TheNewsGuru

Tag: Saudi Arabia

  • Presidency reacts to execution of Nigerian by Saudi Arabia Government

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said execution of a Nigerian woman by Saudi Arabia Government over drug-related matters was pathetic and tragic.

    Dabiri-Erewa said in a statement by her Media aide, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Tuesday in Abuja, that the news of the tragedy was painful.

    According to her, it is regrettable that in spite of wise counsel for Nigerians travelling to Saudi Arabia by relevant government agencies to obey the country’s laws, some Nigerians still go and foul the law.

    “This particular execution is very worrisome, especially when over eight Nigerians have been killed in the past few years over the same issue in Saudi Arabia,” she said.

    The president’s aide disclosed that no fewer than 20 Nigerians were currently on death row in Saudi Arabia and that many were in prisons serving various jail terms.

    “Our major concern, however, is whether the trial was fair to the convicts as it was not open and some of them were said to be implicated without a defence counsel.”

    Dabiri-Erewa said that Nigerian government had made pleas on behalf of some Nigerians, to the Saudi Arabia government, to temper justice with mercy, but that it had not yielded positive results.

    “We are not saying our citizens in Saudi Arabia should be committing crimes, but we want Saudi Arabia to temper justice with mercy especially on offences that carry capital punishment.

    “We are appealing again to our citizens to avoid crime and criminality in Saudi Arabia and other countries and be good ambassadors to Nigeria anywhere they go,’’ she said.

    Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry had said that four persons, including one woman, were executed on Monday for drug trafficking, bringing to 53 the number of persons put to death for offences with capital punishment this year.

    “Two Pakistani men, a Yemeni man and a Nigerian woman were executed in the holy city of Makkah”, the ministry said in a statement.

    In 2018, Saudi Arabia carried out death sentences on 120 persons for dealing in illicit drugs and some other related offences.

  • Saudi prince denies interest in £3.8bn Man Utd takeover

    Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s media minister has denied reports linking him with a £3.8bn takeover of Manchester United.

    Rumours of his interest resurfaced over the weekend, although reports suggest the Glazers are not looking to sell.

    United’s American owners bought the club for £790m in May 2005.

    “Reports claiming that HRH the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman intends on buying Manchester United are completely false,” said Turki al-Shabanah.

    “Manchester United held a meeting with PIF [​Public Investment Fund] Saudi to discuss a sponsorship opportunity. No deal has materialised.”

    Prince bin Salman, 33, was appointed Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in June 2017.

    Saudi Arabia has been condemned for its human rights record and has faced scrutiny over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi embassy last year.

    In October, Manchester United pulled out of an investment forum in Saudi Arabia amid the fallout from Khashoggi’s death.

    The Old Trafford club posted a record revenue of £208.6m for the second quarter of 2018 and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of £104.3m.

    However, reports suggest the Glazers’ takeover almost 14 years ago has come at a cost of more than £1billion to the club.

  • EU adds Nigeria, Saudi to dirty-money blacklist

    Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Panama are among the countries added by the European Commission (EU) to blacklisted nations for posing threats because of lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering.

    The listing of the countries is part of a crackdown against money laundering after several scandals hit banks in European Union (EU) in recent months.

    But the development has triggered criticism from several EU states. They are worried about their economic relations with the listed states, notably, Saudi Arabia.

    The criteria used to blacklist countries include low sanctions against money laundering and terrorism financing, insufficient cooperation with the EU on the matter and lack of transparency over the beneficial owners of companies and trusts.

    Five of the listed countries are already included on a separate EU blacklist of tax havens. They are: Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and the three United States (U.S.) territories of American Samoa, Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands.

  • Oil prices soar as Saudi Arabia cuts U.S. supply

    Oil prices soar as Saudi Arabia cuts U.S. supply

    Oil prices rose for a third day on Thursday pushed up by lower imports into the United States amid OPEC efforts to tighten the market as well as Venezuela struggles to keep up its crude exports after Washington imposed sanctions on the nation.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $54.47 per barrel at 0758 GMT, up 24 cents or 0.4 per cent from their last settlement.

    International Brent crude oil futures were up 36 cents or 0.6 per cent at $62.01 per barrel.

    The price rise came after a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed a drop in Saudi crude supply to the United States.

    “Crude oil prices were stronger after signs emerged that OPEC cuts are impacting trade.

    EIA’s weekly report showed that U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia fell by more than half from the previous week to 442,000 barrels per day (bpd).

    “This is the second lowest level in weekly data going back to 2010,” ANZ bank said.

    Saudi Arabia is the de-facto leader of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which together with some non-OPEC producers including Russia announced supply cuts late last year aimed at tightening the market and propping up prices.

    U.S. sanctions imposed on state-oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) this week is also causing some supply disruptions.

    Venezuela’s oil inventories have started to build up at the country’s ports and terminals as PDVSA is finding it cannot export crude at its usual rate due to U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this week.

    As of Wednesday, Venezuela had 25 tankers with nearly 18 million barrels of crude – representing about two weeks of the country’s production – either waiting to load or expecting authorisation to set sail, shipping data showed.

    Matt Stanley, a broker with Starfuels in Dubai, said the combination of U.S. sanctions against oil producers Venezuela and Iran, the OPEC-led supply cuts as well as hopes that the trade dispute between the United States and China could soon be resolved meant oil prices would likely rise further.

    “There are just too many factors that can only cause the price to go one way and that is up,” Stanley said.

    Despite this, oil remains in ample supply not least because of soaring U.S. crude oil production which jumped by more than two million bpd last year to a record 11.9 million bpd.

    This shows the high U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles which rose by 919,000 barrels in the week to Jan. 25, to 445.94 million barrels, EIA data showed.

    Stockpiles are 6.6 per cent higher than a year ago.

  • Another Saudi woman takes to Twitter to ‘escape abusive family’

    Another Saudi woman takes to Twitter to ‘escape abusive family’

    Another Saudi woman has turned to social media for protection from her father, just days after Canada granted refuge to Rahaf al-Qunun, the 18-year-old Saudi who fled her family.

    Identified only as Nojoud al-Mandeel on Twitter, her case differs from that of al-Qunun. She has not fled the kingdom, has not revealed her face and has only made her pleas for help on Twitter in Arabic.

    On Monday, al-Mandeel posted an audio clip on Twitter, alleging that her father had beaten and burnt her “over something trivial”.

    She also posted a video looking onto a neighbour’s gated pool, where she says she jumped from her bedroom window before a friend picked her up and they escaped.

    “Don’t tell me to report to police,” she said, explaining that in a previous attempt, police just had her father sign a pledge saying he would not beat her again.

    After her story gained some traction online, she was promised attention by a protection hotline in Saudi Arabia for domestic abuse victims. Prosecutors also reportedly began looking into her allegations of abuse, according to Saudi news sites.

    She was placed in a domestic abuse shelter, but on Tuesday complained on Twitter about the shelter’s restrictions over her movements.

  • Flying Eagles to face Saudi Arabia ahead of Under-20 AFCON

    Flying Eagles to face Saudi Arabia ahead of Under-20 AFCON

    The Flying Eagles, Nigeria’s national under-20 team, will face their Saudi Arabian counterparts in an international friendly on Jan. 22 in Jeddah.

    Aliyu Ibrahim, the Flying Eagles’ Team Administrator, said on Tuesday in Abuja the match was designed to toughen the team ahead of next month’s Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria will contest in Group A of the competition against host nation Niger Republic, South Africa and Burundi.

    “Arrangements are in top gear for the seven-times African champions to fly out of Nigeria this weekend for the game in Jeddah,’’ Ibrahim said.

    Tuesday’s match will rekindle memories of the opening match of the 1989 FIFA Under-20 World Cup finals in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 16.

    The Flying Eagles came from behind to defeat the Saudis 2-1 inside the King Fahd International Stadium.

    In that match, Al Suraiti got the Saudis in front after 16 minutes but Mutiu Adepoju and Christopher Ohenhen got second half goals which earned Nigeria three precious points.

    The Flying Eagles eventually finished the tournament as runners-up, after losing the final match 0-2 to Portugal.

    Team head coach Paul Aigbogun is expected to travel to Jeddah with the squad he will be taking to Niger Republic for the Under-20 AFCON.

  • Khashoggi’s death: Saudi demands death sentence against five suspects

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecutors on Thursday demanded capital punishment against five out of 11 suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Press Agency reported.

    The Saudi attorney general highlighted in a statement that the demand was made during the first hearing of the case at the criminal court held in Riyadh.

    He said that the Public Prosecutors requested death sentence of the five over the involvement in the murder, adding that all the 11 suspects attended the hearing with their lawyers.

    The attorney general also revealed that the Public Prosecutors had waited until now to get information about the case from its Turkish counterpart.

    Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, 2018 and a number of top Saudi officials were arrested in connection with the case.

    The Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered to restructure the intelligence authority.

  • Saudi prosecutor reveals who gave order for Khashoggi’s killing

    Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the person who had ordered the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the head of the negotiating team sent to repatriate him

    The prosecutor, Shaalan al-Shaalan , also said that the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body remained unknown.

    The prosecutor told reporters in Riyadh that investigations were still ongoing to locate the remains of the slain journalist.

    The public prosecutor had earlier said he was seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged with the murder of Khashoggi.

    He said 11 out of 21 suspects had been indicted and that their cases would be referred to court, while the investigation with the remaining suspects would continue in order to determine their role in the crime.

    Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi policy, was killed in the country’s Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2.

    He was killed after a struggle by a lethal injection dose and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, Shaalan told reporters in Riyadh.

    Riyadh had offered numerous contradictory explanations for Khashoggi’s disappearance before saying he was killed in a rogue operation.

    The case sparked global outcry, opened the kingdom to possible international sanctions and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

    Turkish officials had accused Prince Mohammed of ordering the murder while President Erdogan said the killing was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.

    U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested ultimate responsibility lay with the prince as de facto ruler.

    A travel ban had been imposed on a top aide to the crown prince, Saud al-Qahtani, while investigations continued over his role, Shaalan said.

    He said Qahtani had met the team ordered to repatriate Kashoggi ahead of their journey to Istanbul to brief them on the journalist’s activities.

    Qahtani has already been fired from the royal court.

    Turkey says it has a recording related to the killing which it has shared with Western allies.

    President Tayyip Erdogan said the recordings are “appalling” and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them.

    Reuters/NAN

  • Breaking: Saudi Arabia crowned AFC U-19 champions

    Breaking: Saudi Arabia crowned AFC U-19 champions

    Asia’s qualifying competition for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019 came to a close on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia edging past Korea Republic 2-1 in Cibinong, Indonesia to claim their third continental title.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the Saudis maintained an unblemished record heading in to the final, including a 3-1 win over Australia in the quarter-final clash which sealed their passage to Poland.

    Korea Republic also went unbeaten en route to the final. They got past a resilient Tajikistan side in the last-eight to book their place at next year’s global showpiece.

    Elsewhere, AFC U-19 Championship holders Japan started the tournament with three wins in a row before downing hosts Indonesia 2-0 to complete their qualifying mission.

    Despite losing narrowly to the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the opener, Qatar bounced back to win their next three outings as they sealed their return to the U-20 World Cup.

    Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will now represent the Asian continent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.

     

  • Super Eagles striker Musa speaks on dumping Saudi Arabian club

    Super Eagles striker Musa speaks on dumping Saudi Arabian club

    Super Eagles winger, Ahmed Musa, has ruled out talks of an imminent exit from his Saudi Arabia club, Al-Nassr.
    Musa joined the side in the summer from Leicester City, after starring for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup.
    Asked about life in the oil-rich nation and if he fancies leaving the league very soon, the forward said he is enjoying his time at the club.
    “Football is the same everywhere, if you’re good in England, you are also good enough for other teams and clubs in Europe and Asia.
    “The football in Saudi is not the way many thought.
    “I’m happy here and I have no plans of leaving, offers came in the summer but Al-Nassr is my home now and am very happy here,” he said according to OwnGoalNigeria.