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Saudi Arabia

September 6, 2026

Riyadh 8:59 am

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Guests stand at the booth of Saudi artificial intelligence company Humain during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, on Oct. 29, 2025.

Saudi Arabia taps China’s MiniMax for Arabic AI model

The development signals that the kingdom continues deepening AI ties with China while simultaneously pursuing major US technology partnerships, keeping the Gulf state at the center of an intensifying technology race between the superpowers.

A commercial vessel passes through an international shipping lane off Yemen's Hanish Island in the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.

Saudi oil exports hit nine-year low as tanker attacks threaten recovery

The country’s oil exports were around 3 million barrels per day in August.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan set Mecca Alliance into motion

Mecca Alliance

Iraq reinforces Saudi border security amid militia tensions: What to know

Iraqi army troops patrol the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Female driver Azza Al Shmasani alights from her car after driving in defiance of the ban in Riyadh June 22, 2011. Saudi Arabia has no formal ban on women driving. But as citizens must use only Saudi-issued licences in the country, and as these are issued only to men, women drivers are anathema. An outcry at the segregation, which contributes to the general cloistering of Saudi women, has been fuelled by social media interest in two would-be female motorists arrested in May.REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARA

Saudi Women Renew Fight To Lift Driving Ban

A Saudi student's online call to challenge once again the ban on women driving has gone viral.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal (L) talks with Qatar Foreign Minister Khalid Al Attiya following their meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and members of the Arab Peace Initiative at the United States Embassy in Paris, September 8, 2013. REUTERS/Susan Walsh/Pool (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13CWG

US-Russia Syria Deal Affects Saudi Regional Strategy

The US-Russia deal on Syria chemical weapons gives momentum to possible settlement and may mean changes for regional players.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal attends the opening of an Arab foreign ministers emergency meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, September 1, 2013. Saudi Arabia told fellow Arab League states on Sunday that opposing international intervention against the Syrian government would only encourage Damascus to use weapons of mass destruction. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT -

Saudis Set Back by US-Russia Deal on Syrian Chemical Weapons

Saudi Arabia, like Iran, has pursued a sectarian interventionist strategy in Syria that furthers the war and undermines a democratic transition.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari (back) receives the newly appointed ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Iraq, Mohanned Sleman al-Zaid, at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad March 26, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2ZWZ0

Saudi Arabia Vies For Influence in Iraq

Riyadh has reached out to tribal sheikhs in southern Iraq in what some see as a continuation of the ongoing Saudi-Iranian competition for influence in the region.

A man celebrates the country's National Day in Riyadh September 23, 2012. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY) - RTR38BR3

Saudi National Day Masks Contradictions in Culture and Identity

The power and pomp that will be on display on Saudi National Day on Sept. 23 will mask broader contradictions in the Kingdom’s national identity.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (C) arrives before the opening of an emergency meeting among the Arab League foreign ministers, held to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, September 1, 2013. Saudi Arabia told fellow Arab League states on Sunday that opposing international intervention against the Syrian government would only encourage Damascus to use weapons of mass destruction. REU

Saudi Arabia Pushes US Toward Military Strike in Syria

Saudi Arabia is advocating for a US military strike in Syria to advance its own regional and sectarian agenda.

A woman cries at the site of an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs, August 15, 2013. Rescue workers in the southern Beirut district hit by an explosion on Thursday have found nine bodies, a witness at the scene said. The powerful blast engulfed several cars in flames and also trapped people in a nearby building. REUTERS/Mahmoud Kheir (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12MIN

Lebanon Caught in Middle Of Iranian-Saudi 'Cold War'

Lebanon’s unique position in the Arab Levant means it has been inevitably caught up in the back and forth of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in the region.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (L) speaks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdul-Rahman al-Attiyah before a news conference in Riyadh March 28, 2011. Qatar's support for the rebel Libyan National Council shows the group is the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people, the secretary general of the political and economic bloc of Gulf countries said on Monday. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2K

Turkish Leader Lashes Out on Twitter

Turkey is engaged in a covert war with Riyadh over the Turkish origins of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's chief.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L), Turkey's President Abdullah Gul (C) and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa are seen after the official photo taking session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Mecca August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Hassan Ali (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR36UJ4

Saudi Arabia and Turkey Falter Over Egypt

Though Saudi Arabia and Turkey share strategic goals in the region, the Egyptian coup is testing the strength of the two countries' relations.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (R) meets with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Cairo November 17, 2012. REUTERS/Egyptian Presidency/Handout (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR3AINS

Turkey’s 'Precious Isolation' In the Middle East

Foreign policy decisions by the Erdogan government, including on Egypt and Syria, have left Turkey without any influence over events in the Middle East.

Supporters of Egypt's deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi pray during a rally in protest against the recent violence in Egypt, in Sanaa August 16, 2013. Protests by Mursi supporters turned violent across Egypt on Friday, with witnesses reporting four dead in central Cairo and at least 12 killed in northern cities as the Muslim Brotherhood staged a "Day of Rage". REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTX12NKO

Qatar Encroaches on Saudi Influence In Yemen

As elsewhere in the Middle East post-Arab Spring, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are vying for influence in an unstable and economically weak Yemen.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari speaks at the Diplomatic and Political Joint Coordinating Committee meeting hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12MHG

Iraqi Official: Rouhani 'Means Serious Business' With US

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says the Iranian leadership could have prevented Hassan Rouhani from becoming president if it wanted to continue hard-line policies toward the United States.