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Government in Saudi Arabia

  • Saudi Arabia detains critics as new Crown Prince consolidates power

    SAUDI ARABIA, 2017/09/16 Saudi Arabia has begun a wide-ranging crackdown against perceived opponents of the policies of the kingdom's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Over the last week, 16 people were held, their friends, relatives and associates said in interviews. They include prominent Islamic clerics, academics, a poet, an economist, a journalist, the chief of a youth organization, at least two women and one prince, a son of a former king. Some of them were taken from their homes in unannounced raids by security forces, and their computers, cellphones and personal papers were seized, the friends and relatives said. Those arrested have been held incommunicado, and it is not clear if they have been formally charged with crimes. Saudi Arabia has not publicly released any evidence it may have against them.

  • Saudi King to visit White House in 2018

    UNITED STATES, 2017/09/08 King Salman of Saudi Arabia will make an official visit to Washington early next year for talks with President Donald Trump, the White Home said Wednesday. King Salman and President Trump discussed how to advance shared goals such as strengthening security and prosperity in the Middle East The two leaders held a telephone conversation in which they discussed how to advance shared goals such as strengthening security and prosperity in the Middle East, the White Home said in a statement.

  • Addiction and intrigue: Inside the Saudi palace coup

    SAUDI ARABIA, 2017/07/20 On Tuesday June 20 Mohammed bin Nayef, a powerful figure in Saudi Arabia's security apparatus for the completed two decades and the next in line to the throne, was summoned to meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz on the fourth floor of the royal palace in Mecca. There, according to a source close to MbN, as he is known, the king ordered him to step aside in favor of the king's favorite son, Mohammed bin Salman. The reason: an addiction to painkilling drugs was clouding MbN's judgment. "The king came to meet MbN and they were alone in the room. He told him: 'I want you to step down, you didn't listen to the advice to get treatment for your addiction which dangerously affects your decisions'," said the source close to MbN.

  • Saudi palace intrigue sparks speculation

    SAUDI ARABIA, 2015/05/19 The king as well restored the ailing foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, with a non-royal, Adel al-Jubeir, the serving ambassador to Washington. Prince Saud, foreign minister since 1975, wanted out. Jubeir has been the public spokesman in the United States for the Yemeni intervention. His expertise is his knowledge of how US politics and Washington's bureaucracy work. Part the other changes Salman made April 29 was the ouster of the only woman to ever hold a sub-cabinet position. Deputy Education Minister for Girls Nura al-Fayez had been appointed by King Abdullah in 2009. She advocated girls physical education, which Wahhabi zealots strongly opposed. Salman as well gave all military and security forces a bonus of one-month's pay, their second since he ascended the throne in January. He approved a restructuring of the oil industry May 1, separating the Oil Ministry from ARAMCO, the national-owned oil company. Mohammed bin Salman proposed the change, which comes amid low oil prices, an increasingly expensive war and huge bonuses.

  • Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly Cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem

    ISRAEL, 2015/05/19 In a previous article, I described the strange reality we face in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to engage in any kind of dialogue with the US government to receive a generous and perhaps unprecedented “compensation package” as a result of the emerging agreement between Iran and six world powers. My article elicited numerous reactions, not only from Jerusalem and Washington, but from all international alignment, particularly Europe and the Middle East

  • Saudi King Abdullah dies, Prince Salman new Ruler, Prince Muqrin Crown Prince

    SAUDI ARABIA, 2015/01/27 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia passed away before dawn on Friday. UAE President His Highness President Khalifa said, “We mourn the death of one of the majority notable leaders of the Arab Country and Muslim Country who generously gave a lot to his people and his country and sincerely defended the causes of the Arab Country and the Muslim Country. Sheikh Khalifa praised the late king for being dedicated himself to the service of his people and country and worked on bolstering cohesion of the Arab Country.

  • Governance and Public Sector employment in the Arab World 2012-09-19

    BAHRAIN, 2012/09/19 Recent events across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have underscored the urgent need to ensure job creation and an enabling environment for a young and better-educated, extra skilled labor force.  The international economic crisis has further deepened the problem in a region that is characterized by the world’s highest youth unemployment rate and the lowest female labor force participation. This goes hand-in-hand with overwhelmingly low price-added employment and a public sector that in most countries still provides most formal jobs.  Tackling these problems and challenges has become a key policy priority for virtually amount governments in the region.
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