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☆ The Saudi crown prince wants to build a trillion-dollar utopia in the desert. His deals with China reveal a darker vision.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's modernizing vision of the country. But behind the outlandish plan, developed by Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, is a much darker reality. Crown Prince Mohammed appears keen to replicate those projects on a grander scale. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announces a zero-carbon city called "The Line" to be built at NEOM in northwestern Saudi Arabia, January 10, 2021. It appeared to be the beginning of a fruitful partnership for Crown Prince Mohammed.

☆ Sen. Lindsey Graham, who once called Saudi Arabia's crown prince 'toxic' and refused to set foot in the country, is now heaping praise on the country after a recent visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Lindsey Graham said he wouldn't do business with Saudi Arabia in 2018. ABC 'This Week' host Johnathan Karl on Sunday asked Graham about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and meeting with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In 2018 in the aftermath of Khashoggi's death, Graham said he wouldn't do business with Saudi Arabia or visit the country. "If you get nothing else out of this interview, things in Saudi Arabia are changing very quickly for the better. He noted that Saudi Arabia bought $36 billion worth of 787 Boeing jets made in Charleston, South Carolina, his home state.

☆ Lindsey Graham chatted and smiled with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, who he previously called an 'unhinged' murderer he'd never work with
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was pictured meeting Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman. In a tweet Tuesday, Graham said he had just had a "very productive, candid meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince and his senior leadership team. "This guy has got to go," Graham said in a 2018 Fox News interview, and said the crown prince had Khashoggi "murdered." "Saudi Arabia, if you're listening, there are a lot of good people you can choose," Graham said. President Joe Biden had pledged to make the crown prince a "pariah" while seeking election in 2020, but as president has instead chosen to maintain an alliance.

☆ Factbox: In Middle East, once improbable ententes set new tone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Some U.S. allies had concluded their interests are not best served by a highly polarised Middle East, he added. The agreement between leading Sunni Arab power Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ite Islamist government in Tehran could defuse tensions and conflicts such as the Yemen war. Saudi Arabia has turned to China at a time of strain in its historic alliance with the United States. Saudi Arabia took the lead in rebuilding ties in 2021, declaring an end to the boycott of Qatar. Sources say Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen embassies.

☆ 9 Middle Eastern funds and investors pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Governments and investors in the Middle East are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ Saudi money is pouring into Hollywood and media, 5 years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Here's who's cashing in and how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Even those media players that are comfortable with invetment from the Middle East may not find funds flowing, one Hollywood veteran said. A major live WWE event in Saudi Arabia is slated for May. Of the growing ties between US entertainment and media and Middle East investors, this person added, "Presumably media organizations got into this to help society make better decisions."

☆ Saudi Arabia has announced a new airline to bring in tourists as it tries to attract 100 million visitors to the kingdom by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Saudi Arabia announced a new airline that will connect its capital city to over 100 destinations worldwide. On Sunday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced Riyadh Air — a new national airline that will connect Saudi Arabia to over 100 destinations across the globe by 2030. But cultural clashes may deter tourists from entering Saudi Arabia's newly opened doors. However, some experts say travelers should look at the bigger picture before blacklisting Saudi Arabia as a leisure destination, and consider the opportunity as a learning experience. "Frankly, it would be hard to name a single destination with a clean record on the environment, animal welfare, and human rights."

☆ Saudi Arabia making peace with Iran in a deal brokered by China is a 'middle finger to Biden'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. The US and Saudi Arabia have a close relationship and have been security partners for years. Saudi Arabia ultimately moved to cut oil production instead, which was viewed as a diplomatic embarrassment for the Biden administration and sparked outrage in Congress. Bandar Algaloud/ReutersThe deal also comes as the US contends with historic tensions with both Iran and China. The agreement also has the potential to throw a wrench in efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, given the latter and Iran are longtime enemies.

☆ Saudi Arabia deposits $5 bln in Turkey's central bank - statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, March 6 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with Turkey to deposit $5 billion in the country's central bank through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the fund said on Monday. Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan announced his country's intention to make the deposit in December. The Turkish central bank's net international reserves fell some $1.4 billion to $20.2 billion in the week to Feb. 24, data from the bank showed on Thursday. The Saudi deposit follows joint efforts by Ankara and Riyadh to mend ties that were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. The deposit was signed between SFD Chairman Ahmed Aqeel Al-Khateeb, who is also Saudi Arabia's tourism minister, and Turkish Central Bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu, the SFD statement said.

☆ Saudi Arabia drops $5 billion in Turkey's central bank to help its struggling economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan speaks during a meeting of Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 nations in the Saudi capital Riyadh on February 23, 2020. Saudi Arabia agreed to deposit $5 billion into Turkey's central bank through its Saudi Fund for Development, the fund said in a statement Monday. The decision is "a demonstration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's commitment to supporting Turkey's efforts to strengthen its economy," the statement said. Turkey's inflation is still above 55%, and its currency is hovering near record lows against the dollar after several years of policy intervention by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who resisted raising interest rates despite mounting inflation. In the years since, the countries had used various means to unofficially boycott each other's products and flights or block each other's media outlets.

☆ Saudi Arabia's crown prince once bragged Jared Kushner was 'in his pocket'. It's getting harder to convince people otherwise.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's a move that, even if technically legal, appears designed to help obscure Kushner's financial relationship with the Saudis, and fuels longstanding suspicions over Kushner's relationship with the crown prince. During his time as a senior advisor in his father-in-law's administration, Kushner's relationship with the Saudi ruler repeatedly raised alarm among top US officials. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Post report also said Trump benefited financially from ties with the Saudis after leaving office. A report by The Intercept in 2018 claimed that Crown Prince Mohammed boasted about having secured an extraordinary level of influence over Kushner, reportedly remarking that he had Kushner "in his pocket." The report said that Kushner may have even handed US intelligence on internal critics to Crown Prince Mohammed.

☆ Trump and Kushner's Saudi Ties Are an Ethical Minefield: Watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Weeks after leaving office, Jared Kushner obtained a $2 billion investment from the Saudi government. The Saudi support came despite the kingdom's own financial advisers urging against any investment in Kushner's new company, citing the "inexperience" of its top brass. Let's start with Jared Kushner before we get into the LIV Golf situation. You have John Bolton, Trump's own national security advisor, making it very clear that you had somebody, like Jared — and President Trump, apparently — working to promote their business interests. Trump, not only did he keep his company, the Trump Organization, but he's a transactional president, right?

☆ Jared Kushner's private equity firm concealed the origins of Saudi-backed funds and used the SEC's own rules to help them do it, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In April 2022, The New York Times reported Jared Kushner received $2.5 billion in Saudi-backed funds. A new Washington Post report reveals how Kushner's company concealed the source of the funds. On an SEC form, a box reading "Sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions" was blank. In the form, Kushner lists Affinity as an "other business name." Kushner and his father-in-law, Trump, have received a fair share of scrutiny for their ties to the Saudi prince and his allies.

☆ Washington Post publisher slams Pompeo calling Jamal Khashoggi an 'activist' in new book, fires back that CIA 'concluded Jamal was brutally murdered'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Washington Post official blasted Mike Pompeo for his portrayal of Jamal Khashoggi in his new book. Post publisher Fred Ryan said Pompeo "outrageously" misrepresents "the life and work" of Khashoggi. "As the CIA — which Pompeo once directed — concluded, Jamal was brutally murdered on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman." The report also described that later in his life Khashoggi's ties to the group were "ambiguous." Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, Khashoggi's widow, told NBC News that Khashoggi' was never part of the group.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during a press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 19, 2020. A demonstrator holds a poster with a picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 25, 2018. "And as even the New York Times reported, Khashoggi was cozy with the terrorist-supporting Muslim Brotherhood," Pompeo wrote. I confirm it to you," Khashoggi's widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told NBC News on Monday. Hanan Elatr Khashoggi Widow of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

☆ Why Egypt is asking its people to eat chicken feet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Abu Dhabi CNN —Egypt’s economic situation is so dire that the government is asking people to eat chicken feet. In Egypt, chicken feet are seen as the cheapest of meat items, considered by most as animal waste rather than food. After the recommendation to switch to chicken feet, the price of one kilogram of the product reportedly doubled to 20 Egyptian pounds ($0.67). But those firms don’t operate like private companies, enjoying special privileges without disclosing their financial data to the public. Experts have questioned why international creditors had not leveraged their loans to drive Egypt’s military out of the economy.

☆ Saudi Arabia's $500 billion bet to build a futuristic city in the desert
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Anuz Thapa | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Saudi Arabia is building a futuristic city in the middle of a vast desert— from scratch. A vital element of the country's Vision 2030 plan, the project is the brainchild of Saudi's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS. "Neom is a mega project seen in Saudi Arabia and the young Saudi population as part of this liberalization process." The Neom project is far from without controversy, though. It also is being seen by some as a way to distract attention from Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

NSO had argued that it is immune from being sued because it was acting as an agent for unidentified foreign governments when it installed the "Pegasus" spyware. "NSO's spyware has enabled cyberattacks targeting human rights activists, journalists and government officials," Meta said. In one notorious case, NSO spyware was used - allegedly by the Saudi government - to target the inner circle of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi shortly before he was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to court papers, the accounts of 1,400 WhatsApp users were accessed using the Pegasus tracking software, secretly using their smartphones as surveillance devices. The U.S. government in November 2021 blacklisted NSO and Israel's Candiru, accusing them of providing spyware to governments that used it to "maliciously target" journalists, activists and others.

☆ How Saudi Arabia's crown prince snubbed Biden repeatedly to forge ties with authoritarian China and Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In 2022, Saudi Arabia sought closer ties with Russia and China. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, on November 30, 2018. Analysts say that US criticism of Saudi Arabia's human-rights record and its suppression of domestic dissent infuriate Riyadh. Crown Prince Mohammed has more affinity with the ideology of fellow strongmen Xi or Putin than with the US, said Alterman. "Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia all believe in the model of 'authoritarian stability'.

☆ The US doesn't have to worry about China repeating its mistakes in the Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Natalie Armbruster | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It was seen as a message to the US, but it's a mistake to think China has the same ambitions in the Middle East as the US. China has long assessed US involvement in the Middle East to be damaging to American power and strength. The first thing to know is China's involvement in the Middle East rests primarily on its energy dependence. Taking sides among adversaries in the Middle East would only limit China's trading partners and opportunities for mutual economic interest. The reality is that no matter China's view of the Middle East, the potential benefits that China could garner from its investments in the Middle East are not significant nor threatening enough to US interests to warrant the current level of worry.

☆ The Biggest Debates and Opinions in 2022 - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +30 min

Opinion The 22 Debates That Made Us Rage, Roll Our Eyes, and Change Our Minds in 2022Debating is what we do here at Times Opinion. To many, she was an icon: She ruled for 70 years, presided over the transition from empire to commonwealth and served as a living link to the generation that won World War II. (Though Ben Bernanke, a former Fed chairman himself, wrote in The Times that that wasn’t going to happen.) The United States and its European allies poured weapons and aid into Ukraine, but how was this going to end? As 2022 draws to a close, the fighting continues and peace talks look as distant as ever — which probably means that the debates will continue.

☆ 5 key takeaways from Xi’s trip to Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Here are five key takeaways from Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Press Agency//ReutersDuring Xi’s visit, Saudi Arabia and China released a nearly 4,000-word joint statement outlining their alignment on a swathe of political issues, and promising deeper cooperation on scores of others. China is the world’s biggest buyer of oil, with Saudi Arabia being its top supplier. China is also keen to cooperate with Saudi Arabia on security and defense, an important field once reserved for the kingdom’s American ally. Saudi Arabia was, however, keen to reject notions of polarization, deeming it unhelpful.

☆ Saudi Arabia and China will align on everything from security to oil, but agree not to interfere on domestic issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Riyadh and Beijing were keen to stress “the importance of stability in the world oil markets,” noting that Saudi Arabia is a reliable exporter of crude oil to its Chinese partner. China also affirmed its “opposition to any actions that would interfere in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” without adding more details. On Friday, Xi invited Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to visit China, according to Saudi state TV. President Xi was given a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia with ceremonies on Thursday. Saudi Arabia “is pursuing a multipolar strategy of strong strategic ties,” added Shihabi.

☆ China, Saudi Arabia stress importance of oil market stability as Xi visits Riyadh
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese President, Xi Jinping (L) is welcomed by Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (R) at the Palace of Yamamah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 8, 2022. China and Saudi Arabia stressed the importance of global oil market stability and Riyadh's role in achieving this balance, following a three-day Saudi visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is the world's largest crude oil importer, while Saudi Arabia is the greatest exporter of such resources and chairs the influential OPEC+ producers' alliance. Xi met both King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and his heir, Crown Prince and Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, according to Chinese official news agency Xinhua. The Chinese head of state has extended an invitation for King Salman to visit China "at a mutually convenient time," the statement said.

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