Saudi Arabia

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 […]

nuclear weapons

Why Proposal to Sell Saudis Nuclear Technology without Safeguards is Terrifying

The Conversation

By Chen Kane | – According to a congressional report, a group that includes former senior U.S. government officials is lobbying to sell nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia. As an expert focusing on the Middle East and the spread of nuclear weapons, I believe these efforts raise important legal, economic and strategic concerns. It […]

Saudi Arabia

Who Was Behind the Plan to Give Saudi Arabia Nuclear Power, and What Was Their Agenda? — “Trump, Inc.” Extra

ProPublica

By Charles Herman (Propublica) – For a year, “Trump, Inc.” has been digging into the 2017 inauguration. That reporting led us to look closely at the man Donald Trump picked to run the event, Tom Barrack, a wealthy businessman who’s been friends with Trump for decades. As we were finishing our Barrack episode — just […]

Saudi Arabia

Germany refuses to Sell arms to Saudi Arms Ban despite British Lobbying

AFP

Berlin (AFP) – Germany said Wednesday it would hold firm on its decision to halt weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, shrugging off British warnings that the embargo could hurt European credibility and efforts to bring peace in Yemen. “The stance of the government is that we won’t deliver weapons to Saudi Arabia at the moment,” […]

Saudi Arabia

DC “Think Tanks” are up to Their Necks on Foreign Money: Shouldn’t it be Public?

Ben Freeman

(Tomdispatch.com) – The 2016 elections awakened Americans to a startling reality: the country’s political system is ripe for foreign interference. The Russians took full advantage of social media with bot armies and through unregistered foreign agents. While their influence garnered considerable attention and has led to increased enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), […]