Free Republic

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud passed away on Monday, March 12, the Royal Court announced in a statement. His funeral prayers will be performed at the Grand Mosque in Makkah following Asr (afternoon) regular prayer on Tuesday, March 13, the official Saudi News Agency (SPA) reported.UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of condolences to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Prince Bandar bin Khalid’s death, official news agency WAM reported. Similar cables were also dispatched by the UAE’s Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed...

Palestinian Authority officials did not attend the meeting, which focused on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. WASHINGTON – Israeli national security officials sat around the same table on Tuesday morning with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, discussing a dire humanitarian situation unfolding in the Gaza Strip. The summit on Gaza, called by Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and senior adviser on Middle East peace, as well as Jason Greenblatt, his special representative for international negotiations, marks an unprecedented moment for Israeli diplomacy, as their dialogue with officials from Arab states is...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his Egypt visit. (SPA) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, visited on Monday Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbasiya neighborhood. Prince Mohammed met Coptic Pope Tawadros II at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral This marks the first visit of its kind by a senior Saudi official to the seat of the Coptic Orthodox patriarchate

Senior Saudi, Emirati and Qatari leaders will meet with US President Donald Trump in the next couple of months, Reuters reports US officials as saying, amid efforts by Washington to try to resolve a dispute between the Gulf neighbors. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani are all planning to have bilateral visits with Trump in March and April, a senior US official said. The agenda will include setting up a Gulf Cooperation Council summit, the official said, which...

We need to thank District Court Judge Richard Scotti, who has ruled that videos and documents from October 1, 2017 be released by the Vegas Metro Police. We are talking here about surveillance video, evidence logs, body camera footage, dispatch logs, 911 calls, search warrant returns, and information on weapons obtained. Surely Judge Scotti is one of the good guys! However, anything involving ammunition dealer, Douglas Haig will be withheld due to his right to a fair trial. That is as it should be. We The People are fair-minded, and we only ask for what is right. UPDATE: A judge...

The stigma following women in Saudi Arabia whose marriages have ended has been, for the most part, eradicated. Many believed it has stemmed from the injustice endured for the duration of the marriage (Photo: AFP) Many believed it has stemmed from the injustice endured for the duration of the marriage (Photo: AFP) Jeddah: Cultures across the globe have a tradition of celebrating a marriage as it marks a new beginning for people. But while the beginning of marital life is special for most, there are those who celebrate the end of it. Saudi Arabia has seen a lot of changes...

Saudi Arabia's Google talks prove Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is the most powerful leader in the Middle East Google and Amazon are reportedly in advanced talks with Saudi Arabia to build a tech hub in that country. This is the result of seven months of swift reforms in Saudi Arabia that began under Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. It's not only proof that bin Salman's reforms have worked, but also that he is now the most powerful man in the entire Middle East. Jake Novak | @jakejakeny Published 4:09 PM ET Thu, 1 Feb 2018 Updated 5:14 PM ET...

Saudi Arabia seizes more than $100bn in settlements 30 Jan 2018 - 18:00 Saudi Arabia's Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said that the kingdom has seized more than $100bn in anti-corruption settlements. The amount - SAR400bn ($106.7bn) - represented various types of assets, including real estate, commercial entities, cash and more, Mojeb said in a statement released by the government's information office on Tuesday. He added that the total number of individuals summoned for questioning reached 381, while 65 remained in custody as part of a nationwide "anti-corruption purge". The statement came as Saudi authorities released all remaining detainees after...

Fighting between southern separatists, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), against forces loyal to Saudi-based president Hadi, risk crippling their once united campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen’s north. The UAE is a major component of a Saudi-led military coalition of Arab states that has supported Hadi’s government since the Houthis seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, three years ago. Hadi’s government operates out of Aden, while he lives in Saudi Arabia. Residents said forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), formed last year to push for the revival of the former independent...

Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been released from detention after he made an undisclosed financial settlement after spending two months in detention in a luxury hotel. The 63-year-old prince was arrested as part of a major clampdown on corruption in Saudi Arabia. He was held, with dozens of other billionaires in the luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh until his release earlier today.

Full title: "Jailed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia's richest man, is running out of time to make a deal" Text of excerpt: Saudi Arabia's richest man is running out of time. It's been more than two months since Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was first arrested and detained in what the Saudi government still calls an "anti-corruption" sweep. Yet the first sign of things getting more serious came early this week when Alwaleed was moved out of his restricted quarters at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton Hotel and moved to Al Ha'ir prison, according to the London-based Arabic news site Al-Araby...

The Jordanian army on Saturday denied a report that two of King Abdullah II’s brothers had been arrested over contacts with Saudi Arabian officials. ... But in denying the arrests, Jordanian military officials said the brothers — Prince Faisal bin Hussein and Prince Ali bin Hussein — had simply “retired.”...

Saudi princes arrested for sit-in against having to pay utilities AFP | Jan 07, 2018, 06.26 PM IST RIYADH: Eleven Saudi princes face trial after their arrest at a sit-in protesting having to pay their utility bills, authorities said today, as the monarchy pursues reforms amid hefty debt and high unemployment. Saudi Arabia's attorney general said "no one is above the law" after the princes were detained outside a palace in Riyadh, where they had gathered last week to demonstrate against a government decision to stop paying the water and electricity bills of royals. They also demanded compensation for a...

A 29-year-old Saudi man was in for the shock of his life when his wife, whom he loved so much, approached the court for a divorce. The estranged husband did not know why his wife would want divorce from him even though he did everything possible for her, but she was adamant in her demand. She admitted that her husband had never denied anything to her but she insisted on leaving him because he preferred her over his own mother. "I can never trust a man who does everything for his wife while he denies even a small favor to...

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave a full-throated defense Friday of U.S. efforts to prevent civilian casualties in the conflict in Yemen, making the case that without American involvement, there would be more. Mattis, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, said that “it’s a tragedy every time” a civilian dies, but that the United States is held to a high standard when it comes to preventing civilian fatalities. “We are being held to a standard – ‘we’ being us and anyone associated with us – that has never been achieved before in warfare,” he said. The comments came after two separate...

She just wanted to bring him a meal from Al Baik. In one of the most bizarre divorce cases to be reported in Saudi Arabia, a man recently divorced his wife because she left home to get a surprise meal for him on his birthday. According to Ain Al Youm, the woman went to popular Saudi restaurant Al Baik, in Al Kherj governorate, to pick up her husband's favorite meal after she'd set up everything to surprise him at home. Speaking to the local news site, a social worker who handled the case, explained that when the wife was...

Yemen's Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile towards the Saudi capital Riyadh targeting a meeting of Saudi leaders at a royal palace on Tuesday, its spokesman said. Mohammed Abdussalam said on Twitter that a Volcano 2-H ballistic missile was fired towards al-Yamama royal palace.  Saudi air defences intercepted the missile, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya reported in a news flash quoting a Saudi-led military coalition.

Palestinian billionaire detained in Saudi Arabia in sweeping corruption probe Family says Sabih al-Masri was held while visiting Riyadh last week in order to 'answer questions about his business and partners' Palestinian billionaire businessman Sabih al-Masri was reportedly detained in Saudi Arabia for questioning last week during a business trip to Riyadh, amidst a sweeping anti-corruption purge of the Saudi elite. Masri, who is the founder of Zara Investment Holding and chairman of Jordan’s largest lender, Arab Bank, was held in the Saudi capital over “information related to corruption,” according to Arabic-language news reports. Friends and family sources confirmed Masri’s...

On the heels of this week's resignation of Karl Marx as leading figure in the communist movement due to allegations of sexual misconduct, the triggered social justice organizers of the #MeToo collective have claimed the scalp of another progressive icon. At a press conference, supported by her family and lawyers, a woman named Aisha claimed that she was taken as a bride by Mr. Muhammad when she was nine years old. When asked why it took so long for her to come out, she stated that she feared nobody would believe her since the testimony of a woman is not...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's military said on Thursday it had accomplished its mission of defeating Islamic State in Syria, and there were no remaining settlements there under the group's control. Russian bombers had used unprecedented force in the final stages to finish off the militant group, a senior Russian officer said. "The mission to defeat bandit units of the Islamic State terrorist organization on the territory of Syria, carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, has been accomplished," Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi, head of the general staff's operations, said on Rossiya 24 TV channel. Syrian government forces were...