Latest news with #SaudiArabia
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Saudi Utility Eyes $10 Billion of Malaysia Renewable Projects
Saudi utility Acwa Power Co. signed non-binding agreements with Malaysian firms, including to explore development of about 13 gigawatts of power generation capacity, totaling $10 billion in investments by 2040. Acwa's collaborations will include renewable energy, green hydrogen and advanced water solutions, it said in a statement. One of the world's largest private water desalination companies, Acwa signed the agreement with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority on Thursday.
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Saudi officials working to keep Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Pro League
Saudi officials are in "difficult" talks to keep Cristiano Ronaldo in the country, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said Thursday, after the star player suggested he was leaving Al Nassr. The Portuguese superstar, whose arrival in 2023 heralded a rush of late-career players to the oil-rich country, could transfer to Al Hilal and feature in the upcoming Club World Club, the source said. "There is an ongoing difficult negotiation to convince Ronaldo to stay and play" in the Saudi Pro League next season, said the source from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), a major investor in Saudi soccer. "First option is a transfer to Al Hilal with an opportunity to feature in the FIFA Club World Cup or to Asia champion Al Ahli," the source added. The oil-funded PIF, the sovereign wealth fund behind a number of big-ticket Saudi investments, controls a group of Pro League clubs including Al Nassr, Al Hilal and Al Ahli. Ronaldo posted "This chapter is over" hours after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up this week, with Al Nassr finishing third and without a trophy once again. A special transfer window opens from June 1 to 10 to allow the 32 teams involved in the newly expanded Club World Cup to sign players. Last week, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said "there are discussions" over Ronaldo playing at the tournament in the United States from June 14. Ronaldo, 40, joined Al Nassr in early 2023 from Manchester United, and his contract expires at the end of next month. "Ronaldo's presence is a key factor in developing the Saudi league in the last two years and a half," the PIF source said. "He opens the door for elite and young players to come to Saudi Arabia." Ronaldo's announcement comes just months after Brazilian star Neymar ended his injury-plagued 18-month stay in Saudi Arabia in January, after playing just seven times for Al Hilal — on a reported salary of around $104 million a year. Although Ronaldo was the Pro League's top scorer with 25 goals, he has been unable to win a Saudi or continental trophy with Al Nassr, which lost in the Asian Champions League semifinals last month. Last year, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner said he could end his career with Al Nassr, the Riyadh team favored by a number of Saudi royals. Meanwhile, Ronaldo's great rival Lionel Messi will play at the Club World Cup with Inter Miami. "And Ronaldo might play for one of the teams as well at the Club World Cup," Infantino said during a recent interview with YouTuber and streamer IShowSpeed. "There are discussions with some clubs, so if any club is watching and is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup ... who knows, who knows." Saudi Arabia has shaken up soccer by spending heavily on stars from Europe, starting with Ronaldo's move, and the desert nation will host the World Cup in 2034.
The National
an hour ago
- Business
- The National
Israel approves more settlements and Saudi Arabia tightens Hajj security
Israel has approved 22 more settlements in the occupied West Bank. Authorities in Saudi Arabia are making arrests for abetting unauthorised pilgrimages this Hajj season. Syria has signed billions of dollars worth of energy deals with international companies led by the Qatari UCC Holding. On today's episode of Trending Middle East: Israel approves 22 West Bank settlements in major blow to prospect of Palestinian state Saudi Arabia arrests 26 people for transporting illegal Hajj pilgrims Syria signs $7bn Qatari-led deal to double power supply This episode features Thomas Helm, Jerusalem Correspondent, and Nada Maucourant Atallah, Beirut Correspondent.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Shocking footage shows Saudi police beat women and girls inside secret prisons where families send 'disobedient' females to be locked away and punished for YEARS to break their spirit
Shocking footage obtained by MailOnline shows Saudi police beating women detained inside secretive facilities where families send 'disobedient' women and girls to be punished. Women seen in the clip were said to be staging a peaceful sit-in protest over poor living conditions at their so-called 'care home' in Khamis Mushair, in Asir Province. Security and police officers at the Social Education Home for Girls are seen rushing in and hitting the woman; some as they lay helpless on the ground. Women were seen being dragged by their hair, beaten with belts and sticks, and subjected to other forms of physical abuse. The video, which caused outrage among rights activists in Saudi Arabia when it first circulated in 2022, re-emerged as former detainees bravely spoke out about their experiences held in 'Dar al-Reaya' facilities across the country. Dr Maryam Aldossari, a Saudi academic at Royal Holloway, University of London, told MailOnline that despite recent reforms, many women remain held in these de facto prisons, unable to leave until a male guardian permits them. She cited examples of women enduring horrifying conditions inside the facilities, some reportedly even moved to take their own lives due to alleged abuse. 'It still exists,' she warned. 'We still know people who are there and God knows when they will leave. 'They completely cut them [off]. There are cameras everywhere. If you misbehave you must go to these small individual rooms, you are separated. 'Anything can be considered as a violation of women's rights.' Dr Aldossari, who left Saudi Arabia in 2008 to study and work in the UK, today works with Al Qst (ALQST), a human rights organisation that documents and promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia. 'What we do hear - it's such a dark time in Saudi Arabia. This is becoming a police state,' she said. 'People are scared.' After the harrowing video first emerged, the local authority said it was ordering an investigation into the incident. It did not condemn the security officers for the 'blatant and brutal assault on the women', Al Qst noted, assessing that any investigation would 'lack all credibility'. They described violence at the hands of the authorities as a 'hallmark' of the Saudi prison system. 'In this respect, care homes for young women and girls (even if not officially for female criminals) and juvenile detention centres are no different from prisons, where violence mostly takes the form of ill-treatment, physical assaults and sexual harassment.' A spokesperson for the Saudi government recently denied that the care homes were detention centres, claiming 'women are free to leave at any time' and can leave without permission from a guardian or family member. They also said that 'any allegation of abuse is taken seriously and subject to thorough investigation'. Dr Aldossari dismissed the claims. 'The regime lie and lie and lie and lie,' she said. She maintained that women as young as 13 could be sent to a facility for 'disobedience' and held until a male guardian allows them to leave. Despite recent reforms nominally strengthening women's rights, she said, there is no 'trial' to be sent to a facility that is not officially a prison, there is no process of appeal, and there is no consistent interpretation of the law. 'A woman might be legally allowed to apply for her own passport because of the reforms,' she explained, referring to the Saudi Personal Status Law (PSL), codified in 2022 and supplemented this year. 'But her male guardian can still prevent her from travelling by filing a case of disobedience - and they didn't even bother to define what disobedience means,' she said. 'So anyone and every male says "my wife or my daughter" is being disobedient and then all those rights will go.' 'It [has become] like a tool of the Saudi regime to control women,' she added. 'The reason could be anything. You could, for example, run away from your home because you are facing abuse, then you will be arrested by police. 'It could be the accusation of behaviour that doesn't align with norms. For example, being seen with a man who's not your husband. It could be because your family thought you're out of control or even being a feminist.' The care homes have existed since the 1960s, initially presented as a rehabilitative 'shelter' for women accused or convicted of certain crimes. They are said to hold women between the ages of 7 and 30. A Saudi government spokesperson told The Guardian: 'Women are free to leave at any time, whether to attend school, work, or other personal activities, and may exit permanently whenever they choose with no need of approval from a guardian or family member.' But campaigners contest the claims, citing women who have experienced the facilities first-hand. If a male guardian is not willing or available to release them, the authorities will move them to a similar 'guest' facility - from which they will also require the consent of a male guardian or relative to leave. Dr Aldossari explained that under the 'ridiculous' system in Saudi Arabia, this role is 'inherited'. If a woman's husband or father is unavailable, her son could end up responsible for his mother. In some horrifying cases, women have allegedly been sent to facilities after defying the men sexually abusing them at home. 'She ends up in the situation that the abuser has to release her,' she said. Women have shared harrowing testimonies of being sent to the facilities as punishment for not 'obeying' sexual abuse at home, and then flogged or locked away in isolation until they 'reconcile' with their abusers. Sarah Al-Yahia, campaigning to abolish the homes, told the Guardian that her father had threatened to send her to one of the homes as a child 'if I didn't obey his sexual abuse'. 'If you are sexually abused or get pregnant by your brother or father you are the one sent to Dar al-Re'aya to protect the family's reputation,' she explained. Women may have to make the impossible choice between enduring abuse at home and the gruelling conditions inside the camps, she explained. Some have reportedly been killed by abusive relatives soon after release. One woman told the Guardian that she was taken to Dar al-Re'aya after complaining about her father and brothers. She was then allegedly abused at the institution and accused of bringing shame upon her family for her social media posts about women's rights. She was held until her father agreed she could be released, despite his being her alleged abuser, the outlet reports. While testimonies from the facilities remain underreported, some women have bravely spoken out over the years. In a 2021 ALQST report, women described being made to stand for six hours at a time by way of punishment for disobedience. One former inmate told MBC in 2018 that she and others were made to eat their own vomit after throwing up bad food. 'They let men in to hit us. Sometimes the girls and kids face sexual harassment, but if they talk, no one listens.' In other cases, local media has documented reports of suicide at the centres, blamed on the conditions inside. In 2015, a woman was found to have hanged herself from the ceiling of her room at one of the shelters, writing in a note: 'I decided to die to escape hell.' An inmate at the Makkah facility had said earlier: 'Dying is more merciful than living in the shelter.'
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Oil Poised for Second Weekly Loss Ahead of OPEC+ Supply Decision
Oil was on track for a second weekly decline ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on output policy that's expected to lead to another supply hike. West Texas Intermediate was steady below $61 a barrel after dropping 1.5% on Thursday. Brent closed lower near $64. A sub-group led by Saudi Arabia is set to meet on Saturday to decide on July production levels, with preliminary talks last week discussing a third consecutive supply increase.
