Saudi Arabia

By Megan Darby | – ( Climate Home News ) = Climate lawsuits, clean energy and electric cars pose threats to Saudi Aramco’s mammoth profits, according to a historic public disclosure this winter. The state oil producer netted $111 billion in 2018, more than tech giants Apple and Alphabet combined, it revealed in a bond […]

Featured

Senators Grill Rick Perry on Transfer of Nuclear Info to Saudi Arabia Despite “Troubling Actions”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Timothy Gardner at Reuters reports that senators on Tuesday sent a sharp letter to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry about the Part 810 approvals he secretly gave US businesses to provide sensitive nuclear specifications to Saudi Arabia. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) insisted that Perry inform them […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Political Prisoners Face Severe Abuse: Report

Middle East Monitor

Political prisoners in Saudi Arabia are facing severe abuses by prison authorities, according to a medical report leaked to the Guardian newspaper. The leaked report documented evidence that political prisoners – both men and women – are suffering from malnutrition as well as cuts, burns and bruises due to severe physical abuse by authorities. The […]

Nuclear Energy

As Trump OKs Saudi Nuclear Projects, Rep. Sherman replies: “If you can’t trust a regime with a bone-saw . . .”

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – The United States has given the green light to companies to work on six nuclear projects in Saudi Arabia, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday, despite lawmakers’ worries that the kingdom could seek weapons. Questioned during a Senate hearing, Perry confirmed that the Trump administration has approved six applications to do […]

Saudi Arabia

After Saudi-led Air Strike on Yemen Kills 5 Schoolchildren, US Calls for Probe

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – The United States on Thursday urged Saudi-led forces to conduct a transparent probe after eight people including five children were killed in a strike near a hospital in Yemen. Charity Save the Children reported the death toll at the hospital it supports in Saada province, saying a missile hit a gas […]

Saudi Arabia

UN Human Rights Council seeks Freedom for Saudi Women Activists, Justice for Khashoggi

Human Rights Watch

Geneva (Human Rights Watch) – A joint statement by 36 countries on March 7, 2019 calling on Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record was a landmark step toward justice and accountability, Human Rights Watch said today. The statement, delivered by Iceland at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, condemns the murder […]

Featured

As News of Khashoggi “Kebab” at Saudi Consulate Emerges, GOP Senators Condemn Trump Admin Briefing as Substanceless

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Patricia Zengerle of Reuters reports that even Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came away deeply disappointed with the briefing on the Khashoggi murder by low-level Trump administration officials from the Treasury Department and the State Department. The murder on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul […]

Saudi Arabia

US Diplomats Visit US Citizen Reportedly Tortured by Saudi Government

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – US diplomats have visited a dual US-Saudi national who was reported to have been tortured while imprisoned in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, a top White House official said Sunday. The New York Times, citing the detailed account of an unnamed friend, said guards dragged Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained doctor, to […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia to Put Detained Women Activists on Trial

AFP

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi women activists detained last year in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners will be put on trial, state media said Friday. “The public prosecution would like to announce that it has concluded its investigation and prepared the indictment list against the defendants… and will refer the case to the relevant court,” the […]