Saudi Arabia

Following a change in Saudi Arabia’s entry requirements, dozens of Israeli businesspeople arrived recently to Riyadh and even closed deals there

President Joe Biden is leaning towards making a visit to Saudi Arabia, a trip that would likely bring him face-to-face with the Saudi crown prince he once shunned as a killer.

“The vision that you & His Highness share for the interconnection of Greece & Saudi Arabia in various fields is now being implemented in practice”

Saudi Arabia's ageing King Salman has been admitted to hospital for unspecified tests, state media reported Sunday.

The kingdom has generally sought to quell speculation over the health of the 86-year-old monarch, who has ruled the top oil exporter and the Arab world's biggest economy since 2015.

Saudi Arabia reported its fastest economic growth rate in a decade on May 1, as a booming oil sector fueled a 9.6 percent rise in the first quarter over the same period of 2021.

The preliminary results come after the world's biggest oil exporter resisted U.S. entreaties to raise output in an attempt to rein in prices that have spiked since the Ukraine war began.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to Saudi Arabia on April 28 to mend a rift between the countries caused by the murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in 2018.

The two-day trip comes as Ankara and Riyadh have, in recent months, attempted to repair some diplomatic damage after a decade of tension.

Saudi Arabia has asked Disney to cut "LGBTQ references" from its latest Marvel superhero movie before it can be screened in the kingdom, an official told AFP on April 25.

An event in October 2020 marking the two-year anniversary of the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 when he visited the consulate to arrange his marriage papers.

A court in Ankara has rejected an appeal by Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, against the Justice Ministry's approval for transferring the trial to Saudi Arabia.

A Turkish court's decision on the suspension and transfer of trial regarding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is in line with laws, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said.

"[The court's ruling] does not mean that the case will be dismissed or the transfer of the jurisdiction," Bozdağ tweeted on April 15.