Something feels different at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, and not just the unseasonably mild weather in the Alpine ski resort of Davos. There was a distinct sense of something missing, many of the delegates agreed.

As millions around the world celebrate the birth of Christ, we — at Arab News — take this opportunity to wish all our Christian readers, both in Saudi Arabia and abroad, a Merry Christmas.

And so the curtain falls on Qatar 2022, indisputably one of the most dramatic World Cups in football history — both on and off the pitch!

No sooner had the OPEC+ oil producers’ alliance decided last week to reduce output in November by 2 million barrels per day, than a barrage of criticism from Washington was homing in on its target like a heat-seeking missile — and that target was, of course, Saudi Arabia.

And so US President Joe Biden concludes his visit to Jeddah. As Air Force One took off and began to vanish over the horizon, so did long weeks of unprecedented speculation, cynicism and second guessing.

US President Biden Joe Biden arrives in Saudi Arabia this week at the invitation of King Salman. In Jeddah on Friday he will meet the king and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and attend an extraordinary meeting of the six GCC states plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.