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Saudi Arabia

January 12, 2026

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A pump jack stands near an oil spill at a facility in Venezuela.

Analysis

How Trump’s Venezuela oil grab could test OPEC’s power, Mideast energy models

Over the longer term, Washington’s bid to bring the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves firmly into its orbit raises questions for OPEC's strategy and the outlook for big-spending Gulf producers.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) gestures as he welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman (R) during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

Analysis

Amid Saudi-UAE rivalry, Turkey courts Riyadh without crossing Abu Dhabi

Turkey is moving closer to Saudi Arabia on key regional security files from Yemen to Gaza, while carefully avoiding a rupture with the United Arab Emirates.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos (L) meets with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 8, 2026.

US envoy pushes for Sudan truce in meeting with UAE’s MBZ after talks in Saudi Arabia

Boulos’ meeting in Abu Dhabi follows discussions earlier this week in Riyadh, as the two Gulf countries navigate both Sudan diplomacy and a dispute over Yemen.

SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

Meet Aidarus Zubaidi: Separatist leader at heart of Yemen’s power struggle

Zubaidi’s Southern Transitional Council has experienced massive losses at the hands of the Yemeni government as Saudi Arabia ups its military campaign against the UAE-backed group.

Latest News

Saudi SABIC sells $950M in overseas assets amid global chemicals slump

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Yemen separatists accuse Saudi Arabia of 'betrayal' as pro-Riyadh forces advance

Fighters loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council separatists stand in the back of a pickup struck, bearing the portrait of STC Chief Aidarus al-Zubaidi

Analysis

From Red Sea to Horn of Africa: How Yemen exposed the Saudi-UAE divide

HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, in Riyadh, on Sept. 3, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Oil ministers attend the 176th meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference and the 6th meeting of the OPEC and non-OPEC countries on July 1, 2019 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf oil exporters cautiously optimistic for 2021

A new COVID-19 strain and the possible return of Iranian crude to global markets could inflict “short-term pains” to Gulf oil producers whose local populations hold on to the oil era.

Trump administration weighs immunity for Saudi crown prince

Saad al-Jabri alleged that Mohammed bin Salman has led an attempt to lure him back to the kingdom and kill him.

US show of force in Persian Gulf ahead of anniversary of Soleimani killing

A guided-missile submarine and two cruisers are the Pentagon's latest warning to Iran.

Saudi passengers observe a safe distance as they wait their fligts at terminal 5 in the King Fahad International Airport, designated for domestic flights, in the capital Riyadh on May 31, 2020, after authorities lifted the ban on flights within the country. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia pauses international umrah, flights over new coronavirus strain

The kingdom has also suspended entry through its land and seaports for one week.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (2nd R) welcomes US Vice President Joe Biden (C) at the Riyadh airbase on October 27, 2011, upon his arrival in the Saudi capital with a US official delegation to offer condolences to the King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz following the death of his brother, Crown Prince Sultan. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia makes major regional moves as Biden administration arrives

By modifying its foreign policy goals, the kingdom is bracing itself for the approaching change of administration in Washington.

A picture taken on March 26, 2020, shows the main King Fahd road empty in the Saudi capital Riyadh, after the Kingdom began implementing an 11-hour nationwide curfew, on the day of an emergency G20 videoconference, to discuss a response to the COVID-19 crisis. - G20 nations pledged a "united front" Thursday in the fight against coronavirus, saying they were injecting $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession. US President Donald Trump and Russian Presiden

Germany to fund alternative energy plant in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is focused on developing alternatives to oil as prices remain low amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saudi Arabia seeking 20-year sentence for jailed women’s activist

Loujain al-Hathloul's sister said the state prosecutor is seeking the maximum sentence in a trial rights groups say is grossly unfair.

A worker inspects bottles of milk on on the producion line at a dairy factory at Baladna farm in the city of al-Khor, 60 kilometers north of the Qatari capital on October 26, 2019. - The cows of Qatar's Baladna farm, housed in climate-controlled farms in the desert, exemplify the lengths to which Qatar has gone to resist what it calls an economic "blockade" enforced by its Saudi-led neighbours. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf economies face major challenges in post-COVID 19 world

Signals indicate the embargo imposed on Qatar could come to an end, but can the Gulf Cooperation Council play a coordinating role vital to diversify Gulf economies post-pandemic?

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JENNY VAUGHAN - Ethiopian immigrants returning from Saudi Arabia arrive at Addis Ababas Bole International Airport on December 10, 2013. Ethiopia has repatriated over 120,000 in the last month the largest human airlift in recent history after a seven-month amnesty period for undocumented Ethiopians expired last month, on December 10, 2013. At least 150,000 in total are expected, though numbers continue to swell daily. Ethiopia said three of its citizens died in clashes with police

Migrants allege abuse, degrading conditions in Saudi deportation center

A new report from Human Rights Watch describes squalid conditions at a facility detaining mostly Ethiopian migrants in Riyadh.

Doha named 2030 Asian Games host, Riyadh gets 2034

Gulf rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia were both vying for 2030 hosting rights.

Yachts are moored at the marina in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Hurghada on August 24, 2018. (Photo by AFP) (Photo credit should read /AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt embarks on ambitious Red Sea yacht harbor project

Egypt has begun construction of a yacht harbor in Dahab to promote yacht tourism with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Saudi court hands Saudi-American doctor Walid al-Fitaihi 6-year sentence

The Harvard-trained doctor is reported to have been sentenced over tweeting his support for the 2011 Arab Spring protests and for obtaining US citizenship.