Latest Saudi Arabia government News

US-mandated religious freedom group ends Saudi trip early after rabbi ordered to remove his kippah

Mar. 13, 2024 04:56 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A U.S. Congress-mandated group cut short a fact-finding mission to Saudi Arabia after officials in the kingdom ordered a Jewish rabbi to remove his kippah in public, highlighting the religious tensions still present in the wider Middle East. ...

A Saudi business is leaving Arizona valley after it was targeted by the state over groundwater use

Mar. 08, 2024 15:06 PM EST

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona officials said a Saudi-owned company they targeted over its use of groundwater to grow forage crops is moving its farming operation out of a valley in the Southwestern state’s rural west. Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona State Land Department announced late...

Saudi Arabia's crown prince transfers another 8% of Aramco shares to sovereign wealth fund

Mar. 07, 2024 08:56 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred another 8% of shares in the kingdom's oil giant Saudi Aramco to the country's prominent sovereign wealth fund on Thursday. The shares are worth some $160 billion. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's decision...

OPEC+ production cuts deepen with extensions from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil giants

Mar. 03, 2024 18:57 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Some members of oil cartel OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and allied producers like Russia are again deepening their voluntary crude supply cuts. Announcements from several OPEC+ countries extend reductions of some 2.2 million barrels a day, the secretariat for the...

Saudi Arabia launches formal bid to host 2034 World Cup in FIFA contest effectively already won

Mar. 01, 2024 12:51 PM EST

Saudi Arabia launched its formal bid campaign Friday to host the 2034 World Cup, in a race that basically became a formality last October when the oil-rich kingdom was the only candidate to enter the contest. The Saudi Arabian soccer federation revealed the bid slogan “Growing....

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy lands in Saudi Arabia to push for peace and a POW exchange with Russia

Feb. 27, 2024 11:49 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and met the kingdom's powerful crown prince to push for a peace plan and the return of prisoners of war from Russia. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to...

Jared Kushner, former Trump adviser, defends business dealings with Saudi Arabia

Feb. 14, 2024 19:13 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s former White House adviser and his son-in-law, defended on Tuesday his business dealings after leaving government with the Saudi crown prince who was implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Kushner...

Ambassador responds to call by Evert and Navratilova to keep women's tennis out of Saudi Arabia

Jan. 30, 2024 18:18 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova relied on “outdated stereotypes and western-centric views of our culture” in urging the women's tennis tour to avoid holding its season-ending tournament in the kingdom. ...

The head of a Saudi royal commission has been arrested on corruption charges

Jan. 29, 2024 04:37 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The CEO overseeing Saudi Arabia's royal commission for its historic al-Ula site has been arrested on corruption and money-laundering charges over some $55 million in contracts, officials said. The charges target Amr bin Saleh Abdulrahman al-Madani...

Saudi Arabia opens its first liquor store in over 70 years as kingdom further liberalizes

Jan. 24, 2024 19:33 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — A liquor store has opened in Saudi Arabia for the first time in over 70 years, a diplomat reported Wednesday, a further socially liberalizing step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom that is home to the holiest sites in Islam. While restricted to non-Muslim...