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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)
  • Wednesday, 11 September, 2024
    OutlookMiddle Eastern politics & society
    All change (again) on Saudi dress code

    Prince Mohammed made efforts to change the kingdom’s conservative image but rules are being toughened once more

    Prince Mohammed bin Salman in open collared white shirt and blazer ordering coffee with former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg at a coffee shop in New York in 2018
  • Monday, 5 August, 2024
    Retail & Consumer industry
    Widespread boycotts in Muslim countries hammer western brands

    Rejection of goods based on perceived political agendas over Israel-Gaza conflict hitting revenues

    A pro-Palestinian protest outside a KFC restaurant in Islamabad
  • Wednesday, 24 July, 2024
    Turkish economy
    Turkey returns $5bn Saudi deposit in show of economic confidence

    Move underlines progress in country’s $1tn economy since pivot to more conventional monetary policy

    Mehmet Şimşek
  • Friday, 19 July, 2024
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia rolls out red carpet for foreign filmmakers

    Riyadh builds studios and offers financial incentives in drive to develop lucrative creative sector

    Actor Gerard Butler on the set of Hollywood action movie ‘Kandahar’, filmed partly in the Saudi desert
  • Sunday, 7 July, 2024
    News in-depthStreaming services
    How Saudi Arabia’s MBC came to dominate Middle East streaming

    Wide range of Arabic-language shows and films helps media group compete with Netflix

    A poster for ‘One Wife is Not Enough’
  • Sunday, 23 June, 2024
    Middle Eastern politics & society
    Extreme heat at hajj pilgrimage blamed for 1,300 deaths

    Saudis say many fatalities were unauthorised pilgrims, as action promised against companies behind unofficial travel

    A pilgrim pours cold water on her head to cool off as she waits in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca
  • Thursday, 30 May, 2024
    Saudi Aramco
    Saudi Arabia to sell $12bn worth of Saudi Aramco shares

    Offering in world’s largest oil exporter to be set in range of SR26.7-SR29 as kingdom seeks fresh capital

    Spheroids and pipelines at an oil processing plant
  • Saturday, 18 May, 2024
    News in-depthSaudi Arabia
    Fury versus Usyk: how Saudi Arabia found a sport where money talks

    Riyadh is hosting heavyweight boxing’s biggest fight in more than two decades

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman flanked by Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk
  • Tuesday, 14 May, 2024
    News in-depthSaudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia scales back flagship projects

    The Line development cut back as Riyadh reconsiders priorities and how best to fund its myriad investments

    Visitors discover images and models of ’The Line’ project, during a new expo, for six months, in Riyad
  • Sunday, 12 May, 2024
    Saudi Arabia
    Consulting firms’ grip on Saudi economy sparks local misgivings

    Disgruntlement rises over role of outside experts in running the kingdom

    Logos of McKinsey, BCG and Bain
  • Tuesday, 30 April, 2024
    BlackRock Inc
    BlackRock to launch Saudi investment firm after $5bn deal with Riyadh

    Creation of subsidiary is US money manager’s latest move to build ties and win mandates in Middle East

    Yazeed Almubarak, Larry Fink, Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Yazeed Al-Humied posing for a photo
  • Sunday, 28 April, 2024
    Israel-Hamas war
    Israel may delay assault on Rafah in exchange for hostages

    Foreign minister says attack could be suspended if a deal is agreed, but reiterates goal of destroying Hamas

    Palestinians living in a temporary camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip
  • Monday, 15 April, 2024
    News in-depthMiddle East conflict
    The Arab balancing act as Iran and Israel raise the stakes

    Jordan is facing scrutiny at home for helping to repel Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel

    Jordanian onlookers and security agents standing around the debris of a missile that the Jordanian forces intercepted over Amman
  • Sunday, 31 March, 2024
    News in-depthSaudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia’s Israel strategy upended by anger over Gaza war

    Riyadh caught between renewed popular support for Palestinians and US pressure to normalise relations with Israel

    Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan
  • Sunday, 10 March, 2024
    Saudi Aramco
    Saudi Aramco increases dividend to nearly $100bn despite oil price falls

    State-owned group reports second-highest annual profit, even as production cuts weigh down on performance

    Saudi Aramco oil storage tanks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • Thursday, 7 March, 2024
    Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia transfers $163bn stake of oil producer Aramco to its wealth fund

    Kingdom’s investment group aims to finance projects to modernise its economy

    Skyline of the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • Friday, 20 November, 2020
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia and the G20: how much progress has been made on human rights?

    Kingdom pushes through reforms in run-up to international forum as part of efforts to subdue criticism of its record

  • Tuesday, 29 September, 2020
    ObituaryKuwait
    Sheikh Sabah, Kuwaiti emir, 1929-2020

    Ruler protected nation by staying neutral in regional disputes but failed to rise to challenge of post-oil future

  • Wednesday, 19 August, 2020
    Israel-Hamas war
    Saudi Arabia the big target in US efforts to smooth Israel relations

    Despite Kushner’s close ties, Riyadh unlikely to follow UAE in normalising relations with Jewish state

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, right, with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh last year. The king is said to be ‘a true believer in the Palestinian cause’
  • Sunday, 16 August, 2020
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi prince powers ahead with futuristic city and sports giga-projects

    Riyadh awards billions of dollars of contracts for flagship schemes even as it imposes swingeing austerity measures

  • Thursday, 13 August, 2020
    Pakistan
    Saudi Arabia forces Pakistan to repay loans in diplomatic spat

    Islamabad dispatches army chief to Riyadh after two sides fall out over Indian Kashmir

  • Wednesday, 15 July, 2020
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi shoppers hit by tripling of VAT rate

    Riyadh changes social contract for citizens long used to cradle-to-grave benefits

    A customer in an Ikea store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in May
  • Tuesday, 14 July, 2020
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi bourse unveils derivatives product to lure foreign investors

    Launch is part of financial sector reforms under the banner of Saudi Vision 2030

  • Thursday, 25 June, 2020
    National Commercial Bank
    Saudi Arabia’s NCB bank in $15.6bn merger talks with local rival

    Deal between kingdom’s largest bank and Samba Financial would create Gulf’s third-biggest lender by assets

    A man withdraws money from a NCB ATM on March 18
  • Wednesday, 24 June, 2020
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia makes play for Bundesliga TV rights

    Kingdom’s move to secure German deal comes amid rivalry with Qatar over sports investments

    Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is also leading a proposed £300m takeover of English football club Newcastle United
Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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