took advantage of Alonso's punishment, was demoted to fourth. Alonso's Aston Martin mechanics were adjudged to have illegally touched the Spaniard's car with the jack as he served a five-second sanction for a start infringement.  But Aston Martin were able to show the stewards video evidence of seven previous incidents where cars had been touched by the jack as drivers served similar penalties, forcing the FIA into a U-turn at 1am local time. A statement from the governing body read: 'Having reviewed the new evidence, we concluded that there was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car, without more. 'In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 (Alonso) needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly.' Earlier, Alonso criticised the FIA for the length of time it took to deliver the punishment for a crime which occurred on lap 18 of 50. 'Today is not good for the fans,' he said, having celebrated his triumph on the rostrum. 'When you have almost 35 laps to apply a penalty and you wait until after the podium, there is something really wrong in the system. 'I feel sorry for the fans. But I really enjoyed the podium, I threw the trophy, I have the pictures, I celebrated with the champagne and now to have 15 points or 12 doesn't change much for me, but it is a little bit sad for the FIA. Common sense needs to come back.' Alonso led the opening handful of laps in Jeddah after he beat pole-sitter Sergio Perez to the first corner. However, before being overtaken by Perez, Alonso was dealt a five-second penalty after he started too far on the left of his grid box. The Spaniard added: 'It was my mistake and I need to pay more attention to that. But they told me you have a five-second penalty, so I pushed harder and I opened up a seven-second gap. 'But in the second stint, there was no investigation, no information, no nothing. If someone told me 'you have a 10-second penalty' I would have opened up 11 seconds. 'It is not fair for George. The Mercedes sponsors would have loved to have been on the podium, but for us it is good. We have our Aramco branding, we have the picture. 'If George was really third in the race, he should have enjoyed the podium and not me, so I feel sorry for George, Mercedes' sponsors and for George's fans.' Share or comment on this article: Fernando Alonso is reinstated to third at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FIA reverses penalty decision via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[unluckyhoneybee]

i think people are protesting out side rbr because redbull the drinks company still sells in russia - i understand the intention but it doesnt make that much sense because they are two seperate companies

f1 has a terrible relationship with human rights anyway (aramco, petronas, kingsoan, racing in saudi, azerbaijan etc…) so i dont think this will achieve anything or even make the news in the uk

Pfffff. F1 and human rights. The never ending story.

I'm not gonna give my opinion because I don't have enough information about what is going on with rbr and Russia and the drink and everything. But yeah, 0 surprises.