Prince Faisal and Lavrov discuss Saudi-Russian relations

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. (SPA and Reuters)
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Updated 13 February 2026
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Prince Faisal and Lavrov discuss Saudi-Russian relations

  • Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the two foreign ministers discussed ways to ‘enhance areas of joint cooperation’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov reviewed bilateral relations during a phone call on Friday.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said they discussed ways to “enhance areas of joint cooperation” and “addressed a number of issues of mutual interest."

Russia’s foreign ministry said they also discussed the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Iran, and Yemen.

“They underscored the importance of maintaining a dynamic political dialogue between Moscow and Riyadh, as well as intensifying joint efforts to develop trade, economic, investment, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” the Russian ministry said.

They also discussed preparations for the 100th anniversary next week of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia.


Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim ‘stabbed by stranger on drink, drugs,’ UK court hears

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Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim ‘stabbed by stranger on drink, drugs,’ UK court hears

  • 20-year-old ‘posed no threat to anybody’ when he was attacked in Cambridge last year
  • Jurors watch CCTV video of attack by man in high-vis jacket, BBC reports

LONDON: Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim died after being stabbed in Cambridge by a stranger who had been drinking and using drugs, prosecutors told a court in the UK city on Tuesday.

According to a BBC News website report of the trial at Cambridge Crown Court, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said that the 20-year-old was sitting outside student accommodation on Aug. 1 last year when he was stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife by Chas Corrigan.

CCTV cameras had recorded the attack along with Corrigan’s actions before and after the incident, he said.

Al-Qasim, a University of Jeddah student who had traveled to the UK to study at a language school during the summer, died just after midnight on Aug. 2.

Jurors watched CCTV video footage of the attack, which showed Al-Qasim running away after a confrontation with a man in a yellow high-vis jacket, the BBC report said.

The footage showed Corrigan, who was wearing the jacket, stabbing Al-Qasim, Hearn said.

“The reality is that, in this case, the footage speaks for itself,” he told the jurors.

Hearn said that Corrigan, 22, from Cambridge, had admitted being in possession of a knife at the time but denied murdering Al-Qasim.

Hearn said there was evidence that Corrigan had been drinking and taking drugs before the stabbing and had been “behaving crazily” in a pub.

“Mr Al-Qasim posed no threat to anybody. He was a student who had come to Cambridge to study from Saudi Arabia,” the lawyer said.

Hearn added that “the defendant was the aggressor here,” and that Al-Qasim had never met Corrigan.

Jane Osborne KC, Corrigan’s defense lawyer, said that her client had admitted he was the man in the CCTV video and that he had been carrying the knife, but had “no intention of using that knife,” the BBC report said.

Corrigan had aimed to wave the knife between himself and Al-Qasim, she said.

Corrigan denies murdering Al-Qasim and his trial is expected to last about two weeks.