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Ahmed Al Omran

Saudi Arabia correspondent

Ahmed Al Omran is FT’s Saudi Arabia correspondent, covering the political and economic developments in the kingdom and other countries in the Gulf region. He was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University in New York, and before that he worked as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal in Riyadh. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Policy, and Monocle.
Email Ahmed Al Omran @ahmed  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)
  • Monday, 2 June, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia plans for safer Hajj as more than 1mn pilgrims arrive

    Tree planting and stricter entrance rules aim to keep visitors fewer and cooler after more than 1,000 deaths last year

    Muslim worshippers gather around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca
  • Sunday, 1 June, 2025
    News in-depthArtificial intelligence
    Can the Gulf really become an AI superpower?

    Saudi Arabia and UAE plough billions into infrastructure but need more talent and start-ups

    Montage of Donald Trump between the flags of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
  • Thursday, 29 May, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia to ‘take stock’ of spending after oil price drop

    Finance minister tells FT the kingdom’s priority is to avoid long-running ‘trap of booms and busts’

    General view of Aramco’s oilfield in the Empty Quarter, Shaybah, Saudi Arabia
  • Wednesday, 28 May, 2025
    News in-depthArtificial intelligence
    Saudi Arabia seeks to use financial might to muscle into global AI industry

    PIF-backed Humain courts US tech investors and plans $10bn venture fund

    Tareq Amin, chief executive of Humain
  • Sunday, 25 May, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia turns to golf in bid to boost tourism

    BlackBerry co-founder Jim Balsillie is investing $100mn to develop luxury golf resorts in the kingdom

    Cameron Smith putts at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia in March 2024
  • Thursday, 15 May, 2025
    News in-depthUS foreign policy
    Jumbo jets, megadeals and flattery: Trump’s Gulf tour

    US president’s visit has been a four-day jamboree of opulent ceremonies and petrodollar-fuelled investment pledges

    US President Donald Trump departs Saudi Arabia from King Khalid airport in Riyadh
  • Thursday, 15 May, 2025
    HTSIHTSI spring travel special 2025
    A $1tn-plus pivot to tourism is unfolding across Saudi Arabia. Can it keep up?

    The FT’s Saudi Arabia correspondent revisits a homeland in the grip of seismic change

    The Dot by Faisal Samra in AlUla
  • Wednesday, 14 May, 2025
    Syria
    Trump holds warm meeting with ‘tough guy’ Syrian leader

    US president meets with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia after promising to lift sanctions on war-ravaged country

    US President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 14 2025
  • Tuesday, 13 May, 2025
    US politics & policy
    Trump lauds Saudi Arabia as he unveils AI and defence deals

    US president highlights enduring ‘bonds’ with the kingdom as White House hails pacts worth about $600bn

    US President Donald Trump, left, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
  • Monday, 12 May, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia launches AI venture Humain ahead of Trump visit

    Riyadh’s latest multibillion-dollar push will bring new focus to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s tech ambitions

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sitting inside a tent in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia in January 2025
  • Sunday, 11 May, 2025
    Saudi Aramco
    Saudi Aramco cuts its dividend by $10bn

    Lower payouts from supermajor put pressure on Riyadh’s ambitious diversification plans

    A man rides a bike past a Saudi Aramco oil tank
  • Monday, 5 May, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi companies retrench after fall in oil prices

    Businesses seek new revenue streams and brace for slowdown as lower crude weighs on government spending

    The King Abdullah Financial District metro station in Riyadh
  • Tuesday, 29 April, 2025
    Wealth management
    Wealth manager Stanhope Capital plans Saudi expansion

    London-centred firm to partner with bank owned by country’s Public Investment Fund

    An aerial view of Riyadh
  • Monday, 28 April, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Neom’s acting chief reviews Saudi mega-project after setbacks

    Aiman al-Mudaifer was appointed last year following increasing scrutiny of futuristic plan

    Neom city scheme
  • Sunday, 27 April, 2025
    Syria
    Saudi Arabia and Qatar to repay Syria’s debts to World Bank

    Support is first funding from Riyadh as war-ravaged country seeks to rebuild its economy

    A fighter stands near ongoing roadworks in Aleppo, Syria
  • Monday, 21 April, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi businesses turn to solar power as kingdom cuts energy subsidies

    Cost savings and sustainability targets drive demand for renewables in world’s biggest oil exporter

    A Saudi man walks past a field of solar panels in Riyadh
  • Thursday, 17 April, 2025
    Middle Eastern politics & society
    Saudi Arabia’s defence minister visits Iran ahead of US talks

    Prince Khalid bin Salman is highest-ranking royal to hold meetings in Tehran in decades

    Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammed Bagheri and Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman in Tehran
  • Monday, 31 March, 2025
    News in-depthSaudi Arabia
    Weak oil price adds to strain on Saudi mega-projects

    Kingdom prepares to unwind production cuts but puts at risk its ambitious spending plan

    Jaumur, NEOM’s cosmopolitan coastal community set around a vibrant marina
  • Sunday, 16 March, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia cracks down on ‘immoral acts’

    Prince Mohammed creates unit to combat prostitution and begging after years of loosening hardline social restrictions

    Mohammed bin Salman
  • Thursday, 13 March, 2025
    Middle Eastern politics & society
    Big budget Saudi TV series stirs controversy in Middle East

    Iraq and Iran have banned mega production focused on seventh-century schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims

    A still from “Muawiya”
  • Wednesday, 12 March, 2025
    Games industry
    Saudi-owned Scopely buys Pokémon Go in $3.5bn gaming deal

    US-based Niantic is selling its games business as part of a pivot to artificial intelligence

    Hand holding a cell phone playing Pokémon Go game in footpath
  • Wednesday, 12 March, 2025
    OutlookSaudi Arabia
    Pilgrims in Mecca search for a moment of peace

    Saudi Arabia’s plan to increase religious tourism must include ways to manage the growing crowds

    Muslim worshippers gather to pray around the Kaaba
  • Tuesday, 11 March, 2025
    War in Ukraine
    Ukraine willing to accept 30-day US-brokered ceasefire

    Washington says it will ‘immediately’ restore intelligence sharing and military aid after Kyiv accepts proposal

    A tree stands amid the wreckage of a residential complex. The building shows extensive damage, with debris scattered across the ground.
  • Tuesday, 11 March, 2025
    War in Ukraine
    US and Ukraine hold talks on ending war with Russia

    Saudi Arabia meeting comes as Kyiv and Moscow launch attacks on each other’s territory

    The officials are seated around a large conference table
  • Sunday, 9 March, 2025
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on cinemas. Now it just needs people to turn up

    Local box office has struggled since movie ban was lifted in 2018

    A woman and a man are in the foreground. The woman holds a bucket of popcorn
Previous page1Next page

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