At least 320 of the dead are from Egypt and Saudi officials report treating more than 2,000 people for heat stress
At least 550 pilgrims have died during the hajj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year.
At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, the two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP.
Continue reading...Jordanians died in Saudi Arabia after suffering heatstroke, said officials, with temperatures reaching 47C in Mecca
At least 14 Jordanian pilgrims have died while on the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as temperatures soar in the kingdom.
Jordan’s foreign ministry said “14 Jordanian pilgrims died and 17 others were missing” during the performance of hajj rituals. It said its nationals had died “after suffering sun stroke due to the extreme heatwave” and that it had coordinated with Saudi authorities to bury the dead in Saudi Arabia, or transfer them to Jordan.
Continue reading...Union’s claim of ‘epidemic of migrant worker abuses’ could force Fifa to reject state as 2034 host if it fails to meet rights obligations
Saudi Arabia, the likely host of the 2034 World Cup, is facing allegations of widespread use of forced labour among its vast migrant workforce, in a complaint filed at the UN’s International Labour Organization.
The complaint to the ILO alleges that migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are subject to a raft of labour rights violations including failing to pay wages, passport confiscation, illegal recruitment fees, debt bondage and preventing workers freely changing jobs.
Continue reading...Israel indicates agreement involving defence pact with US is not possible if Palestinian state is a condition
The US is worried that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may be willing to torpedo a potential normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia if it entails ending the war in Gaza and committing to working towards a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told the Senate’s foreign relations committee on Tuesday: “There’s an opportunity for Israel to become integrated in the region, to get the fundamental security it needs and wants, to have the relationships it’s wanted since its founding. The Saudis have been clear that this would require calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said, adding: “It may well be at this moment, Israel is not able or willing to proceed down this pathway.”
Continue reading...Lib Dems says Conservatives have ‘serious questions to answer’ about what appears to be clear conflict of interest
A UK government trade summit in Saudi Arabia has been criticised for helping to promote businesses linked to a string of senior Conservatives, including peers and the former chair of the party, Ben Elliot.
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has been in Riyadh this week launching the government-backed Great Futures campaign to promote British trade with Saudi Arabia, despite the Gulf country’s controversial record on the repression of women and LGBT people.
Continue reading...Saudis are keen to end their engagement in Yemen and US needs Saudi support to end Gaza conflict
US determination to keep Saudi Arabia engaged in a peace process with Israel has led Washington to give Riyadh an informal green light to try to revive a peace deal with the Houthis, the Yemen-based rebels who have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November.
The proposed Yemen UN roadmap for peace was agreed in outline in early December but progress was immediately frozen as the Houthis escalated their campaign of attacks in the Red Sea in what they billed as an act of solidarity with Palestine.
Continue reading...Riyadh seeks more modest agreement with Washington in absence of Gaza ceasefire and Netanyahu resistance to Palestinian state
The US and Saudi Arabia have drafted a set of agreements on security and technology-sharing which were intended to be linked to a broader Middle East settlement involving Israel and the Palestinians.
However, in the absence of a ceasefire in Gaza and in the face of adamant resistance from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government to the creation of a Palestinian state – and its apparent determination to launch an offensive on Rafah – the Saudis are pushing for a more modest plan B, which excludes the Israelis.
Continue reading...Manahel al-Otaibi, who frequently promoted female empowerment on social media, was arrested under anti-terror laws
A young women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia was secretly sentenced to 11 years in prison by an anti-terrorism court after being arrested for “her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights”.
Saudi officials confirmed in a statement to the United National high commissioner for Human Rights that Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced on 9 January for what the Saudi government called “terrorist offences”.
Continue reading...Current proposed deal includes 40-day ceasefire and release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages, says David Cameron
Antony Blinken has told a meeting of regional leaders in Riyadh that the most effective way to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza is to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia, the US secretary of state said that there had been “measurable progress” in delivering aid to Gaza, which Israel has beseiged for six months, but more is needed.
Continue reading...Government auditors must look into claims of complicity in corruption on arms deals with UK, says Labour peer
Alleged Ministry of Defence complicity in the “national scandal” of bribery on arms deals in Saudi Arabia must be investigated by government auditors, a senior Labour politician has said.
Peter Hain, the antiapartheid campaigner and peer, said in a letter to the National Audit Office (NAO) that a “timely, targeted” investigation was now necessary after the conclusion of a major criminal trial.
Continue reading...Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s future
Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in a moment that ultimately led to the first world war, these shots were heard around the world, even if few can agree conclusively on what they portend.
By one de minimis account, Tehran was merely sending a performative warning shot with its attack last Saturday, almost taking its ballistic missiles out for a weekend test drive. The maximalist version is that this was a state-on-state assault designed to change the rules of the Middle East. By swarming Israel with so many projectiles, such an assessment goes, Iran was prepared to risk turning Israel into a mini-Dresden of 1945 and was only thwarted by Israeli strategic defences and, crucially, extraordinary cooperation between the US, Israel and Sunni Gulf allies.
Continue reading...Heavy rain forecast in Saudi Arabia and UAE as France and Spain cool down after weekend of high temperatures
Intense thunderstorms are forecast across parts of the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, bringing very high rainfall to the region and a significant flooding risk in parts.
Low pressure over the Arabian peninsula will deepen on Monday while a flow of moist tropical air moves into the region, significantly enhancing the production of showers as a result.
Continue reading...Crown prince’s pet project was sold as a 105-mile-long city of the future, but finances may have led to a rethink
It was billed as a glass-walled city of the future, an ambitious centrepiece of the economic plan backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transition Saudi Arabia away from oil dependency.
Now, however, plans for the mirror-clad desert metropolis called the Line have been scaled down and the project, which was envisaged to stretch 105 miles (170km) is expected to reach just a mile and a half by 2030.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia is likely to host the 2034 tournament, but a Guardian investigation has revealed there are already a high number of ‘unexplained’ migrant worker deaths in the Gulf kingdom
Human rights organisations are warning that another World Cup will be tainted by the deaths and suffering of low-paid workers if Fifa does not take urgent steps to ensure that Saudi Arabia deals with the widespread abuse of its migrant workforce.
As the sole bidder, Saudi Arabia is almost certain to be anointed by Fifa this year as host of the World Cup in 2034, but rights groups said “workers cannot afford a repeat of Qatar 2022”.
Continue reading...Salah Fustok alleged by UK prosecutors to have been a middleman for nearly £10m in payments to Saudi prince
A Foreign Office official floated the idea of giving an honour to a businessman who was later alleged to have helped facilitate millions of pounds of bribes to a Saudi prince and his high-ranking associates.
Salah Fustok was alleged by UK anti-corruption prosecutors to have been a middleman for nearly £10m of payments to Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and other Saudi officials as “an inducement or reward” for the awarding of a contract by the Saudi Arabian national guard.
Continue reading...United States Commission on International Religious Freedom cuts visit short after rabbi told to remove Jewish head covering
A US delegation on religious freedom said on Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town and Unesco world heritage site, when the commission’s chair, the Orthodox rabbi Abraham Cooper, “refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering”.
Continue reading...Harris had longstanding relationship with ABTSS, later alleged by British prosecutors to have handled or received illegal payments
One of the largest military contractors in the US paid commissions to a Saudi company later alleged to have been a conduit for bribes for the kingdom’s royal family.
A document disclosed in a UK criminal trial revealed that Harris Corporation, now L3Harris, paid commissions to the Saudi company for over two decades for services in the kingdom.
Continue reading...The US singer has been called out by human rights activists for hosting a summit and performing on stage in the repressive state
Performer Alicia Keys projects a powerful position on women’s rights, hosting a regular Women to Women summit and posting inspirationally on Instagram on Friday for International Women’s Day. But the singer-songwriter’s message is undermined for some by the revelation that she is hosting the third edition of her summit this weekend in Saudi Arabia.
The American performer and her guests, including Pharrell Williams, best known for his worldwide hit Happy, are to discuss “how women are pushing the culture forward in Saudi Arabia and around the world”, she has announced, before the get-together in the coastal city of Jeddah.
Continue reading...Documents show officials stressing need to ‘keep the Saudis on side’ after revelations about notorious al-Yamamah deal
Britain’s Ministry of Defence moved questionable payments through its own bank account amid one of the biggest corruption scandals in history, despite concerns the money could be pocketed by the Saudi royal family.
Previously confidential documents show how the MoD agreed to make the payments to a Saudi bank account after the transactions came under scrutiny following an investigation by the UK anti-corruption agency, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Continue reading...Revelations about payments by Ministry of Defence are culmination of decades of British deal-making with Saudis
The revelation that the Ministry of Defence paid millions of pounds to a firm that would later be accused of being a conduit for secret payments to high-ranking Saudi officials is the culmination of a scandal that has been half a century in the making.
The £8m paid from an MoD bank account between 2014 and 2017 was in connection with a large defence deal, Sangcom, first struck in the 1970s.
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