When my Travel story about Saudi Arabia was published online last week, some readers bristled. Why, they wanted to know, had The New York Times’s Travel team devoted so much time and effort to a country whose authoritarian government has committed grievous human rights abuses? Why did the kingdom deserve our attention? How much had…
Wandering alone along the southern fringes of Saudi Arabia’s mountainous Asir Province, some eight miles from the Yemeni border, in a nondescript town with a prominent sculpture of a rifle balanced on an ornately painted plinth, I met a man, Nawab Khan, who was building a palace out of mud. Actually, he was rebuilding the…
At a two-hour drive from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, rows of solar panels extend to the horizon like waves on an ocean. Despite having almost limitless reserves of oil, the kingdom is embracing solar and wind power, partly in an effort to retain a leading position in the energy industry, which is vitally important to…
On a Monday morning last month, tech executives, engineers and sales representatives from Amazon, Google, TikTok and other companies endured a three-hour traffic jam as their cars crawled toward a mammoth conference at an event space in the desert, 50 miles outside Riyadh. The lure: billions of dollars in Saudi money as the kingdom seeks…
On a Monday morning last month, tech executives, engineers and sales representatives from Amazon, Google, TikTok and other companies endured a three-hour traffic jam as their cars crawled toward a mammoth conference at an event space in the desert, 50 miles outside Riyadh. The lure: billions of dollars in Saudi money as the kingdom seeks…
The government of Saudi Arabia plans to create a fund of about $40 billion to invest in artificial intelligence, according to three people briefed on the plans — the latest sign of the gold rush toward a technology that has already begun reshaping how people live and work. In recent weeks, representatives of Saudi Arabia’s…
We need a more menacing term than sports washing because it’s not working. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the ATP tour agreed to a five-year sponsorship Wednesday, with courtside ads slated for the season-ending ATP Finals, Indian Wells (of course), Miami, Madrid, and Beijing. Will the Saudi Basketball League poach NBA stars? | Agree…
Saudi Arabia has already invested heavily in several sports. Now, the nation plans to make headway into women’s tennis and host the 2024 WTA Finals — if a deal can be reached. Being a Tennis Gladiator like Roger Federer | Bear Grylls’ Ultimate Sports Fantasy “As everyone knows, we are working through a process to…
