The United States agreed on Tuesday to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to a White House fact sheet that called it "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done.

BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Northern Trust Asset Management, Neuberger Berman and I Squared Capital signed preliminary agreements with the roughly $925 billion wealth fund to invest in its efforts to develop a series of new investment strategies focused on Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa region.

A British Bank of America analyst has been jailed for 10 years in Saudi Arabia apparently over a since-deleted social media post.

Trump received a warm welcome upon his arrival and was greeted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the airport. Besides the state honours, the Saudi kingdom also ensured the US President's visit was a memorable one by arranging a mobile McDonald's.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have discussed Riyadh's potential purchase of Lockheed's F-35 jets, two sources briefed on discussions told Reuters, referring to a military aircraft that the kingdom has reportedly been interested in for years.

President Donald Trump has met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first such encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years.

President Trump basked in this desert kingdom’s glitzy welcome as he announced an end to sanctions on Syria, signed investment deals with Saudi Arabia and issued a pointed warning to Iran. On the first of a four-day Middle East visit,