Saudi authorities have taken an “unprecedented” step to tackle Islamic extremism by setting up a council of scholars to vet religious teachings around the world. A royal order issued this week by King Salman established a global body of elite scholars based in the holy city of Medina to root out and “eliminate fake and extremist texts”. The King Salman ...

Bilateral relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia were significantly strained over the past few weeks, after Egypt deviated from its loyalty to the oil-rich country and took stances that did not comply with Saudi Arabia’s plans. Despite pouring tens of millions of US dollars into Egypt following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, the two countries have opted for ...

(AFP) A Baghdad court has issued arrest warrants for two correspondents with a Saudi newspaper over a fabricated report accusing Iranian pilgrims of sexually harassing Iraqi women. A senior source in Iraq’s judiciary told AFP Wednesday that the warrants, based on the penal code’s article 372 on religious hate crimes, were issued against the Asharq al-Awsat daily’s two Baghdad-based Iraqi ...

The Saudis were surprised by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, and their numerous America watchers are trying to assess what Trump’s foreign policy will mean for the kingdom. The Saudi partnership with America dates to 1943 when two future kings, Faisal and Khaled, were sent by their father, King Ibn Saud, to Washington to confer with President ...

RIYADH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — A top Saudi official has denied mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran by the newly elected Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Al Hayat newspaper reported on Monday. Thamer Al-Sabhan, Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, told the newspaper that he doesn’t think that the mediation attempt exist by the Lebanese President, ...

CAIRO — In the tumultuous two years since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt came to power, one ally has kept the Arab world’s most populous country from economic ruin: Saudi Arabia pumped more than $25 billion into the faltering Egyptian economy, dwarfing aid from the United States. The Saudis may have thought they were buying loyalty. But Egypt’s vote ...

Saudi Arabia’s first-ever foray in international credit markets was undoubtedly a success. There were four times as many buyers as needed for its $17.5 billion bond issue, which surpassed all other benchmarks of previous emerging-market bond offerings. The conventional wisdom is that it validated Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s overarching plan to wean the kingdom of oil and move ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG Image copyrightAPImage captionAt least 140 people were killed in the bombing Yemen conflict Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom? ‘Most people here die in silence’: Inside the fight to save Yemen’s health system Practising medicine under fire in Yemen A young girl and a city struggling for life The Saudi-led coalition bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen ...

A halt to shipments of Saudi fuel to Egypt under a $23 billion aid deal shows that a rift between the Arab world’s richest country and its most populous may be deeper than previously thought, which could leave Egypt desperate for a new sponsor. Under the deal, signed during a visit by the Saudi king in April, Riyadh was meant ...

In this March 28, 2015 file photo provided by Egypt’s state news agency MENA, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, talks with Saudi King Salman after the king arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Close allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia are having their first public spat since Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office two years ago. The disagreement is over Syria, where ...