Summary: with Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a massive purchase of Boeing’s Dreamliner 787s, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman beckons to Washington that fraying diplomatic relations aside, it’s business as usual.
Summary: Dubai has made the sale and consumption of alcohol easier and cheaper as it bids to retain top place in the Gulf tourism sector even as Mohammed bin Salman pours billions into developing a sector that to thrive requires that which is forbidden in his kingdom: the elixir of alcohol.
Summary: in returning to his hometown of Latakia a Syrian exile experiences at firsthand the iron grip of Assad’s security forces.
Summary: Captagon use in the kingdom is on the up; critics blame Vision 2030 and anti-Islamic social engineering masterminded by MbS and his right hand man Saud al-Qahtani for causing widespread nihilism among young Saudis, driving up the demand for illicit drugs.
Summary: The Atlantic publishes MbS’s first media interview in more than two years in which he makes so many gaffes the journalist who conducted it is banned from the Kingdom.
Summary: the Saudi regime is signalling the prohibition on alcohol in the Kingdom could soon be relaxed, a huge step for such a conservative society.
Summary: the kingdom, with Mohammed bin Salman at the helm, is building a tourism sector from the ground up spending vast sums in a bid to secure a lucrative industry.
Summary: recent legal reforms may be a sign that the UAE is moving closer to international norms with changes that, if forcefully implemented, could strengthen civil society and temper the authoritarian nature of the state.
Summary: as Sudan continues to wind its way towards democracy, the growing accord between Egypt and Sudan is producing a new framework for bilateral relations.
Summary: two years after independence South Sudan broke apart, and since December 2013 it has faced the horrors of civil war.
