The CEO of Neom – a US$500 billion futuristic, zero-carbon megacity under construction on the country’s northwest coast – is scheduled to host a half-day event on April 19 inviting investors to back the ambitious development.

The president and the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed a peace summit that Switzerland has agreed to host later in the year.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh at the start of his first trip to region since Washington brokered an offer, with Israeli input, for first extended ceasefire of the war.

Mocktails – non-alcoholic drinks presented in cocktail glasses and made to mimic alcoholic ones – are gaining acceptance in Saudi Arabia. A recent pop-up showcased a ‘no-groni’ and a spiced date sour.

The shop – which caters to non-Muslim diplomats – sits next to a supermarket in Riyadh and stocks liquor, wine and only two types of beer for the time being.

The Public Investment Fund was the world’s most active sovereign investor last year, deploying US$31.6 billion in 2023 versus US$20.7 billion the previous year, according to research consultancy Global SWF

With Russia under numerous sanctions and China losing its allure due to an economic slowdown, some investors are starting to view Saudi Arabia in a new light.

The leaders discussed oil and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, during a rare overseas trip by the Russian president.

The Russian president has rarely travelled abroad in recent years, and mostly to states of the former Soviet Union. His last trip beyond those countries was to China in October.

The event will coincide with the completion of Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s US$1.25 trillion programme to ‘transform’ Saudi Arabia into a modern powerhouse.

The Saudi public fund would join existing owners including Qatar, which holds 20 per cent, and smaller investors including Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund, which has an 11.2 per cent stake.

Riyadh won the right to host the event, which attracts millions of visitors and billions of dollars in investment, with 119 votes to Rome’s 17 and Busan’s 29.

Valuable Capital Financial Company has obtained final approval from regulators to operate dealing, advisory and custody services in Saudi Arabia, and plans to expand into investment banking, asset management and mutual funds.

Gulf states don’t see the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor through the lens of US-China rivalry, analysts say – even if Washington would like it to counter Beijing’s belt and road plans.

The kingdom’s de facto ruler also warned that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, his country will have to ‘get’ one.

Saudi Arabia is the latest country to mandate Chinese language education in schools as the region embraces Beijing links.

Signatories hope ambitious plans to create a modern-day Spice Route with the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor can offer a counterbalance to lavish Chinese infrastructure spending.

The US president warmly greeted the kingdom’s de facto leader at the G20 summit in India, in sharp contrast with the last time the two met.

Saudi Arabia will continue its unilateral production cutback of 1 million barrels a day until December. Russia’s export reduction of 300,000 barrels a day will be extended for the same duration.

Saudi is considering acquiring 100 to 200 Dassault Rafale fighters after US lawmakers proposed freezing arms sales to the kingdom in October because of anger with Riyadh over a cut in oil production.

As Britain seeks to develop trade and investment relations with the Saudis, critics oppose Sunak’s plans to meet a man whom Western leaders believe ordered the murder in 2018 of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A court found that Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef beat and strangled his father to death and mutilated him after he died.

Tokyo has agreed to help give Saudi Arabia’s solar-power capabilities a technological boost as it eyes Beijing’s growing reach in the Middle East warily. But analysts say the Japanese PM wields ‘relatively little influence’ over Riyadh.

As Mohammed Ashi becomes the first Saudi Arabian designer at Paris Fashion Week, calling it the ‘peak’ of his career, excitement for the kingdom’s booming fashion industry is palpable

Fatima al-Shawarbi criticised the treatment of people forcibly removed from their homes to make way for the construction of the city, UK rights group said.

Despite predictions of peak attendance, official figures carried by the state-run Al Ekhbariya TV showed they were still short of the 2.5 million worshippers who took part in 2019.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited the Islamic republic on Saturday following a seven-year rupture. The two countries agreed in March to mend ties in a Chinese-brokered deal.