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Saudi Arabia

January 12, 2026

Riyadh 1:32 pm

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The skyline of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 31, 2023.

MidEast VC funding hits record $3.8B in 2025, driven by strong Gulf showing

Many emerging venture markets contracted in 2025, but the Middle East and North Africa bucked the trend.

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.

Latest News

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

SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images

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

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

A picture of French President Emmanuel Macron is burned by Palestinians during a demonstration against him at the Palestine Technical University in al-Aroub, north of the West Bank city of Hebron, on October 27, 2020. - Calls to boycott French goods are growing in the Arab world and beyond, after President Emmanuel Macron criticised Islamists and vowed not to "give up cartoons" depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Macron's comments came in response to the beheading of a teacher, Samuel Paty, outside his school i

Saudi Arabia condemns 'offensive cartoons' as calls grow for French boycott

The kingdom "rejects any attempt to link Islam with terrorism," a Foreign Ministry source said.

Saudi students pass their final exams at a workshop in the Higher Institute for Plastics Fabrication on June 13, 2016 in Riyadh.
The students at the Higher Institute for Plastics Fabrication (HIPF) learn to manufacture plastic bags, pipes, bottles and other products, skills they immediately put to work in what the government says is a unique model. Reducing the kingdom's high unemployment rate is a foundation -- and major challenge -- of the government's wide-ranging Vision 2030 reform plan unveiled in Apr

Can Gulf states adopt universal basic income?

Existing social welfare systems have insulated Gulf nationals from changing economic realities and the likelihood of a major global energy transition in the coming decades.

Russian fighter jets drop bombs over the Ashuluk military base in Southern Russia on September 22, 2020 during the "Caucasus-2020" military drills gathering China, Iran, Pakistan and Myanmar troops, along with ex-Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. - Up to 250 tanks and around 450 infantry combat vehicles and armoured personnel carriers will take part in the September 21 to 26 land and naval exercises that will involve 80,000 people including support staff. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) (Photo by DIM

Can Russia return to Iranian arms market following end of weapons embargo?

With the end of the UN arms embargo, Iran could be looking to purchase new additions to its defense system — could Russia become a main supplier again?

OSAKA, JAPAN - JUNE 28: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a family photo session at G20 summit on June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Osaka on Thursday for the annual Group of 20 gathering together with other world leaders who will use the two-day summit to discuss pressing economic, climate change, as well as geopolitical issues. The US-China trade war is expected to dominate the meetings in Osaka as President Tr

Citing rights abuses, House Democrats push administration to snub Saudi-hosted G-20 summit

Lawmakers said the US government has an obligation to ensure such gatherings are not used to distract from ongoing human rights violations.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 03: Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, speaks to the media after the first session of the murder trial outside the Caglayan Court House on July 03, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Twenty Saudi nationals went on trial in absentia over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in 2018. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee sues Mohammed bin Salman in US court

More than two dozen Saudis are named in the lawsuit seeking accountability for Jamal Khashoggi's "ruthless torture and murder."

Saudi FM wants focus on Israeli-Palestinian talks over 'eventual normalization'

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said the focus of Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts should be on bringing the two sides back to the negotiating table.

Head of the Houthi prisoner exchange committee Abdulkader al-Murtada (C - L) shakes hands with Head of the Yemeni government delegation Hadi Haig (C - L) between ICRC Director for the Near and Middle East Fabrizio Carboni (L) and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths at the end of a week-long meeting on a Yemen prisoner exchange agreement on September 27, 2020 in Glion, western Switzerland. - Both sides in Yemen's war have agreed to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners, the UN mediator during a week of

Yemen's Houthi rebels release two US citizens in prisoner swap

Officials from Saudi Arabia and Oman helped negotiate the release

Unidentified guests attend a meeting of Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 nations in the Saudi capital Riyadh on February 23, 2020. - The deadly coronavirus epidemic will dent global growth, the IMF warned, as G20 finance ministers and central bank governors weighed its economic ripple effects at a two-day gathering in Riyadh. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Religion and policy collide in Saudi-hosted interfaith forum

The G-20 interfaith forum will be virtually hosted by Riyadh this year, while the kingdom faces mounting criticism for human rights violations and religious persecution.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, listens to Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud speaks during their meeting at the State Department, October 14, 2020, in Washington, DC. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on October 14, 2020 encouraged Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, in what would be a massive boost for the Jewish state amid normalization by two other Gulf Arab kingdoms. (Photo by Manuel Balce CENETA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MANUEL BALCE CENETA/POOL/AFP via Getty Image

Pompeo calls on Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also raised human rights concerns during a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Saudi FM to meet with Pompeo for inaugural strategic dialogue

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will discuss the bilateral relationship Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (C) participates in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in New York on September 28, 2018. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

As US elections near, GCC states chart middle course between US and China

Former Vice President and Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden's previous statement to make Saudi Arabia a 'pariah' hangs over the region.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas heads the Palestinian leadership meeting at his headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, during the COVID-19 pandemic on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Nasser Nasser / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NASSER NASSER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi prince rattles Palestinian leaders in televised critique

Former Saudi Ambassador to the United States Bandar Bin Sultan called for a new Palestinian leadership in the first two parts of an interview whose final portion has yet to air.