Saudi Arabia

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to investigative journalist Vicki Ward, Jared Kushner, a minor New York hustler who managed to marry into the Donald Trump crime family, became the anti-Jon Snow in the Saudi game of thrones. That is, he enabled the worst possible ruler to come to power, and got a $2 billion […]

Houthi

Unlawful Killing in Yemen: Recent Saudi-UAE Attack Targeted Civilians

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Sanaa) – The Saudi and UAE-led coalition carried out three attacks in Yemen in late January 2022 in apparent violation of the laws of war that resulted in at least 80 apparently civilian deaths, including three children, and 156 injuries, including two children, Mwatana for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch […]

Corruption

Why did the Saudis invest $2 bn with Jared Kushner?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Sunday, David D. Kirkpatrick and Kate Kelly of the New York Times got a big scoop — they gained access to internal documents of the board that vets investments for the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, called the Public Investment Fund. These memos demonstrate that the board argued against […]

Displaced and Refugees

US Assistance to Saudi-Led Coalition Risks Complicity in War Crimes

Human Rights Watch

By Afrah Nasser Yemen Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The protracted conflict in Yemen has killed almost a quarter of a million people directly or indirectly due to inadequate food, health care, and infrastructure. It has included unlawful attack after unlawful attack, with homes, hospitals, schools, […]

Saudi Arabia

Yemen: Will Resignation of Saudi-backed Absentee President help End US-Backed War?

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com ) – After months of apparent deadlock, the last few days have brought tentative signs of a shift in Yemen’s seven-year conflict. On Friday Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy, announced that the protagonists had agreed to a two-month ceasefire. The truce, which came into force on Saturday, was the first since 2016 […]

Natural Gas

Bin Putin? How Russia is increasingly becoming the Saudi Arabia of the North

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus) – A failed military intervention. The genocidal killing of citizens. Economic isolation by the international community. The arrests of anti-war protestors at home and the shuttering of independent media. Any one of these factors could mark the end of an ordinary political leader. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin has not […]

Houthi

When will the Saudis, the UAE and the US admit that the Ruinous Yemen war has Failed?

Middle East Monitor

By Saeed Al-Shehabi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The war in Yemen will complete its seventh year this week and there is no end on the horizon, despite continuous calls to bring the conflict to a close. International anti-war organisations intensify their calls for a ceasefire, knowing that it is a “futile […]

censorship

Saudi Arabia: Mass Execution of 81 Men: Rampant Abuses in Criminal Justice System, lack of Fair Trials

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities’ execution of 81 men on March 12, 2022 was its largest mass execution in years despite recent promises to curtail its use of the death penalty, Human Rights Watch said today. Rampant and systemic abuses in Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system suggest it is highly unlikely that […]

Climate Crisis

Oil Sheikhs have us Behind the 8-Ball: The UAE’s mixed Signals on Oil underline need for US to move Rapidly to Green Transportation

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – America is paying the price for lagging behind in its adoption of electric vehicles and in putting in more electric mass transit. Because we are still mostly a society that moves on gasoline, we are dependent on the worst people in the world for our energy. Even where we produce […]