Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

Agence France-Presse reports: Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment, the state human rights commission said Saturday, hailing a “major step forward” in the reform programme launched by the king and his powerful son. Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia — sometimes extending to hundreds of lashes — have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups. But they say the …

Roll Call reports: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 1,200 points, or 5 percent, in the first two days of trading this week amid turmoil in energy markets. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed down 631.6 points, or 2.7 percent, and the S&P 500 closed down 86.6, or 3.1 percent. The losses followed record lows for oil on …

Markets Insider reports: Oil plunged to a more than three-decade low on Monday. The commodity’s latest round of sharp selling comes as uncertainty mounts around storage for excess oil. Demand for crude has plummeted since the coronavirus outbreak has frozen activity worldwide. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures expiring in May plunged as much as 84% to …

NBC News reports: Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, urged Muslims worldwide to pray at home during Ramadan if their countries require social distancing, to curb the spread of the coronavirus, state news agency SPA reported on Sunday. “Muslims shall avoid gatherings, because they are the main cause of the spread of infection and shall remember …

The New York Times reports: The senior Saudi prince who is governor of Riyadh [photo] is in intensive care with the coronavirus. Several dozen other members of the royal family have been sickened as well. And doctors at the elite hospital that treats Al-Saud clan members are preparing as many as 500 beds for an expected influx of other royals …

The BBC reports: Pixar’s latest animation Onward has been banned by several Middle Eastern countries because of a reference to lesbian parents, according to reports. The family film will not be shown in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Hollywood media have reported. Police officer Specter, voiced by Lena Waithe, has been heralded as Disney-Pixar’s first openly gay character. Her …

Reuters reports: Oil prices lost as much as a third of their value on Monday in their biggest daily rout since the 1991 Gulf War as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled they would hike output in a market already awash with crude after their three-year supply pact collapsed. Despite sliding demand for crude due to the coronavirus, Riyadh made plans …

The New York Times reports: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has detained three members of the royal family, including a brother of the king and a former crown prince, a sign of how fully Crown Prince Mohammed has consolidated power, and that he may have seen a potential threat to it. The detentions were disclosed Friday by a member of …

From the editorial board of the Washington Post: If Mohammed bin Salman did target Mr. Bezos for surveillance, it would not be an isolated case. As U.N. investigators Agnes Callamard and David Kaye said in their statement, “the allegations reinforce other reporting pointing to a pattern of targeted surveillance of perceived opponents and those of broader strategic importance to the …

The Telegraph reports: Boris Johnson has been in communication with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince over WhatsApp, multiple former UK government figures have told The Telegraph, raising major security concerns in light of the Jeff Bezos hack. One source said they were “99 per cent sure” Mr Johnson sent messages over the platform to Mohammed bin Salman while others noted he …

The Daily Beast reports: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent Jeff Bezos a photograph of woman resembling the one he was having an affair with months before the National Enquirer published a report exposing the liaison, according to a United Nations investigation. Two United Nations special rapporteurs released a statement Wednesday detailing forensic evidence linking MBS to the Bezos hack, …

The Telegraph reports: United Nations experts have called for an “immediate investigation” by the United States into information they received that suggests that Jeff Bezos’ phone was hacked after receiving a file sent from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s WhatsApp account. A joint statement from Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur for extra-judicial killings, and David Kaye, the …

The Guardian reports: The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian. The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file …

Politico reports: Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), a vocal critic of President Trump, on Saturday accused the president of selling U.S. military support to Saudi Arabia. Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham the day before that he had pressured Riyadh to compensate the U.S. for a recent deployment to the Middle East. “We have a very good …

Axios reports: Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid Bin Salman, revealed on Twitter that he delivered a message to President Trump yesterday from his brother, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned it could become engulfed in uncontrolled escalation between the U.S. and Iran following President Trump’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. That explains …

ABC News reports: The U.S. has warned American citizens in Saudi Arabia “of the heightened risk of missile and drone attacks” amid soaring tensions with Iran. A security alert message sent Sunday by the U.S. mission there said that in the past “regional actors hostile to Saudi Arabia have conducted missile and drone attacks against both civilian and military targets …

The New Straits Times reports: Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 200 people for violating “public decency” – including by wearing immodest clothing – and “harassment“, police said, in the first such crackdown since the ultra-conservative kingdom began easing social norms. Some 120 men and women have been arrested over the past week for offending public morals, including wearing “inappropriate …

Politico reports: A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist and royal family critic Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported that three others were sentenced to prison. All can …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Friday said he spoke with King Salman of Saudi Arabia after U.S. officials said that a Saudi national was suspected of opening fire at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., killing three people and injuring several others. “The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the …

The Washington Post reports: The DOJ  has charged two former Twitter employees with spying for Saudi Arabia in a case that raises concerns about the ability of Silicon Valley to protect the private information of dissidents and other users from repressive governments. The charges came a day after the arrest of one of the former Twitter employees, Ahmad Abouammo, a …