The shock announcement on Tuesday that golf’s elite PGA Tour would merge with its Saudi rival LIV Golf prompted a wave of outrage and concern that Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most prolific human rights abusers, was succeeding in a quest to use sports to polish its public image.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday local time for the first of his major engagements in Saudi Arabia, reportedly discussing, among other issues, “progress on human rights” and “clean energy.”
Socialist Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro became the latest anti-American leader to forge ties with Saudi Arabia, receiving a warm welcome on Monday from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah the day before American Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive there.
Saudi Arabia announced a million-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil production cut on Sunday that would begin in July, a policy change following a meeting of the OPEC+ oil cartel in which several members failed to meet their production quotas and one, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced a production increase.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Saudi Arabia on Friday for meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and an address to the League of Arab States, holding its summit this weekend.
A panel of United Nations human rights experts published a letter this week condemning Saudi Arabia for sentencing multiple indigenous tribesmen to death on vague “terrorism” charges after opposing the displacement of their tribes from the country’s northwest, where Riyadh is planning the construction of an allegedly revolutionary “megacity.”
President Joe Biden issued a statement this weekend thanking Saudi Arabia for “critical” aid in evacuating the American embassy in Khartoum, Sudan – a rare expression of praise for a country Biden promised as a presidential candidate to turn into a “pariah” nation.
Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping reiterated his commitment to cooperation with Saudi Arabia in a phone call to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, following multiple announcements from Saudi state oil company Aramco of major investments in China this weekend.
The Islamic dictatorship of Iran announced on Sunday that it had received a formal invite for President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from that nation’s King Salman.
As the world takes to the skies in the wake of three years of coronavirus upset, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is looking to capitalise on the return to growth of the international travel industry.
South African officials confirmed last week that the BRICS coalition – South Africa, China, India, Russia, and Brazil – are actively considering expanding membership, a proposal that would potentially force arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran into an alliance.
Former CIA Director John Brennan said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that former President Donald Trump’s relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman raised “legitimate questions” about foreign interference in U.S. elections.
A study published this week by two human rights organizations found that executions in Saudi Arabia rose a prodigious 82 percent between 2015, the year King Salman came to power, and 2022.
Reports circulating this week that Visit Saudi, the official tourism board of Saudi Arabia, would sponsor the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup prompted an eruption of outrage in the soccer world and a loud protest on Wednesday by host nations Australia and New Zealand that they were not involved in the approval process.
Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Tuesday that his government is willing to consider alternatives to the U.S. dollar for international trade.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco announced on Sunday that it has signed a deal with Chinese analog China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) to build an oil refinery in southeast Fujian province, helping secure a stable and affordable supply of gasoline and other fuels in China.
The governments of Saudi Arabia and China published a lengthy joint statement on Friday detailing the topics of discussion between King Salman and visiting Chinese dictator Xi Jinping that revealed an agreement “welcoming” Saudi involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, commonly referred to by his initials, MBS, welcomed Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to Riyadh with a gregarious handshake and lavish ceremony featuring a 21-gun salute, a royal band performance, and jets painting the sky in the colors of the Chinese flag.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed issued a statement taking credit on Thursday for allegedly negotiating the prisoner swap that released basketball player Brittney Griner and notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “merchant of death.”
Chinese dictator Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday for a visit expected to result in nearly $30 billion in trade agreements with the Arab kingdom.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Qatar on Monday, meeting with the nation’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and congratulating the country on hosting the FIFA World Cup, the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament.
The government of Saudi Arabia confirmed on Tuesday that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping will travel to the country to attend two summits from December 7 to 9, Xi’s third trip abroad since the pandemic and his furthest away from home.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) paid a brief, but extremely lucrative, visit to South Korea on November 16, signing about $75 billion worth of investment agreements in less than 24 hours.
Energy Security senior advisor Amos Hochstein said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that President Joe Biden’s move to grant Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman legal immunity for his role in Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder was not a “quid pro quo” for lower oil prices.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman asserted Monday his country and other OPEC+ member nations “remain ready to intervene” and again cut oil production if they deem it necessary – a rebuke of a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming the oil cartel was preparing to increase supply.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper said Sunday on his show “State of the Union” that President Joe Biden’s move to grant the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman legal immunity over his role in Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has the “stink of complicity.”
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reacted to the State Department backing immunity for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from a lawsuit over the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by stating that “it’s disturbing that it’s
The U.S. Department of Justice declared in a court filing on Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should receive immunity from a lawsuit filed by the fiance of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at an event alongside Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday that Communist Party dictator Xi Jinping was “expected” to make a visit to the Mideast nation soon, a sign of growing proximity between the two nations amid an increasingly bitter spat between the Saudi royals and the White House.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to walk back some of Washington’s condemnation of Saudi Arabia on the grounds that Riyadh was too friendly to Russia on Wednesday, crediting the Saudis for “positive developments” such as humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
The left-wing newspaper New York Times claimed in a report on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources in American and Gulf Arab governments, that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had promised leftist American President Joe Biden an increase in oil production but “duped” the White House.
President Joe Biden and his administration worked extensively to work out a secret deal with Saudi Arabia to ease oil and gas prices right before the midterm elections, even though the Saudis ultimately backtracked.
Anonymous “people inside the Saudi government” told the Wall Street Journal in an article published Tuesday that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has little respect for leftist American President Joe Biden and makes fun of the elderly leader’s seemingly poor mental faculties in private.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said during a visit to Riyadh this weekend that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is interested in joining the BRICS coalition, a trade and security organization led by Russia and China.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman pronounced himself “astonished” by the barrage of attacks from the Biden White House last week accusing Riyadh of siding with Russia in the eight-year-old invasion of Ukraine, citing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s kind words towards the country as contradicting Washington.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered a drop in oil production increases after leftist American President Joe Biden met with him in Riyadh this summer, the Wall Street Journal claimed in a report citing anonymous rumors on Tuesday.
A Saudi human rights NGO reported on Monday that the Specialized Criminal Court in Saudi Arabia had sentenced three men to death this month for “refusing to be evicted” from the northern site the government has proposed for the building “Neom,” a nine-million-person mega-city to be anchored by a 75-mile-long skyscraper.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who enjoys close relations to Russia and has overseen a reported increase in purchases of Russian oil, was “crucial” in brokering an agreement to release ten fighters captured fighting for Ukraine, Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat told the BBC on Friday.
A Saudi mother who was studying at a UK university was sentenced to 34 years in prison when she returned home for vacation. Her “crime” was owning a Twitter account and sharing her views on human rights.
The United States has approved a $3.05 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia in the wake of President Joe Biden’s visit to the country.
