World leaders and top dignitaries have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia to give their condolences following the death of King Abdullah, who died yesterday aged 90 after nearly two decades at the helm.

Saudi Arabia’s new king is expected to continue a policy of keeping oil output steady to drive out rival producers, though the royal succession has focused market attention on the future of the kingdom’s long-serving oil minister.

The incumbent Saudi king is in hospital with pneumonia and his assumed successor is 79 and suffers from dementia. The country is at a crossroads, writes Mohamad Bazzi

One of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted al-Qaida militants has called on Muslims to kill Americans everywhere and vowed attacks against Arab leaders allied to Washington, according to a video on an Islamist website.