Spending billions of dollars and attracting some of soccer’s biggest stars doesn’t guarantee success at the World Cup.

A helicopter crash in Saudi Arabia has killed all 14 people on board.

Cape Verde completed an improbable run through the group stage with a third straight World Cup draw to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the knockout round following a 0-0 result against Saudi Arabia.

FIFA has implemented mandatory breaks midway through each half at all matches for this World Cup to allow players to hydrate because of the extreme heat in the United States, Canada and Mexico during the near-six-week tournament.

Abdulelah Al-Amri scored on a rebound in the 41st minute for Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay’s Maxi Araújo responded with an equalizer in the 80th as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in their World Cup opener.

Saudi Arabia has ended its five-year ban on Lebanese imports, a significant move to rebuild relations between Lebanon and Gulf countries.

Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia have been performing the symbolic stoning of the devil during the Hajj, enduring temperatures over 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

Muslim pilgrims have gathered on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia for the second day of the Hajj, considered the pinnacle of the annual pilgrimage.

The annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, has begun.

Large numbers of Muslims converge once a year in Saudi Arabia to unite in a series of religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage that is one of the pillars of Islam.

Cristiano Ronaldo has finally won a major trophy with Al-Nassr.

The tight relationship between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is typically managed discreetly.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund became an “official tournament supporter” of the World Cup on Thursday and reaffirmed its commitment to invest in sports despite notable retreats from other ventures in recent months.

The World Cup is one month away and it’s almost time for coaches of the record 48 competing nations to finalize their squads.

The billionaires in Saudi Arabia are pulling the plug on LIV Golf.

LIV Golf has a new chairman and a new strategy to move forward after Saudi Arabian funding ends after this year.

The United Arab Emirates will leave OPEC effective Friday, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbors.

Global leaders have been scrambling to contain the rising cost of oil and gasoline since the start of the Iran war.

The number of American service members wounded in the Iran war has grown beyond 300, with more than two dozen troops injured this week from attacks on a Saudi air base.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as Kyiv seeks to use its drone expertise to help Gulf Arab states blunt Iran’s attacks while the war in the Middle East rages on.

An Iranian missile attack has wounded at least 10 U.S. service members and damaged several planes at a military base in Saudi Arabia.

Israel’s military says it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel for the first time.

Farmers around the world are facing fertilizer shortages and rising costs after the war in Iran disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles a third of global fertilizer trade.

Iran has banned its sports teams from traveling to countries it considers “hostile,” Iranian state TV reported ahead of Tractor FC’s scheduled soccer game in Saudi Arabia.

Israel killed two senior Iranian security officials in a major blow to the country’s leadership.

Iranian state TV says Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor.

As the Iran war widens, experts say the Middle East’s real strategic weak point may be water — not oil.

The travel chaos from the war in the Middle East has ensnared many of the Muslims who have converged on Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, leaving them stranded and scrambling to find other ways home.

Governments around the world are rushing to organize the return of their citizens from the Middle East on Wednesday and air traffic seems to be picking up slightly as travel across the region remains heavily disrupted by the widening Iran war.

The largest U.S. diplomatic drawdown in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War is creating an apparently unplanned for crisis for the Trump administration.

Travelers are scrambling for ways out of the Middle East as the Iran war keeps much of the region’s airspace closed and flights grounded.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lewis Hamilton are among the sports stars whose schedules are in doubt because of the spreading war in the Middle East.

Travelers stranded by a widening war have started leaving the United Arab Emirates aboard a small number of evacuation flights.

The war in the Middle East spiraled further as Israel and the U.S. pounded Iran.

Arab and Muslim countries are sharply condemning comments by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, who said in an interview that Israel had a right to much of the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia could have some form of uranium enrichment within the kingdom under a proposed nuclear deal with the United States.

Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed multibillion-dollar investment agreements, including a major telecommunications project and a low-cost joint airline.

Barcelona has become the latest soccer club to cut ties with a proposed breakaway European Super League.

Yemen's ruling leadership council has named a new cabinet following deadly clashes in the south and the dissolution of a separatist group.

The Trump administration has approved a massive new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth $9 billion.

Iran has reached out to Middle Eastern countries over the threat of a possible U.S. military strike.

President Donald Trump strong-armed America’s biggest trading partners into pledging trillions of dollars of investment in the United States.

Raphinha scores twice as Barcelona beats Real Madrid 3-2 in the final of the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, is set to dismantle its institutions effective Friday.

Saudi Arabia says the United Arab Emirates has smuggled a wanted separatist leader out of Yemen.

A separatist group in southern Yemen says it's urgently trying to contact a delegation that traveled to the Saudi capital for talks meant to de-escalate recent tensions.

The United Arab Emirates says it has withdrawn all its troops from Yemen.

Saudi Arabia says it bombed Yemen’s port city of Mukalla over a shipment of weapons for a separatist force that arrived from the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia has called on separatists in southern Yemen to withdraw from two governorates they now hold.

Yemen’s government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels have agreed to release 2,900 detainees in the largest swap during the 11-year civil war.

Napoli has been crowned Italian Super Cup champion after beating Bologna 2-0 in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has quietly expanded access to its only alcohol store, now allowing non-Muslim Premium Residency holders to purchase alcohol legally.

Bologna has beaten Inter Milan on penalties to qualify for next week's Italian Super Cup final.

Arab female film directors are reshaping Arab cinema by telling untold stories and claiming space in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

An official says the airspace over Yemen was briefly closed as tensions rose in the south of the country.

The Red Sea International Film Festival has opened its fifth edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The widow of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is calling for the release of the transcript of a 2019 phone call President Donald Trump had with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A Florida retiree jailed in Saudi Arabia for social media posts critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has returned to the United States after four years of detention and travel restrictions.

President Donald Trump is counting on the tech sector and artificial intelligence to drive his economic agenda.

President Donald Trump says he's turning his attention to helping find an end to the brutal civil war in Sudan.

President Donald Trump denounced ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce as a “terrible reporter” and threatened the network's license to broadcast after she asked three sharp questions in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump is dismissing U.S. intelligence findings that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely had some culpability in the the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

President Donald Trump says he will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia despite some concern within the administration that it could lead to China gaining access to the U.S. technology behind the advanced weapon system.

The White House is preparing to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week with the pomp typical of a state visit.

Elena Rybakina has won the WTA Finals after beating No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0).

No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka has reached the title match at the WTA Finals for the first time in three years after overcoming Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the semifinals in Riyadh.

Aryna Sabalenka has secured a third straight group-stage win at the WTA Finals by defeating Coco Gauff 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Amanda Anisimova reached the last four of the WTA Finals by beating second-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2.

Saudi oil giant Aramco is reporting a $26.9 billion profit in the third quarter, down slightly from last year as global energy prices remain depressed over concerns of too much oil being on the market.

Donald Trump Jr. has mocked protesters involved in "No Kings" demonstrations across the United States while praising his father's business approach to the Middle East.

President Donald Trump's administration is preparing for a visit to the United States by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next month.

A Florida retiree has been convicted of cyber crimes and blocked from leaving Saudi Arabia until next year over social media posts critical of the kingdom’s crown prince.

Pakistan’s defense minister says that his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defense pact.

Saudi Arabia has signed a defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan, pledging that any attack on either nation would be considered an attack on both.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed a defense pact pledging that any attack on either nation would be considered an attack on both.

Talks on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement Friday.

After decades of inaction and frozen negotiations, the issue of an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel was back in the spotlight at a high-level U.N. conference — and France and Saudi Arabia who spearheaded the effort are determined to keep up the momentum.

Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed 47 investment agreements valued at over $6 billion.

Dubai's 13,000 food and drink establishments go all out to attract customers in one of the world's most saturated dining markets.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order ending U.S. sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise.

Oman plans to levy a personal income tax as part of a broader push to move the sultanate’s economy away from reliance on hydrocarbons.

Defender Chris Richards scored with a flick of the ball off a second-half free kick to lift the United States to a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia, sending the Americans on to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.

More than 1.6 million Muslims are completing a core element of the Hajj, the symbolic stoning of the devil.

Muslims from around the world are in the Saudi city of Mecca for this year's Hajj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Saudi officials say they have stopped more than 269,000 Muslims without permits for the Hajj pilgrimage from entering Mecca.

Large numbers of Muslims converge once a year on Saudi Arabia to unite in a series of religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage that is one of the pillars of Islam.

Syria and Saudi Arabia say hey aim to boost economic cooperation in what strengthens their interests and creates jobs for Syrians after Western sanctions imposed on the war-torn country were eased earlier this month.

The holding company that owns Qatar Airways has reported it earned a $2.15 billion profit in its last fiscal year, its highest-ever profit off the back of record passenger numbers as global aviation bounces back after the coronavirus pandemic.

Human rights received far less mention on President Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East this week than is usual for presidential visits to autocratic countries.

A group of international lawyers has filed a formal complaint to FIFA claiming the soccer body is failing to uphold its human rights policy with 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia.

President Donald Trump's trip to the Mideast comes as sons Donald Jr. and Eric work the same part of the world for the family’s moneymaking opportunities.

Saudi Arabia didn’t even wait for U.S. President Donald Trump to land before it set out to impress him in a sky-high way.

Donald Trump received a lavish royal welcome from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he arrived in the kingdom.

U.S. chip maker Nvidia will partner with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund-owned AI startup Humain and will ship 18,000 chips to the Middle Eastern nation to help power a new data center project.

President Donald Trump is holding out Saudi Arabia as a model for a reimagined Middle East.

The White House Correspondents Association says it is disturbed that no reporters from either The Associated Press, Bloomberg or Reuters were allowed on Air Force One to cover President Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East on Monday.

President Donald Trump is on his way to the Middle East, where he had intended to focus on pressing wealthy Gulf nations to pour billions in new investment into the United States.

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco posted first-quarter profits of $26 billion, down 4.6% from the prior year.

Saudi Arabia wants U.S. help developing its own civil nuclear program, and the Trump administration says it’s “very excited” at the prospect.