by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The co-CEO of the streaming service Netflix has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia allowed the shows such as “Queer Eye”, “Sex Education” and “Orange is the New Black” to be aired in the normally conservative kingdom in exchange for agreeing to remove an episode of Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” which was critical of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) over his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In an interview on CNN discussing censorship and human rights, Reed Hastings said it was a “very difficult decision”, but explained that the episode in question was still available in the kingdom on YouTube, despite it being pulled from Netflix at the behest of the Saudi government as it violated their laws.
However, in being able to stream content that would be considered “pornographic” or at the very least inappropriate in the conservative country, Hastings said Netflix had reached a “troubling compromise”, one that was not taken lightly.
Last month Hasan Minhaj announced that his comedy talk show “Patriot Act” had come to an end after almost two years. Responding to the removal of the episode in Saudi, Minhaj tweeted at the time: “Clearly, the best way to stop people from watching something is to ban it, make it trend online, and then leave it up on YouTube.”
“Let’s not forget that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is happening in Yemen right now,” he added and urged followers to donate to the relief effort of the International Rescue Committee.
Netflix has incurred more controversy with the recent release of the film “Cuties” which many have accused of promoting paedophilia over its sexualised portrayal of pre-teen girls. The backlash has led to #CancelNetflix trending on Twitter, as users urged others to cancel their subscriptions in protest. Earlier this month a Turkish media watchdog demanded Netflix remove the film. It has since been delayed as it was due for release on 9 September.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
New York : Top Saudi intelligence officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked a small group of businessmen last year about using private companies to assassinate enemies of the Kingdom, The New York Times reported.
The Saudis inquired at a time when Prince Mohammed, then the deputy crown prince and defence minister, was consolidating power and directing his advisers to escalate military and intelligence operations outside the Kingdom, informed sources told The Times on Sunday.
Their discussions, more than a year before the killing of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, indicate that top Saudi officials have considered assassinations since the beginning of Prince Mohammed’s ascent.
Saudi officials have portrayed Khashoggi’s death as a rogue killing ordered by an official who has since been fired.
But that official, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, was present for a meeting in March 2017 in Riyadh where the businessmen pitched a $2 billion plan to use private intelligence operatives to try to sabotage the Iranian economy, the sources said.
During the discussion, part of a series of meetings where the men tried to win Saudi funding for their plan, General Assiri’s top aides inquired about killing Qassim Suleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and a man considered a determined enemy of Saudi Arabia.
George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman, arranged the meeting.
He had met previously with Prince Mohammed, and had pitched the Iran plan to Trump White House officials.
Another participant in the meetings was Joel Zamel, an Israeli with deep ties to his country’s intelligence and security agencies.
Both Nader and Zamel are witnesses in the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and prosecutors have asked them about their discussions with American and Saudi officials about the Iran proposal, The New York Times reported.
General Assiri was dismissed last month when the Saudi government acknowledged Khashoggi’s killing and said he had organised the operation.
On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government had handed over a recording of Khashoggi’s killing to the US, Saudi Arabia, Britain and France, pressuring President Donald Trump to more harshly punish the Saudis over the murder.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Government Jobs, Private Jobs
Manama, (IINA) – Under the patronage of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, crown prince, Bahrain will host the first Annual Global Employers Summit Conference on October 6-7, BNA reported.
The summit will be in cooperation with the International businessmen organization with participation of entrepreneurs, companies, institutions and organizations from around the globe.
Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)’s first deputy chairman Othman Mohammad Sharif announced during a press conference at Bait al-Tijjar on Tuesday.
