Riyadh

A squabble between drug gangs in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh escalated into a wild gun battle on Monday, with shots fired into a car dealership and a Mercedes four-wheel-drive vehicle catching fire.

The Supreme Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia suspended two judges on Monday after they issued controversial rulings banning the use of shisha tobacco and shaving, local media reported Tuesday.

Authorities gifted the mysterious glowing orb from President Donald Trump’s 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia to the United States, according to a new book.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Monday for his first visit in over 12 years.

Iran on Monday reportedly indicated it is open to talks with its longtime regional rival Saudi Arabia following reports that U.S. sanctions on its oil industry have severely crippled its economy.

TEL AVIV – In a rare interview with a Hebrew-language newspaper, a senior Saudi diplomat said it was time the Arab world realized that the “age of war with Israel” is over.

Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen will not hesitate to fire missiles that can reach Riyadh, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi if the fragile ceasefire now in place in the country’s main port city of Hodeidah fails to prevent violence from escalating further, the leader of the Shiite rebels warned on Monday.

CAIRO — Saudi Arabia’s financial clout among the Arab media has given it an influential tool as it grapples with the international outcry over the death of Saudi writer and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke in public about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi on Wednesday, telling an investment conference in Riyadh that Khashoggi’s murder was a “heinous crime” and the perpetrators will be “put before the courts.”

Turkish media reported on Thursday that one of the 15 Saudis who ostensibly flew to Istanbul to kidnap or murder Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a “suspicious car accident” in Riyadh.

RIYADH – Donning a helmet inside a pearl silver sports sedan, Rana Almimoni skids and drifts around a Riyadh park, engine roaring, tyres screeching and clouds of dust billowing from the back.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Saudi-owned satellite news channel says ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Shiite rebels have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

For the first time in history, Saudi Arabia has entered into a joint agreement with the Vatican to build churches for Christians living in the officially Muslim nation.

AMMAN – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wound up a three-day Middle East trip Monday without having met any Palestinian, but nevertheless urged their leadership to rejoin the peace process.

Newly sworn in US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head from this week’s NATO meeting in Brussels directly on to high-level talks in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, his spokeswoman said Thursday.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi sports authorities shut down a female fitness center in Riyadh Friday over a contentious promotional video that appeared to show a woman in figure-hugging workout attire.

During his U.S. visit, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman renewed his calls for the U.S. to fully withdraw from the nuclear Iran deal, saying the accord would not prevent Iran’s regime from acquiring nuclear weapons and likened it to “waiting for the bullet to reach your head.”

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen fired a salvo of seven ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia on Sunday night, targeting the cities of Najran, Jizan, Khamis Mushait, and the capital of Riyadh. Saudi defense forces say they were able to intercept all seven missiles. One fatality and two injuries were reported as debris from an intercepted missile fell on a home in Riyadh and killed an Egyptian resident. The death marked the first fatality on Saudi soil from a Houthi attack.

The Ritz-Carlton Riyadh will reopen to the general public in February after three months of serving as a temporary detention center for royals, officials, and businessmen caught up in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anti-corruption crackdown.

After apparently being barred from participating in a tournament in Saudi Arabia, the Israel Chess Federation is refusing to concede it has been checkmated in its bid to make history.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked the capital of Saudi Arabia, with a ballistic missile on Tuesday, specifically targeting the Saudi royal palace. Saudi media reports that air defenses were able to intercept the missile. Reporters in Riyadh heard an explosion and saw a “plume of smoke” in the sky above the city.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Tuesday that he had withdrawn his resignation, a month after his shock announcement that he was quitting sparked a political crisis.

TEL AVIV — A Saudi academic stirred controversy recently with his call to allow academic lecturers to directly teach students without partitions.

Less than two months after Saudi Arabia announced it would lift a decades-old ban on female drivers, the kingdom has legalized yoga, held its first women’s basketball tournament, and announced that it will allow Saudi women to work for the Ministry of Justice.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Sunday that he is a “free man” and will return to his country “within days.”

When Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia last weekend, it stunned his country and created a mystery that lasted for more than a week. On Sunday, another TV appearance by Hariri was filled with bizarre moments.

A number of the Saudi royals and top officials arrested for corruption over the weekend have reportedly been detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, leading to an uncomfortable statement from the hotel’s owner and fueling outside interest in exactly what is going on in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia on Monday declared that the missile fired from Yemen at Riyadh over the weekend was a “blatant act of military aggression” by Iran, acting through its Yemeni proxies, the Houthi insurgents. The Saudi-led military coalition that has been attempting to restore the internationally-recognized government of Yemen announced that it would temporarily close all land, air, and sea routes into Yemen to prevent further weapons smuggling.

RIYADH – Saudi King Salman met on Monday with former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, less than 48 hours after he resigned as premier in a televised address from Riyadh.

BEIRUT — Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri resigned from his post Saturday during a trip to Saudi Arabia in a surprise move that plunged the country into uncertainty amid heightened regional tensions.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia says its forces have intercepted a missile fired toward one of its major international airports on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh.

The Saudi Arabia government has decreed that women will finally be allowed into sports stadiums, as long as they are in a family unit led by a male relative.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, on the first official trip to Russia by a ruler of the oil-rich Sunni powerhouse, was set to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss energy contracts despite discord over the Syrian conflict.

Hundreds of women thronged a sports stadium for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia’s national day Saturday, celebrated across the conservative kingdom with a raucous display of concerts, folk dance and fireworks.

Saudi Arabia has come under fire for using schoolbooks for children that disparage Christians as “unbelievers” and promise that the day of resurrection will not come until Muslims have fought and killed the Jews.

Saudi Arabia has said it has broken up an Islamic State group plot to use a suicide bomb against Defense Ministry offices, while separately dismantling an alleged spy ring.