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  • Saudi ambassador tells World Cup fans: ‘You can have fun without alcohol’

    The Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK has told football fans “plenty of fun can be had without alcohol” as he warned them not to expect to drink if they attend the 2034 World Cup. Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud also said “we will welcome everyone” when asked to address the safety of LGBTQ+ people at the controversial tournament. In an interview with LBC, Prince Khalid said: “At the moment, we don’t allow alcohol, but you know, plenty of fun can be had without alcohol. It’s not 100% necessary. And you know if, if you want to drink when you leave, after you leave, you’re welcome to. But at the moment, we don’t have alcohol.”

  • Saudi Arabia welcomes ‘riviera’ in Gaza but not by removing Palestinians: Ambassador

    Saudi Arabia would welcome a riviera in Gaza, but not by removing the Palestinian people, a senior Saudi diplomat said on Wednesday. The diplomat was responding to US President Donald Trump’s recent proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”  “My government’s position is that we would welcome a riviera in Gaza. I think that would be wonderful,” Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Khalid bin Bandar said. “But we’re not going to do it by removing the Palestinian people, certainly not moving them to Saudi; they don’t want to move. You know, it’s their land, it’s their territory. They deserve all the best that we can provide for them there, and we’d welcome America’s efforts to improve their situation on the ground,” Prince Khalid said in an interview with the London Broadcasting Company (LBC).

  • Saudi Arabia firmly rejects extremist Israeli statements on displacing Palestinians

    The Saudi Council of Ministers reiterated its firm rejection of extremist Israeli statements regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people. Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman chaired the Cabinet session in Riyadh on Tuesday. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary said that the Cabinet, while discussing the latest regional and international developments, reaffirmed the centrality of the Palestinian cause to Saudi Arabia and stressed that lasting peace can only be achieved through the acceptance of peaceful coexistence based on a two-state solution.

  • No alcohol at 2034 World Cup, says Saudi ambassador

    No alcohol will be allowed at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, says the country's ambassador to the United Kingdom. In an interview on LBC, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud said alcohol would not be sold anywhere during the tournament, including hotels.  "At the moment, we don't allow alcohol," Prince Khalid told LBC. "Plenty of fun can be had without alcohol - it's not 100% necessary and if you want to drink after you leave, you're welcome to, but at the moment we don't have alcohol." Asked whether that meant fans would be able to drink once they returned their hotels, as was the case at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he added: "No, there is no alcohol at all."

  • Saudi crown prince, Russia’s wealth fund chief were involved in US prisoner release, source says

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in negotiations for the release of U.S. teacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison, a source close to the negotiations between Russia and the United States told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The Kremlin could not be reached for immediate comment. The Saudi embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Saudi crown prince, also known as MbS, helped to negotiate the biggest U.S.-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War in August 2024.

  • AGI by 2050 tops Saudi R&D goals

    Developing national Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) by 2050, tops the list of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious R&D goals, according to a presentation made at LEAP25 by Acting Head of RDIA (Research, Development and Innovation Authority) Dr. Mohammed Alotaibi on Wednesday. AGI is one of three ‘moonshot' goals identified in the RDIA’s ‘Innovation Outlook in Economies of the Future”, a guiding framework to align, communicate and shape the Kingdom’s research agenda. The first national R&D moonshot goal is to  establish five cognitive cities across Saudi Arabia by 2040; the second is to develop a scalable, fault tolerant quantum computer by 2045; and the third moonshot goal is to develop aligned artificial general intelligence by 2050. Additionally, the RDIA launched strategic alliances in fields of autonomous logistics, quantum computing, and AI-driven healthcare, alongside major investments in semiconductor manufacturing.

  • Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom

    Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region. Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.

  • PIF backing proposed $5 billion basketball league

    Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has been named as a strategic partner to a group of investors looking to create a new basketball league that will span Asia and Europe to one day rival the NBA, with Swiss bank UBS serving as an advisor. The Financial Times reported Friday that the $5 billion competition plans to create six men's teams and six women's teams that will compete in eight host cities. Macau and Singapore are set to be hosts, while organisers are also looking for European venues. The league hopes to lure top players from around the world, especially Europe, and give them an alternative to the NBA. Byron Deeter and venture capital firm Quiet Capital are among the investors, with Maverick Carter, NBA great LeBron James's business manager, and Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice also on board.

  • PIF becomes title sponsor of Saudi Ladies International

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the new title partner of the renamed PIF Saudi Ladies International, a partnership which also sees the prize money for the tournament being increased to match that offered for the equivalent men’s tournament. The PIF Saudi Ladies International returns February 13-15 at Riyadh Golf Club and will also see a new format with tour professionals taking part in both an individual and team competition.

  • Trump says he might meet Putin in Saudi Arabia after call on Ukraine

    Trump made the comment a few hours after speaking with Putin in their first publicly disclosed call since Trump took office. Trump said they had agreed on "starting negotiations immediately" to end the war in Ukraine, which is approaching its third anniversary. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump floated the idea of meeting Putin in Saudi Arabia, along with the Saudi crown prince. He did not lay out a timeline and said he would deal with Putin on the phone in the meantime. In an interview with the Economist published on Wednesday, Zelensky had said he'd had little contact with Trump's team and raised concerns about "any decision-making" on Ukraine taking place without Kyiv's involvement.