The Royal Court announced here today that Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has passed away.

Funeral prayer for the soul of the deceased will be conducted at Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh on Wednesday, March 11, the statement of the Royal Court said, appealing to Allah the Almighty to bestow His mercy upon him and abode him in His vastly-wide Paradise.

Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war offering unprecedented discounts and flooding the market in an attempt to capture a larger share and defeat other oil producers. This “scorched earth” approach caused the biggest oil price fall since the war in the Persian Gulf in 1991.

President Putin’s job obliges him to put his country’s interests above all others, and it was with this in mind that he tasked his Energy Minister with rejecting the request of Russia’s OPEC+ partners last Friday to further reduce oil production in response to slumping demand. Russia is apparently calculating that its comparatively more resilient economy can better withstand the shock of lower oil prices than its competitors’, which could in turn compel them to eventually return to a reformed partnership on Moscow’s terms. Bloomberg published an insightful piece on the matter headlined “Putin Is Facing Down OPEC Because His Economy Can Take The Pain“, which argues that “Five years of austerity and safeguarding assets against the threat of U.S.

Saudi Arabia has launched a new crackdown against senior royals and top officials, according to several reports, in what appears to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's latest effort to consolidate control of all major levers of power inside the kingdom.

Among those held in the sweeping crackdown are two of the most prominent royal family members: Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger brother of Saudi King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the king's nephew and former crown prince.

More:
Saudi crackdown widens amid reports of further arrests of royals
Saudi Arabia detains king's brother, nephew in crackdown: Reports
Profile: Former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef
There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests, but reports emerging on Friday triggered rumours about a possible coup attempt or sudden deterioration in the health of the 84-year-old king.

Here is what happened:

Arrests

Mohammed bin Salman launched purge against his uncle and others to clear path to becoming king ahead of gathering in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia slashed its oil export prices over the weekend and declared a price war with Russia that sent global markets reeling and marked the sharpest decline in oil futures since 1991.

The price drop came after Russia refused to sign on with a proposal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut production globally as the coronavirus outbreak has slowed the demand for oil.

OPEC nations met with allies like Russia on Thursday and Friday in Vienna to reduce oil production by an additional 1.5million barrels per day to stabilize the market starting in April through the end of the year.

But Russia refused to join to agreement.

With the commodity world still smarting from the Nov 2014 Saudi decision to (temporarily) break apart OPEC, and flood the market with oil in (failed) hopes of crushing US shale producers (who survived thanks to generous banks extending loan terms and even more generous buyers of junk bonds), which nonetheless resulted in a painful manufacturing recession as the price of Brent cratered as low as the mid-$20's in late 2015/early 2016, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia launched its second scorched earth, or rather scorched oil campaign in 6 years. And this time there will be blood.

Yesterday we predicted a return to MbS' infamous Ritz-Carlton Riyadh shakedown of 2017 after a dramatic Friday morning raid on the homes of King Salman's brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud.

All eyes are on the spread of the deadly coronavirus, so what better time to initiate a broader crackdown (or at least dramatically restart the 2017-2018 purge), than when world leaders are distracted by making sure their societies survive a potential apocalyptic pandemic?

The pair, which happen to be the kingdom's top most powerful royals aside from MbS, having both in the past been in charge of Saudi armed forces and intelligence in the post of Interior Minister, were arrested for allegedly plotting a coup to unseat the king and crown prince. Of course any level of evidence was not forthcoming. Treason could bring the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia has imposed a lockdown on the oil-rich and Shia-populated Qatif region with an excuse to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said no one would be allowed to enter or exit Qatif and that work at all public and private sectors in the region had been suspended with the exception of institutions providing necessary services.

“Given that all 11 recorded positive cases of the new coronavirus are from Qatif... it has been decided... to temporarily suspend entry (into) and exit from Qatif,” the statement read.

Residents in Eastern Province, which includes Qatif, have long demanded an end to what they say is discrimination by the Riyadh regime.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef arrested
Over plot to oust king and son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reports suggest
Mohammed bin Nayef had been crown prince before his title was taken away
King Salman put his son - Prince Mohammed bin Salman - first in line for throne.

The brother and nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Salman have been arrested over a plot to oust the king and his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The detentions cast aside the last vestiges of potential opposition to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and come as the kingdom limits access to Islam's holiest sites in a highly sensitive move to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salman, and the monarch's nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were accused of treason.

They were taken from their homes early on Friday by black-clad royal guards, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

Saudi authorities have detained three royal family members including two senior princes, according to US media reports, signalling the crown prince is further tightening his grip on power.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salman, and the monarch’s nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were taken from their homes early on Friday by royal guards after being accused of treason, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources. The pair were allegedly plotting to oust King Salman and the son he has designated to succeed him, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it reported.

The New York Times also reported the detentions, adding that Prince Nayef’s younger brother Prince Nawaf bin Nayef had also been detained.

Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

French authorities have rejected a request by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to visit the Louis XIV Palace which he bought for nearly $350 million a few years ago.

According to senior political sources in France, Bin Salman wanted to spend some time in his luxurious chateau on the outskirts of Paris, however, France had reservations.

Sources explained that Bin Salman’s visit will embarrass French President Emmanuel Macron who is going through a critical period before the public opinion due to the failure of his reform projects.

A legal team representing survivors and familes of victims of the 9/11 attacks has accused Saudi authorities of trying to silence several witnesses.

An almost two-decades-old lawsuit brought to court by thousands of victims and their families accuses Saudi officials of having ties to the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. About 3,000 people were killed.

On Wednesday, lawyers representing the families said that four of their witnesses in the case had been threatened or intimidated by alleged Saudi agents.

On those grounds, the plaintiffs' legal team requested that the identities of the witnesses in the drawn-out legal battle be protected and kept secret.

Lawyers representing the Saudi government denied the allegations of witness tampering, saying the claims were "based on hearsay within hearsay".

A Europe-based organization seeking to promote human rights in Saudi Arabia says the Riyadh regime plans to execute five Shia teenagers arrested on charges of participating in demonstrations in 2011.

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) said the Riyadh regime had arrested the youths during anti-government unrest in the country’s Shia-populated Qatif region in Eastern Province in 2011, Lebanese Al-Mayadeen reported on Tuesday, with the youngest of the group being nine years old at the time of apprehension.

The five individuals were named by the ESOHR as Ahmad Abdel al-Wahid al-Faraj, Ali Mohammad al-Biti, Mohammad Hussain al-Nimr, Ali Hassan al-Faraj, and Mohammad Essam al-Faraj.

- U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet urged Saudi Arabia on Thursday to uphold freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly and review convictions of activists, religious leaders and journalists as it prepares to host a G20 summit this year.

Bachelet, in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, called on Riyadh to release several Saudi women activists jailed for demanding “reforms of discriminatory policies”.

“I also call for full transparency in the ongoing judicial proceedings, and comprehensive accountability, regarding the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” she added, referring to the U.S.-based journalist killed by Saudi agents at its Istanbul consulate in October 2018

Al-Qaeda was very publicly using the presence of US ground troops in Saudi Arabia as a recruiting tool in the period around 9/11. Suggesting that many lessons have not been learned, some 2,500 US troops are back in the kingdom, and readying for a long stay.

Hype surrounding military tensions with Iran are driving this US deployment back into the region. More and more ground troops are being sent every time there is even a little tension, nominally to “deter” Iran from attacking the Saudi kingdom.

These deployments began in earnest when Yemen’s Houthis fired at missile at Saudi oil producing regions, and the Saudis blamed Iran for it. US military tensions in Iraq led to many more troops being sent, since Iraq made clear they didn’t want more US troops there, and the US wanted them somewhere near Iran.

US hostility toward Iran isn’t getting better, so a decision to leave seems unlikely.

Saudi Arabia has banned religious pilgrims from visiting Mecca or Medina to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom stated that they had been following developments of the virus for some time.

In order to support countries impacted by the virus it said the Kingdom would be implementing 'approved international standards' in the form of a temporary ban on pilgrimages.

Saudi Arabia’s state media has reported that they intercepted several missiles Friday which were fired from northern Yemen. They say the missiles were deliberately aimed at civilians, accusing the Houthis of turning the Yemeni capital of Sanaa into a hub for missiles.

The Houthis confirmed their strikes, saying they hit targets in Saudi Arabia “with precision” and that Saudi Aramco was struck. Aramco made no comments on the incident, and Saudi reports similarly made no mention of them being hit.

In the past, successful Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have been blamed more or less entirely on Iran. Saudi coalition officials this time are trying to emphasize the Houthi “threat” to civilians to justify the ongoing war.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been on a world tour that brought him to Munich, parts of Africa and, most recently, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Not surprisingly, Pompeo’s visit to the two Gulf countries was mostly focused on countering Iran, although he was forced to address the issue of imprisoned US citizens inside Saudi Arabia.

Before traveling to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo talked to reporters in Ethiopia on Wednesday about the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. “The pressure campaign continues. It’s not just an economic pressure campaign, it’s diplomatic pressures, isolation through diplomacy, as well,” Pompeo said.

The Grand Mufti of Yemen and head of Yemen Scholars Association says Saudi Arabia sees no obstacle to granting the entire Palestine to Jews, describing such an approach as the principled policy of the Riyadh regime.

“Saudi Arabia's fundamental position is that there is no obstacle to granting Palestine to the Jews," Sheikh Shams al-Din Sharaf al-Din said at a conference of Yemeni scholars entitled “Rejection of Trump’s deal and prohibition of normalization with the Zionist enemy” in the capital Sana’a on Thursday.

Saudi Arabian officials' campaign to lure Twitter workers to spy on social media users in return for cash and gifts began with a simple request to verify an account in 2014, a criminal complaint lodge by the FBI has revealed.

Ahmad Abouammo, 41, and Ali Alzabarah, 35, were cultivated by the country's government to hand over information on users who criticized the Saudi royals.

The personal data accessed would have allowed users to be tracked down in real life, a source told BuzzFeed News.

Colleagues of Abouammo have alleged that other staff members were pressed for information by the US and foreign governments and given little training to deal with it.

Abouammo, a US citizen, and Alzabarah, a Saudi living in California, were reported by The Washington Post have been directed by Bader al-Asaker, a Saudi official. Prosecutors said al-Asaker worked for man named as 'Royal Family Member-1,' reported to be Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com,

Historically, Russia goes to great lengths to hide or disguise its strategic intentions but it clearly feels empowered enough in the Middle East to very obviously stake its claim in the region – excluding, for the time being only, Saudi Arabia – by stating that a slew of Russian companies are to spend up to US$20 billion on oil projects in Iraq in the near term.

“Since [U.S. President Donald] Trump outlined the new U.S. foreign policy of not engaging in conflicts abroad unless they were directly aligned with U.S. interests [October 2019], and then effectively withdrawing from Syria and from supporting the Kurds, Russia and China have felt that they can bring forward their plans to bring Iraq within their geopolitical arc of influence,” a senior source who works closely with Iraq’s Oil Ministry told OilPrice.com last week.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, has condemned Saudi Arabia's regime during a town hall meeting, calling the country’s leaders “murderous thugs.”

"For years, we have loved Saudi Arabia - our wonderful ally; the only problem is the people who run that country are murderous thugs," Sanders said on Tuesday, according to Middle East Eye.

The Vermont senator described Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a "billionaire dictator."

Saudi authorities will execute a dozen imprisoned minor dissidents from the oil-rich and Shia-populated Eastern Province, amid a crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against pro-democracy campaigners, Muslim preachers and intellectuals in the kingdom.

Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Ahed news website, citing sources from the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), reported that the Qatif residents are facing death penalty at various levels of litigation.

In late 2016, Obama vetoed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). The bill would allow 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in US courts.

With only months left in office, Obama wasn’t worried about the political price of opposing the bill. It was worth protecting Saudi Arabia and the petrodollar system, which underpins the US dollar’s role as the world’s premier currency.

In an exclusive interview on Conflict Zone, senior Saudi foreign affairs official Adel al-Jubeir says Riyadh is paying 'a great price' over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi but dismisses criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of activists.

The Saudi News Agency quoted the Arab Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki as saying on Saturday that one of their Tornado fighter jets was shot down over northern Yemen on Friday night.

“At 23:45 P.M. on Friday, February 14, 2020, a Tornado fighter plane of the Royal Saudi Air Force crashed while on a mission of close air support to units of the National Army,” Malki said.

Houthi forces announced on Friday evening that their air defense troops shot down the fighter jet over the Al-Jawf Governorate after it carried out airstrikes on several sites in northern Yemen.

“The air defenses shot down the coalition war plane with an advanced surface-to-air missile supported by modern technology. The sky of Yemen is not for a walk and the enemy must count a thousand time for that,” the Ansarallah-affiliated Yemeni Army (Houthi) spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’a, said on Friday evening.

In shaking off the Shah and with him the western yoke, Iran became a truly independent nation. Saudi Arabia went the opposite way

News / Saudi Arabia / Editor's Choice
Amnesty demands immediate release of Saudi rights activists
Thursday, 06 February 2020 8:37 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 06 February 2020 8:55 AM ]
US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a rally with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, or the People Act, on the East Steps of the US Capitol on March 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)
A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on January 28, 2019 shows Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) speaking to King Salman during a ceremony at a hotel in Riyadh. (By AFP)
Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia is using a secretive special court as a weapon to systematically silence dissent, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all human rights defenders who defy the country’s absolute monarchy.

The US-based advisory firm that investigated the hacking of Jeff Bezos’s phone concluded that it was likely compromised through a WhatsApp chat with an account allegedly used by the Saudi Crown Prince. They also suggested that the malware that targeted Bezos came from an Israeli company. Both Saudi Arabia and the Israeli company denied any role.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports that Saudi Arabia has paid the United States an estimated $500 million to assist the cost of US troop deployments in the kingdom, according to one unnamed US defense official:

The payment was made in December last year. President Donald Trump asserted last week in an interview with Fox News that Saudi Arabia had "already deposited $1 billion in the bank."

Updated 4:25 p.m.

The FBI believes the Saudi Arabian government “almost certainly” helps its citizens flee the country after they are accused of serious crimes, “undermining the US judicial process,” according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The surreptitious action is done, in part, to spare the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdom embarrassment, the FBI said. Intelligence officials believe the flights from justice will continue without intervention by the American authorities.

By Robert Inlakesh

The United States may have planned the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani as a way of attempting to both keep US President Donald Trump in power by making him appear strong and also driving a wedge between the regional resistance axis, led by Iran.

If the US continually claims that none of its soldiers have been killed or injured and continues to downplay the Iranian response. If Trump then decides not to escalate and also pulls his troops out of Iraq, we will know that this was perhaps their strategy from the beginning. Trump would then appear - due to US media manipulation - as a strong president, to his own people, also being a president who has followed up on his promise to get out of Iraq.

This may be a strategy that is employed, but perhaps this strategy will backfire very badly if they miscalculate in any areas. If the US acts aggressively, it could start a Middle East wide war.

Iran launched a missile strike on US positions in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of its IRGC General Qasem Soleimani. According to US statements, this attack didn't result in any casualties and only caused minor damage to American bases.

Head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh has stated that the 8 January missile attack on American bases in neighbouring Iraq was only the start of a series of attacks that will take place across the entire region, Tasnim News Agency reported. The general further shared that the country had hundreds of missiles ready for launch, when it carried out strikes and added that Tehran conducted cyberattacks on the same day against American plane and drone navigation systems.

I took a look at how the CEOs at the top five Pentagon contractors were affected by this surge, using the most recent SEC information on their stock holdings.

Northrop Grumman executives saw the biggest increase in the value of their stocks after the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Suleimani on January 2. Shares in the B-2 bomber maker rose 5.43 percent by the end of trading the following day.

Wesley Bush, who turned Northrop Grumman’s reins over to Kathy Warden last year, held 251,947 shares of company stock in various trusts as of his final SEC Form 4 filing in May 2019. (Companies must submit these reports when top executives and directors buy and sell company stock.) Assuming Bush is still sitting on that stockpile, he saw the value grow by $4.9 million to a total of $94.5 million last Friday.

New Northrop Grumman CEO Warden saw the 92,894 shares she’d accumulated as the firm’s COO expand in value by more than $2.7 million in just one day of post-assassination trading.

The rationale for Soleimani’s death is based on accusations as the world’s number one terrorist and being responsible for hundreds of American deaths in pursuit of Iranian aggression. Any claim of aggression by middle eastern countries glosses over the fact that they are defending their homelands in opposition to US military invasions. It is the US who are the aggressors by invading a country 6,000 miles away to steal their natural resources and to fight on behalf of creating Israeli hegemony throughout the Middle East.

Does any Middle East country have the right of self defense when a foreign army invades their sovereign soil and what does it say when the world’s leading purveyors of war, death and destruction point the finger to those fighting to defend their homeland? The truth is that every country where the US has initiated conflict is no military threat to the US – until they are invaded as they respond to protect their home turf.

Seymour Melman explained that “every major aspect of American life is…shaped by our Permanent War Economy” — peace and stability anathema notions to bipartisan US policymakers.

Militarism, endless wars of aggression, and corporate handouts come at the expense of unmet human needs.

Anti-nuclear activist/physician Helen Caldicott stressed that the US “addiction (to wars) in (the) nuclear age, (could) destroy all life on earth, creating the final epidemic of the human race.”

Trump is captive to dark forces controlling him, a geopolitical know-nothing businessman/TV personality transformed into a warrior president, escalating inherited wars, risking new ones.

Endless wars serve US imperial aims. World peace and stability defeat them — what was likely explained to Trump straightaway after taking office.

Possibly Trump will apply “crippling sanctions” as a cover for withdrawal from most of the Middle East. Iran wants the US out, and Trump’s original intention was to withdraw before Russiagate forced him to stay. Thus, both Trump and Iran have a common interest in US withdrawal. Although the Iranian missiles killed no one, they did demonstrate to Israel that the Iranian missiles have pin point accuracy. As Israel is a small land area, the accuracy of Iranian missiles possibly has changed Israel’s mind about provoking a war. If Israel also stands down, perhaps the crisis is over.

US Regional Presence Makes Middle East Peace and Stability Unattainable
On the other hand, the neoconservatives will be unhappy. They see chaos in Iran as a way of spreading instability into the Russian Federation. The military/security complex will be unhappy as US withdrawal would downsize their profits. US oil interests will be unhappy to lose the Iraqi oil.

Yemen's Houthi group did not launch an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities in September, according to a confidential report by U.N. sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Wednesday, bolstering a U.S. accusation that Iran was responsible.

The United States, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the Sept. 14 attack on the Saudi Aramco <2222.SE> oil plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, dismissing a quick claim of responsibility by the Iran-allied Houthis. Tehran denied any involvement.

The report by the independent U.N. experts to the Security Council Yemen sanctions committee said, "That despite their claims to the contrary, the Houthi forces did not launch the attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais on 14 September 2019."

The findings of the U.N. report come amid escalating tensions in the region after the United States killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad and Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at military facilities housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

International NGOs have suspended work in southwestern Yemen after weekend attacks by unknown fighters.

After almost five years of war, millions of Yemenis have become reliant on aid for survival, but they now fear they'll be cut off from this crucial lifeline after attacks on international aid groups operating in their country.

A number of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have suspended their work in Al-Dhale’e region after their offices were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.

The attacks in southwest Yemen follow a campaign carried out against the aid groups, accusing them of being "enemies of Islam" and using their work as a front for missionary work.

Fahd, a teacher who preferred not to use his real name, told Middle East Eye that they heard explosions on both Saturday and Sunday and later found out that the offices of several aid organisations were hit.

International NGOs have suspended work in southwestern Yemen after weekend attacks by unknown fighters.

After almost five years of war, millions of Yemenis have become reliant on aid for survival, but they now fear they'll be cut off from this crucial lifeline after attacks on international aid groups operating in their country.

A number of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have suspended their work in Al-Dhale’e region after their offices were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.

The attacks in southwest Yemen follow a campaign carried out against the aid groups, accusing them of being "enemies of Islam" and using their work as a front for missionary work.

Fahd, a teacher who preferred not to use his real name, told Middle East Eye that they heard explosions on both Saturday and Sunday and later found out that the offices of several aid organisations were hit.

Cross-border shelling by Saudi Arabian forces against a popular marketplace on the Yemeni side of the border killed at least 17 people, according to locals. Indications are that everyone killed was a civilian, and the Saudis have not commented on why they attacked.

The sources said 12 Ethiopian migrants were among those killed in Yemen, and that 15 people were wounded and taken to hospitals for treatment. The market has been attacked several times by Saudi forces.

The market doesn’t seem to have any military significance, but it is in Saada Province, which is the main province of the Houthi movement. This seems to be reason enough for the Saudis to regularly attack them.

The criminal trials of the 11 scapegoats men formally accused of participating in the killing and dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi are now over, and the end result was exactly what most expected. That is, several royal aides implicated in the killing were let go without punishment, while five others who are probably only tangentially related to the case (if at all) have been sentenced to death.

As a reminder, in Saudi Arabia, a death sentence means one thing: A very public beheading.

Most of those arrested in relation to Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul will eventually go free, but most members of the global community expected that, as the process was seen as tainted from the beginning, and those men truly responsible for masterminding Khashoggi's murder would eventually walk free.

To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye by Israeli soldiers since the demonstrations began last March leaving them permanently blind.

Media coverage and social media posts went wild when Palestinian photojournalist Muath Amarneh was blinded in his left eye after he was hit by a rubber bullet while covering a protest in the West Bank.

However, Amarneh was far from unique; Israeli snipers targeting participants in Gaza's weekly Great Return March protests have aimed for the legs – and eyes. To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye since the demonstrations began March 30, 2018 – leaving them permanently blind.

Russia has started creating a local force that will operate in northeastern Syria areas abandoned by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, several Syrian media outlets claim.

According to reports, the Russian military will train and equip a new pro-government militia in the province of al-Hasakah. This militia will be deployed at former positions of the SDF, which have not been taken by the Syrian Army.

Since the start of the Russian military operation in Syria, Moscow has trained and equipped several pro-government factions that successfully operate in the provinces of Aleppo, Homs, Daraa and near Damascus. The Russian military also helped to create the 5th Assault Corps of the Syrian Army. The al-Hasakah-based militia will likely be used as a part of the wider plan to de-escalate the situation on the border with Turkey.

So what were all those deaths for?

President Donald Trump believes in America First except when it comes to the Saudi royal family. Then it is Saudi Arabia first.

At the end of November, U.S. military leaders were in Riyadh negotiating the employment terms for the royal’s new bodyguards. That is, the plan for an expanded American military presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), including Patriot missiles, Sentinel radars, a THAAD air defense system, fighter aircraft, and other equipment, as well as personnel, who will eventually number around 3,000.

As should be expected, the government is attempting to stage-manage the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Base. The Pentagon said sailors killed by a Saudi student reportedly angry over the serial murder of Muslims by the US government “showed exceptional heroism and bravery in the face of evil.”

The alleged shooter, Mohammed Alshamrani, shot dead by police, was a Saudi national said to be enrolled in pilot training the Florida naval base. It is the same naval base linked to the supposed 9/11 hijackers.

Sources told ABC News that investigators are working to determine if the shooter was acting out because of religious or ideological reasons or if there was some sort of problem or hostility that developed in the course of the training at Pensacola.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) ripped the Trump administration on Tuesday over its handling of last week's deadly shooting by a member of the Saudi military at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla.

The Democratic presidential hopeful, who has been a vocal critic of the Saudi kingdom, knocked President Trump in an interview on Hill.TV, saying that his administration needs to call the shooting "for what it is."

”This was a terrorist attack that took the lives of three American service members and injured eight others,” Gabbard said during an appearance on Hill.TV's “Rising.”

“We need to call it for what it is instead of what President Trump has done with his own remarks, with Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo basically putting out messages as though they are the spokespersons for the Saudi Kingdom rather than standing up for our country’s national security and what’s in the best interest of our country.”

The Trump Administration has announced a policy change that looks like it could be a major turning point in US policy toward Yemen, announcing that they no longer consider the Shi’ite Houthi movement in Yemen to be a proxy of the Iranian government.

That stance is one initially pushed by the Saudi government to justify the Yemen War, and the US was only too willing to mirror it. This was in spite of the Houthis having substantial ideological differences with Iran, little direct contact, and not being the same type of Shi’ites.

The US did not explain their change in stance, but it may reflect Saudi Arabia’s ongoing peace talks with the Houthis, as the US couldn’t possibly support a peace deal that involved an actual Iranian-linked faction.

After 1,700 days of a Saudi-led war on impoverished Yemen, more than 3,600 children have been killed, 800 paralyzed and 400,000 others hit with malnutrition.

According to a report released on Sunday by the Yemeni-based Organization for Women and Children’s Rights, 7,500 children have fallen victim to the ongoing Saudi-led war, since its start in March 2015.

Of these ill-fated children, 3,672 were killed and 800 others were paralyzed, it said, adding that the rest were either maimed or received other kinds of life altering injuries.

The war of aggression also hit 400,000 other Yemeni children with malnutrition, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network further cited the report as saying.

Separately on Sunday, Yemen’s health ministry also confirmed that 800 children are suffering from permanent disabilities due to wounds they received in Saudi-led airstrikes during the past five years.

Six Saudi nationals were taken into custody for questioning near the Florida naval base where an Air Force trainee - also from Saudi Arabia - opened fire Friday morning, killing three before a sheriff's deputy shot and killed him.

According to the New York Times, three of the Saudis were filming the attack. It is unknown whether they were students at the base, or whether they are connected to the gunman.

The shooting spanned two floors in a classroom, according to Sheriff David Morgan of Escambia Country. Two deputies were shot in the ensuing gun battle and are expected to recover.

The gunman, identified as Saudi Air Force second lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, used a locally bought Glock 45 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, and was carrying between four and six more magazines.

In his last message on Twitter confirmed by AFP, Alshamrani wrote that America is a nation of evil.

Providing additional information on the fresh tussle between the United States (US) and Iran, after the US navy spotted missile parts linked to Iran, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) came out with the story that says the Trump administration is looking to deploy around 14,000 more troops in the Middle East. The news relies on anonymous US officials.

Key quotes
The Trump administration is considering a significant expansion of the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East, including dozens of more ships, other military hardware and as many as 14,000 additional troops to counter Iran.

SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
The Israeli government is aiming to increase the volume of Israel’s defence exports, reported Globes, which has revealed the main points of the plan for the first time.

The project, being overseen by the Defence Ministry’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) led by Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Kulas, will begin to be rolled out in early 2020.

According to Globes, the plan is based on “focused seminars for senior commanders in foreign armies”, Israeli military “assistance for promoting sales of Israeli weapons”, and “subsidising small and medium-sized defence companies seeking to sell arms around the world”.

Speaking this week, Kulas said that SIBAT favours a major expansion of agreements between countries, resulting in significant deals for the large defence companies, especially Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

The Saudi-led coalition force in Yemen announced Tuesday it had released 200 Houthi prisoners. The news comes amid a large Houthi air raid on coalition forces and swirling rumors that Riyadh may finally be seeking an exit from the disastrous, four-year-long war.

Houthi Prisoners Repatriated
On Tuesday, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that 200 Houthi prisoners had been released as part of the Stockholm Agreement prisoner exchange, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The coalition leadership is keen to continue supporting efforts to resolve the crisis in Yemen and to push forward the Stockholm agreement, including the deal related to the exchange of prisoners,” Malki said. He further noted the coalition would allow flights out of Sana’a, the Yemeni capital held by the Houthis since 2014, in order to transfer those who need medical treatment out of the country.

All external foes will be defeated if they make moves against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander warned at a massive pro-government rally amid protests over fuel price hikes.

Major General Hossein Salami addressed people in downtown Tehran on Monday. He said that the country’s rivals are “no longer capable of anything” in their attacks against the nation.

We have shown patience towards the hostile moves of America, the Zionist regime [Israel] and Saudi Arabia against the Islamic Republic of Iran... but we will destroy them if they cross our red lines.

Thousands have marched on the streets of the country’s capital and gathered on the Enqelan Square (Revolution Square). Calling themselves the ‘Supporters of the Leadership’, the demonstrators waved national flags, carried placards and chanted slogans in support for the Supreme Leader Ali Khanemei and the current government. Some were also seen burning American flags.

SOURCE: MINT PRESS
The 9/11 Report states that “we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization [al-Qaeda].” The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has used that sentence numerous times defending itself against families of 9/11 victims that are attempting to sue them for financially supporting the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 family member, September Eleventh Advocate, and Jersey girl, Kristen Breitweiser addressed the issue here.

For a long time, the U.S. Government argued that since Saudi Arabia was not on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, the 9/11 families couldn’t sue the Kingdom in a court of law. But in 2016, a bill called the “Justice Against Sponsors Of Terrorism Act (JASTA)” was passed allowing 9/11 families to sue, despite the formality. President Obama attempted to veto the bill but his decision was overridden by Congress.

Saudi citizens found guilty of engaging in homosexuality and feminism could see themselves lashed or imprisoned in the ultraconservative kingdom, lawyers suggested.

The punitive measures could range from fines, to public lashing or even imprisonment, lawyer Nawaf al-Nabati said, according to al-Watan.

The remarks came just hours after Saudi Arabia listed feminism and homosexuality as extremist elements, on Friday, despite the kingdom’s ongoing drive to reform and relax its ultraconservative laws.
Saudi Arabia’s counter-extremism department announced the move on Twitter, where it warned its citizens and nationals to remain cautious against such groups.

"Extremism in all its forms is a societal scourge. It is important to remain cautious,” the statement said, before warning against hardliners who break away from religion to affirm their views.

SOURCE: KRDO
The awkward camera angle is meant to hide the fact that the owner of the phone is filming, but there is no mistaking the outlines of the heavy cargo being deposited on the dock in the Yemeni port of Aden last week.

The distinctive shape of the US-made Oshkosh armored vehicle stands out in the early morning darkness, a piece of military hardware that is currently at the heart of a standoff between some American lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s administration.

Aden is controlled by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, whose main partners are continuing to ship American-made weapons into the country despite bipartisan outrage in Congress over the way the US is backing Riyadh in this bloody and bitter conflict.