Shifting regional winds and foreign policy: Le Monde is out with an opinion piece looking at how recent regional geopolitical events challenged the Kingdom’s philosophy of anchoring regional stability on economic progress. The piece zeroes in on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman adopting a more pragmatic and adaptable foreign policy to handle rising tensions and shifts in power in response to recent regional political upheavals.

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Yesterday’s Spanish Supercopa final in Jeddah also made the rounds in the foreign press, with the New York Times out with a piece outlining the warming relationship between Saudi and Spain, which is spurred by their footballing alliance. Barcelona’s 5-2 victory against Real Madrid marked the fifth time the Supercopa was played on Saudi soil, under a six-year EUR 240 mn agreement inked in 2020.

Speaking of which: The championship might be extending its stay in Saudi, with Spanish football association RFEF reportedly in talks to extend the agreement to 2034 from 2029, Spanish sports outlet DIARIO AS reports.

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