Five years after Saudi Arabia expelled Canada’s ambassador from Riyadh over Ottawa’s remarks on women’s rights activists, both countries agreed Wednesday to restore full diplomatic relations, Global Affairs Canada (Canada’s foreign ministry – GAC) announced in a statement. According to press reports, the meeting in November between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Arabia’s Crown…
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s in-the-works Saudi Arabian megadevelopment is being touted as a futuristic paradise — but tech privacy pundits are concerned for the rights of residents. Known as Neom, the $1 trillion city is a pet project of the prince and is set to feature an artificial ski resort, robots and AI for…
The meeting between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman comes as Egypt faces a deepening economic crisis and the region witnesses major realignments. Saudi Arabia is advancing multiple regional diplomatic tracks in hosting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and mulling restoration of relations with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad ahead of the Arab…
Greetings from Tyler, This week will go down in history, for more than one reason. Well-known and respected commentators are saying that there’s no going back. If the ruling party decides to use the levers of state power to bring down an opponent, then the primary difference between America and the third world no longer…
Decision seen to tighten ties to Beijing and strengthen Riyadh’s pivot east Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) as a “dialogue partner,” the kingdom’s state media announced. This decision is seen as strengthening Riyadh’s pivot east and tightening ties to Beijing. Regarded as a neutral actor in Middle East disputes,…
Greetings from Tyler, The hearings are not going well for the little doctor. His coworkers, some of whom thought the Covid virus was engineered in a lab, were shut out of meetings according to sworn testimony before Congress. Others who expressed their professional opinions that the virus could not have sprung from nature, got grants…
Iranian official says next move on prisoner exchange depends on US. It’s hard to understate the impact of resumed diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia — and that it was China that made it happen. China has until now had a business- and energy-first approach to the Middle East, preferring to abstain from the diplomatic and…
On his arrival, Xi Jinping was greeted with a handshake by 37-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, de facto ruler of the world’s biggest oil exporter, at Yamamah Palace Riyadh: Chinese President Xi Jinping met Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince on Thursday on an Arab outreach visit that will yield billions of dollars in deals…
The flight of two U.S. B-52 bombers over the Middle East announced on Thursday was a show-of-force message to Iran as American and Saudi officials continued to monitor an imminent threat to Saudi Arabia, according to a senior Defense Department official. Officials believe Tehran is planning an attack on the Kingdom, likely on energy infrastructure,…
Concurrent reports that Iran will launch new attacks against Saudi Arabia and Iraqi Kurdistan while simultaneously preparing missile shipments to Russia for use against Ukraine demonstrate Tehran’s increased willingness to escalate beyond its borders. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report, on Tuesday, that Saudi Arabia has warned the United States of an…