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Saudi Arabia

November 7, 2026

Riyadh 8:41 pm

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WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 18: Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a dinner in the East Room at the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosting the Crown Prince for meetings aimed at strengthening economic and defense ties, including the U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

Gulf’s $3 trillion US investment drive faces post-midterm Trump reckoning

A sweeping midterm election victory by Democrats on Nov. 3 is cause for concern among Gulf states that eagerly embraced Trump's White House and pledged huge investment commitments.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses Turkish members of parliament during the opening of the parliamentary session at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, on Oct. 1, 2026.

Turkey’s parliament ratifies Mecca pact in boost to Saudi Arabia

Turkey will now decide the scope of military support for Saudi Arabia amid ongoing Iran-backed Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Culture

What’s next for Cristiano Ronaldo after retirement from Portugal team?

The Portuguese superstar is signed to the Saudi side Al Nassr until 2027, but the Yemen war is impacting the sport in the kingdom.

Latest News

Aramco begins expansion of oil export route bypassing Hormuz

AFP via Getty Images

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

Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) (C) speaks next to European Parliament leader of the Civil Liberties Committee Inquiry Claude Moraes (L) and German Member of the European Parliament and the current Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok (R) about a closed door meeting on NSA surveillance on U.S. allies while on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 28, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

House Intel Committee Chairman worried about bad deal on Iran

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says Congress should pass further sanctions on Iran.

Iranians slam France on nuclear talks

Iranian media, politicians and citizens have reacted harshly to what they perceive as French obstructionism in the nuclear negotiations.

An Ethiopian worker argues with a member of the Saudi security forces as he waits with his countrymen to be repatriated in Manfouha, southern Riyadh, November 11, 2013. Thousands of mostly African workers gathered in Riyadh on Sunday seeking repatriation after two people were killed in overnight rioting that followed a visa crackdown by Saudi authorities. One of those killed was a Saudi, said a government statement, and the other was not identified. An Ethiopian man was killed in a visa raid last week. Ethi

Saudi Arabia cracks down on illegal immigrants

The latest crackdown raises larger questions about the role of foreign labor in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry steps aboard his aircraft en route to Geneva, after holding private talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1553K

Will Israel wag the dog on Iran?

The Obama administration is struggling to make the case that Israel will benefit from a nuclear deal with Iran.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (obscured) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (4th R) arrive at a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. Zarif and Ashton said on Sunday they hoped Iran and six world powers would reach an agreement when they gather again in 10 days, adding that the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme was something all delegations can build on. REUTERS/Jason Reed (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS)

Iran and the two Genevas

There is widespread understanding that a nuclear deal on Iran will facilitate progress on Syria.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad answers journalists after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, December 9, 2010. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXVKF9

Syria's temporary solution

As preparations for the Geneva II Syria conference stall, some suggest that a temporary solution could be in the works, aimed at keeping President Bashar al-Assad in office, but without elections.

Turkish girls attend English class at the Kazim Karabekir Girls' Imam-Hatip School in Istanbul February 10, 2010. The imam-hatip network is a far cry from the western stereotype of the madrassa as an institution that teaches the Koran by rote and little else. Originally founded to educate Muslim religious functionaries in the 1920s, the imam-hatip syllabus devotes only around 40 percent of study to religious subjects like Arabic, Islamic jurisprudence and rhetoric. The rest is given over to secular topics.

Turkey’s English proficiency improving

Turkey ranks No. 41 at this year’s English Proficiency Index, but it tops the list of countries that are trending up – which is a fair reflection of its economic achievement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) is greeted by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal upon arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia June 25, 2013. Kerry is in Saudi Arabia for a day visit and will continue on to Kuwait, as he returns to his Middle East tour after stopping in India. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX11038

The Saudi Leadership Crisis

US Secretary of State John Kerry will try to persuade the kingdom to be part of the solution to the crisis in Syria.

A woman drives a car in Saudi Arabia October 22, 2013. A conservative Saudi Arabian cleric has said women who drive risk damaging their ovaries and bearing children with clinical problems, countering activists who are trying to end the Islamic kingdom's male-only driving rules. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women are barred from driving, but debate about the ban, once confined to the private sphere and social media, is increasingly spreading to public forums too. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nass

Saudi Women Drivers Not Deterred by Arrest

A Saudi womens' activist writes that arrests won't stop women from pushing for their right to drive.

Irani workers stand near as a security helicopter lands near the pipeline during a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, in the city of Chahbahar in southeastern Iran March 11, 2013. Ahmadinejad and Zardari marked the start of Pakistani construction on the much-delayed gas pipeline on Monday, Iranian media reported, despite U.S. pressure on Islamabad to back out of the project. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EUW9

Saudi-Backed Salafists Returning To Iran’s Border?

The sectarian war in Syria comes to the Iran-Pakistan border.

U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi (R), is welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari after arriving at Baghdad International Airport October 21, 2013. International envoy for Syria Brahimi was in Baghdad on Monday to discuss dates for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Syria. Brahimi said no date had yet been set for the long-delayed conference. International efforts to end the 2-1/2 year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people have stuttered. But a deal last month for Syria to get r

Syria’s Race Against Time

UN-Arab League Joint Representative Lakhdar Brahimi presses for Geneva II, while Saudi women are on the road again.

(L to R) Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington July 23, 2006. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES) - RTR1FRMW

Saudi Prince Turki: 'High Level of Disappointment' With US Over Syria

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the former intelligence chief for Saudi Arabia says it's “up to the Iranians to show that their sweet and sensible talk is going to be translated into action.”