Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

Saud al-Qahtani: who is fixer cleared by Saudis over Khashoggi murder?

Posted on by

Saudi prosecutors found no link to aide prominent in CIA, MI6 and Turkish inquiries

In 14 months of global investigations into the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, all paths seemed to lead to Saud al-Qahtani – the most influential aide of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi prosecutors, however, reached a starkly different conclusion on Monday, finding no evidence to link Qahtani to the gruesome killing inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, and instead sentencing five lower-ranking members of a hit squad to death.

Continue reading...

Twitter blocks accounts linked to Saudi ‘state-backed’ manipulation effort

Posted on by

Social network suspends thousands in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda

Twitter said on Friday it had suspended thousands of accounts linked to a manipulation effort stemming from Saudi Arabia, in the latest crackdown on state-sponsored propaganda efforts.

The social network said some 88,000 accounts being blocked were linked to Saudi state-backed “information operations” in violation of Twitter’s platform manipulation rules.

Continue reading...

Saudi Aramco touches $2tn in value on second day of trading

Posted on by

World’s biggest listed company briefly reaches valuation sought by Saudi ruler

Saudi Aramco has touched a market value of $2tn a day after the Saudi state-backed oil company made its stock market debut.

The shares rose almost 10% at the open on the second day of trade on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange, lifting the company’s market value briefly to $2tn, before giving up some of their gains.

Continue reading...

Saudi Aramco becomes most valuable listed company in history

Posted on by

Investor demand pushes oil giant’s market value to $1.9tn on first day of trade in Riyadh

Saudi Aramco has secured its position as the most valuable listed company in history after investor appetite for the world’s biggest fossil fuel producer pushed its market value to $1.9tn (£1.4tn) on its first day of trade.

Shares in the Saudi state-backed oil company defied Aramco’s critics by climbing nearly $200bn above the $1.7tn valuation set before its market debut on Riyadh’s stock exchange.

Continue reading...

Pentagon suspends military training of Saudi students after Pensacola shooting

Posted on by
  • Decision grounds more than 300 military aviation students
  • Three US military members were killed in shooting Friday

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday it was halting operational training of all Saudi Arabian military personnel in the United States until further notice in the wake of the deadly shooting by a Saudi air force officer.

The decision will have far-reaching impacts, including grounding more than 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students.

Continue reading...

More than a million viewers paid to watch Joshua regain titles

Posted on by

Eddie Hearn, the boxer’s promoter, said fight ‘almost certainly’ broke UK pay-per-view record

Criticism of Anthony Joshua for boxing in Saudi Arabia does not appear to have affected his popularity with the British public, with more than a million people paying at least £24.95 to watch the heavyweight regain his world titles on Saturday – a figure that is likely to be a UK record.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said: “We are waiting on the final number but it has almost certainly broken the UK pay-per-view record.”

Continue reading...

Pensacola: suspect watched mass shooting videos at dinner party, official says

Posted on by
  • Three killed before gunman shot at US navy base
  • Student who attended dinner party filmed outside building where shooting took place, official says

The Saudi student suspected of killing three people at a US navy base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a US official told the Associated Press on Saturday.

Related: Pensacola shooting: Saudi student kills three at Florida naval air station, says official

Continue reading...

Saudi Aramco to be world’s most valuable firm after IPO next week

Posted on by

Oversubscribed listing in Riyadh of 1.5% stake in state oil company will value it at $1.7tn

Saudi Aramco is poised to achieve the biggest initial public offering in history next week by raising $25.7bn for the Saudi state in its market debut.

The state-owned oil business will emerge as the world’s most valuable listed company after reportedly valuing its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) apiece before its float on Riyadh’s stock exchange next week.

Continue reading...

Senate calls on government to expedite asylum claim of two gay Saudi journalists in ‘arbitrary’ detention

Posted on by

Multiple global news organisations call for release of men, who fled their country only to become embroiled in Australia’s detention system

The Senate has passed a motion calling on the government to recognise the increased risk it has placed on two gay Saudi journalists by keeping them in detention after they claimed asylum last month.

Guardian Australia can reveal that multiple news organisations around the world have called for the release of the men, warning the Australian government they are watching the case closely.

Continue reading...

Failure to end civil war in Yemen now could cost $29bn

Posted on by

NGO warns conflict may drag on for five years if current peace efforts fail

A failure to capture the present rare chance for peace in Yemen may potentially cost the international community $29bn (£22bn) in further humanitarian aid if the current civil war continues for another five years, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns on Monday in a new report.

It is also likely to prolong Yemen’s inability to return to pre-crisis levels of hunger by 20 years just as famine conditions are improving.

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia aims to buoy oil price before Aramco stock market debut

Posted on by

De facto Opec leader will push other countries to rein in oil output before Aramco’s IPO

Saudi Arabia is planning to use its position at the head of the Opec oil cartel to buoy global oil prices before the $25bn stock market debut of its state-owned oil giant.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to meet its oil market allies this week to agree the cartel’s oil production policy for 2020.

Continue reading...

Two gay Saudi journalists ‘treated like criminals’ in Australia after seeking asylum

Posted on by

Exclusive: Men who fled own country after threats to out them have been detained in Australia

Two Saudi journalists who fled the country after one was interrogated and threatened with their relationship being outed by authorities have been detained in Australia after seeking asylum.

The men, who arrived in Australia some weeks ago, have drawn stark similarities between their treatment in Saudi and their treatment in Australia. They allege they have been threatened with violence twice by other detainees while in the detention centre, intimidated by guards, and witnessed rampant drug use among detainees.

Continue reading...

Uber chief tries to backpedal after calling Khashoggi murder ‘a mistake’

Posted on by

Dara Khosrowshahi scrambles after saying Saudi Arabia’s murder of dissident was a ‘mistake’ similar to self-driving car accident

Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive of Uber, has attempted to limit the damage after calling the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi “a mistake” similar to a fatal accident that occurred during tests of his company’s self-driving car.

Related: The Killing in the Consulate by Jonathan Rugman review – a dark fable of unaccountable power

Continue reading...

Bidding for ‘milestone’ sale of Aramco shares set for next week

Posted on by

State-owned Saudi oil giant said it will provide the final offer price on 5 December

Bidding for shares in the world’s most profitable company will start in one week, it has been announced. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, said it plans to provide the final offer price, precise number and percentage of shares on 5 December.

Its prospectus, released on Saturday night, showed profits of $68.2bn (£53.3bn) for the first six months of this financial year, but did not include any indication of the value the Saudi government hopes to achieve.

Continue reading...

Former Twitter employees charged with spying for Saudi Arabia

Posted on by

Company workers reportedly obtained personal account information of critics of the government in Saudi Arabia

Two former Twitter employees have been charged with spying after they reportedly obtained personal account information for critics of the government of Saudi Arabia.

A complaint unsealed on Wednesday in US district court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi officials to recruit employees at the social media giant to look up the private data of thousands of Twitter accounts.

Continue reading...

Yemen government signs power-sharing deal with separatists

Posted on by

Deal aims to create cohesive government capable of challenging Houthi forces

Yemen’s UN-recognised government has signed a Saudi Arabian-brokered power sharing agreement with separatists in the south of the countryafter months of fighting in the area.

The deal aims to create a new, cohesive government capable of challenging the Iranian-backed Houthi forces that control the capital, Sana’a, and the north.

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia: arrests of dissidents and torture allegations continue

Posted on by

Relaxation of social laws has belied repression since murder of Jamal Khashoggi, says report

Activists, clerics and other perceived critics of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, continue to be arbitrarily detained more than a year after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a report has said.

Bin Salman has overseen the relaxing of a number of the kingdom’s restrictive social laws since assuming a leadership position in the Saudi government four years ago, most recently allowing women over 21 to obtain passports and travel abroad without the permission of a male guardian.

Continue reading...

Saudi bus crash kills 35 foreign tourists near holy city of Medina

Posted on by

Arab and Asian visitors were on a bus when it collided with another heavy vehicle

Thirty-five foreign tourists were killed and four others injured when a bus collided with another heavy vehicle near the Muslim holy city of Medina, Saudi state media said on Thursday.

The accident on Wednesday involved a collision between “a private chartered bus ... with a heavy vehicle (loader)“ near the western Saudi Arabian city, a spokesman for Medina police said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Continue reading...

Banks warned over Saudi Aramco by environmental groups

Posted on by

Eight green groups send letter to express concern over planned market float

Environmental groups have warned the banks linked to Saudi Aramco’s planned market float that they risk financing the destruction of the planet by supporting the public listing of the world’s biggest oil producer.

The eight green groups, including Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth, warned that the world’s largest IPO would be “the biggest single infusion of capital into the fossil fuel industry” since global governments signed the Paris climate accord in 2015.

Continue reading...

Russian shadow falls over Syria as Kurds open door for Assad

Posted on by

With the US gone, the implications of their departure is beginning to sink in across the Middle East

The moment that changed the Middle East arrived with a sudden silence. Just before 7pm on Sunday, the internet was cut across north-eastern Syria where, for half an hour, the Kurds of the region had been digesting a news flash. The Syrian government was returning to two towns, Manbij and Kobane. The implication quickly sunk in.

The regional capital, Qamishli, soon emptied; streets that had bustled with minibuses and shoppers became eerie and still. With the internet down phones were no help and nor were officials who had vanished along with the traffic. Air seemed to be suddenly vacuumed from the city, and the few people still around knew exactly what it meant: this was the moment power changed hands. It was a time to be scared.

Continue reading...