Saudi Arabia

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi King Salman’s brother has played down controversial remarks he made to anti-Saudi protesters in London that sparked furious speculation about possible discord within the royal family. Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud apparently told a crowd in London to stop chanting slogans against the Saudi royal family over the kingdom’s involvement in […]

Qatar

Saudi Arabia again threatens Canal to make Neighbor Qatar an Island

AFP

Riyadh (AFP) – A Saudi official hinted Friday the kingdom was moving forward with a plan to dig a canal that would turn the neighbouring Qatari peninsula into an island, amid a diplomatic feud between the Gulf nations. “I am impatiently waiting for details on the implementation of the Salwa island project, a great, historic […]

Featured

Saudi Crown Prince vows Yemeni Children will “Shiver,” but is He on Way Out?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mohamed Bin Salman, the thirty-two-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is finding his wings clipped, by his father and by the heavy hand of reality, so severely that some are speculating about whether he can survive politically. Alkhaleejonline.net reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman recently met with his […]

Saudi Arabia

For 1st Time, Saudis Seek Death Penalty for Woman Shiite Activist

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (Beirut) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution is seeking the death penalty against five Eastern Province activists, including female human rights activist Israa al-Ghomgham, Human Rights Watch said today. The activists, along with one other person not facing execution, are being tried in the country’s terrorism tribunal on charges solely related to their […]

Featured

Yemen: Why is the US Helping Saudis Kill Children, Allying with al-Qaeda?

Juan Cole

The Saudi and United Arab Emirates war on little Yemen, which was launched by Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman in March of 2015, has flown under the radar among the US public until recently. Then on August 9, the Saudi-led air coalition struck Saadeh, the stronghold of the Helpers of God (Houthi) movement in north […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Women can Finally Drive, But are their Voices Being Heard?

The Conversation

By Nermin Allam | – Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-long ban on women’s driving. The move is part of a series of reforms that the country has been implementing. In April the kingdom loosened male guardianship laws – under which women need the permission of a male guardian to work, travel or […]

Green Transportation

Elon Musk says in Talks with Saudis on Taking Tesla Private

AFP

By Rob Lever | – Washington (AFP) – Tesla chief executive Elon Musk disclosed Monday that he was in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other investors to take the electric automaker private. The revelation came after Musk claimed in an August 7 Twitter post that financing for a deal to take Tesla […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Arrest of Women’s Rights Activists puts it on Wrong Side of History

Zainah Anwar

Co-author: Kamala Chandrakirana | – London (OpenDemocracy) – From Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, Muslim women’s movements for equality are increasingly interconnected – and unstoppable. A Saudi woman poses with her new driving license after the country’s ban on women driving was lifted in June, 2018. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved.Saudi Arabia’s ongoing crackdown […]

Saudi Arabia

How Bin Salman’s Attack on Canada is Harming the Saudi Economy

Middle East Monitor

By Alastair Sloan | – The Canada-Saudi spat looks set to accelerate as the Kingdom’s central bank ordered its fund managers to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars in equities, bonds and cash from Canadian financial markets yesterday. The Wall Street Journal quickly judged that “the relatively small selloff isn’t expected to carry a major […]