Free Republic

'All Muslims' intending to travel to Islam's holiest sites to perform the hajj should delay making plans this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a senior Saudi official has said. In February, the kingdom took the extraordinary decision to close off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners, a step which was not taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide. Restrictions have tightened in the kingdom as it grapples with 1,563 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 10 reported deaths so far. Every year, as many as two million Muslims perform the hajj...

“It saddens me”, he says,” to see the white man beating his breast over and over, too emasculated to put up any resistance to people who’ve come to threaten him on his own doorstep”. He believes that a toxic mix of guilt, “human rightsism”, political naivety and crass ignorance of History have a debilitating effect on Europeans’ capacity to fight the invasion. He accuses the corrupt African leaders of destroying the lives of hundreds of millions of human beings in all impunity, but is equally critical of the ideologues who are paving the way for them. They should stop blaming...

Saudi Arabia is moving forward with an initial public offering of its huge state oil producer that could shatter records and give investors the chance to own a piece of the world's most profitable company. Following approval from the country's regulators, Saudi Aramco on Sunday formally announced its intention to float shares on the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh. Aramco executives will now embark on an international roadshow to court investors, and a prospectus outlining the company's financial details is expected later this month.

Key members of Donald Trump's inner circle will attend the Saudi economic forum known as "Davos in the Desert" one year after shunning it in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi's murder. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will fly to Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative (FII,) Quartz reported Monday. In October 2018, Mnuchin abandoned plans to attend the conference after talks with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He never specified why he didn't attend, but the conference took place just weeks after Khashoggi's killing. The conference in Riyadh, which takes place from October...

Medical examiners in New York have ruled that the mysterious deaths of two sisters found dead and duct taped together on the banks of the Hudson River was a double suicide. The cause of death was drowning. The bodies of Rotana Ferea, 23 and Tala Farea, 16 were discovered on October, 24 2018 near the George Washington Bridge. They were quickly identified as Saudi citizens who had gone missing from a shelter-like facility, possibly for abused women, in Fairfax, Virginia in August. "Today, my office determined that the death of the Farea sisters was the result of suicide, in which...

A new study... suggests that early hominin dispersals beyond Africa did not involve adaptations to environmental extremes, such as to arid and harsh deserts. The discovery of stone tools and cut-marks on fossil animal remains at the site of Ti's al Ghadah provides definitive evidence for hominins in Saudi Arabia at least 100,000 years earlier than previously known. Stable isotope analysis of the fossil fauna indicates a dominance of grassland vegetation, with aridity levels similar to those found in open savanna settings in eastern Africa today. The stable isotope data indicates that early dispersals of our archaic ancestors were part...

Without evidence, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), a member of the House intelligence committee, said Jared Kushner might have passed a “hit list” to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulting in the apparent brutal slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Castro, during a CNN appearance Friday morning, cited unspecified “reporting that Jared Kushner may have, with U.S. intelligence, delivered a hit list, an enemies list, to the crown prince, to MBS, in Saudi Arabia and that the prince may have acted on that, and one of the people he took action against is Mr. Khashoggi.”

Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should not attend an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia amid an ongoing investigation into the country's possible involvement in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing earlier this month in Turkey. "I don't think he should go," Rubio told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," adding that he doesn't think any US officials should continue with their usual business in Saudi Arabia until Washington gets to the bottom of Khashoggi's disappearance. "I don't think any of our government officials should be going and pretending...

Construction, which began with the ground-breaking ceremony, is set to last until 2021. Once completed, it will be the reference point for the community of northern Arabia. In addition to the church, it will have a residential area for the episcopal curia, a guest house and educational facilities. A time capsule was placed in its foundations with the history of the local Church and Christians.Manama (AsiaNews) – The Church of Bahrain and the Gulf recently celebrated the formal start of the construction of the new cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, patron saint of the Arabian Peninsula. The new place...

The Saudisation policy of Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has coincided with an "expat exodus" and a drop in foreign investment. •Saudi businesses are complaining that locals don't want to do "low-status" jobs that many expats worked — creating a real problem for the economy. •In November, a paper by the Institute of International Finance projected capital outflows in 2017 at $101 billion, 15% of GDP. •Fortunately, a recent rebound in oil prices has temporarily rescued the ailing Saudi Arabian economy, but it will not be a long-term solution....

Three Saudi-based female influencers have visited Korea as part of Hyundai’s outreach to women drivers in the Kingdom, and as brand ambassadors for the carmaker. The three women include entrepreneur and lifestyle influencer Bayan Linjawi; radio presenter, travel blogger, and fashion lover, Shadia Abdul Aziz; and business-owner and fashion career coach, Reem Faisal. During their tour of Korea they received detailed briefings about Hyundai and its products, and toured production, design and research facilities. The program gave them an understanding of the innovative and advanced thinking that underpins today’s Hyundai models, and also included opportunities to experience Korean culture and...

Saudi Arabia's crown prince affirmed Israel's right to exist...pointedly bucking other leaders in the Arab world and signaling support for President Trump's Middle East agenda...the crown prince told The Atlantic. "Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world...He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened."

The King of Saudi Arabia plans to step down and announce his son as his successor next week, a source close to the country's royal family has exclusively told DailyMail.com. The move is seen as the final step in 32-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman's power grab, which began earlier this month with the arrests of more than 40 princes and government ministers in a corruption probe. The source said King Salman will continue only as a ceremonial figurehead, handing over official leadership of the country to his son - often referred to as MBS.

It can be hard to keep up with the headlines flying out of Saudi Arabia. Several members of the royal family and important Saudi businessmen were suddenly and unexpectedly arrested in a broad roundup over the weekend. And the president of the United States is dashing off late-night tweets, trying to get the Kingdom to bestow a tremendous, highly anticipated stock offering to Wall Street. Here's the background: Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is one of the most internationally famous members of the Saudi royal family — but that doesn't necessarily make him popular at home. In...

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a bitter and vocal rival of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, has been arrested in the royal family’s sweeping anti-corruption crackdown. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has arrested and removed a slew of corrupt and prominent officials, including dozens of princes and former ministers. Al Arabiya, a Saudi state-run news outlet, reported bin Talal was among those arrested. People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) confirmed he was one of at least 11 princes arrested. The billionaire chairman of Kingdom Holding Co. was once a business associate of President Trump. But his “America First” platform was a direct threat...

The half-a-trillion-dollar initiative to build a tristate city at the Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian border in the Gulf of Aqaba will more than likely lead to Riyadh recognizing Israel and integrating Tel Aviv into the project. The ambitious Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman unveiled a $500 billion project at an investment forum earlier this week in an effort to bring some serious substance to his Vision 2030 project of fundamentally diversifying his country’s oil-dependent economy in the coming decade. The proposal calls for a gigantic city called NEOM to be built at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba...

MAKKAH: Economic experts have said Hajj and Umrah revenues are poised to exceed $150 billion by 2022 in light of the expected mergers of economic blocs and groupings to meet the growing demand on Hajj and Umrah economics in terms of transport, commercial stores and expansion in small, medium enterprises (SMEs). Muhsin Al-Sharif, a member of the Committee of Real Estate and Investment, said Hajj revenues will feed the national economy and, therefore, an integrated plan should be worked out to control revenues and financial resources in a manner that will serve Vision 2030. This will also serve the national...

Yousef Otaiba ridicules Gulf ally in email exchange, betraying years of frustration at Riyadh old guard that coalesced into efforts to change it The UAE's ambassador to Washington described Saudi Arabia's leadership as "f***in' coo coo!", in one of a series of leaked emails that suggest years of Emirati frustration with Riyadh's old regime that has coalesced into a clear strategy to usurp it by bolstering the rise of the young Mohammed bin Salman. The messages, obtained by Middle East Eye through the GlobalLeaks hacking group, show Otaiba mocking Saudi Arabia to his Egyptian wife, Abeer Shoukry, over the Saudi...

"Qatar's demands to internationalize the holy sites is aggressive and a declaration of war against the kingdom," Adel al-Jubeir was quoted saying on Al Arabiya's website. "We reserve the right to respond to anyone who is working on the internationalization of the holy sites," he said. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said no official from his country had made such a call. "We are tired of responding to false information and stories invented from nothing," Sheikh Mohammed told Al Jazeera TV. Qatar did accuse the Saudis of politicizing hajj and addressed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on...

Saudi Arabia-based fashion authority Marriam Mossalli discusses the popularity of vintage abayas, Melania Trump and the Dior "Feminist" T-shirt. "The same way women love shoes and bags, we love abayas,” says Saudi Arabia-based fashion authority Marriam Mossalli, founder of luxury fashion consultancy Niche Arabia and the fashion blog Shoes and Drama. “That’s what you’re seeing everyday. It’s our national garment that we wear outside. We wear it [with pride] and it’s all about showing it off.” In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s senior fashion editor Booth Moore, Mossalli addressed a small crowd at Los Angeles' Mondrian Hotel on Thursday night...