Saudi Arabia

Despite apparent wide-ranging reforms in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom is certainly sticking to its death-penalty tradition, decapitating 48 criminals this year alone.

A French court heard that Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal had a penchant for commissioning private porn films. A producer claims that when he passed away in 2015, the Saudi left the company out of pocket to the tune of $110,000.

The Saudi crown prince who led a recent royal crackdown on corruption and lavish spending has reportedly been revealed as the buyer of “the world’s most expensive home.”

Millions of Yemenis are on the brink of starvation while the country is in the midst of the world’s fastest-growing cholera epidemic. Civil war, foreign military intervention, and a naval blockade have caused death and disease on a massive scale.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have banned tourist destinations from airing the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network in the latest escalation in the regional spat. Violators of the decrees face fines, closure, revocation of tourism licenses, and even imprisonment.

The P5+1 has yet to clinch a deal with Iran on its nuclear program, but US arms suppliers are already using the talks as an excuse for massive rearmament of some of the most belligerent states in the Middle East.

British university students’ rental payments are being channeled through a charity with links to the Muslim Brotherhood in a bid to finance Islamist projects throughout Europe, an investigation claims.

To paint a better picture of the Kingdom, Riyadh has been paying media across the globe as well as setting plans to ban reporters critical of the government from working in the country, Reporters Without Borders concluded after digging into WikiLeaks.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia in partnership with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has agreed to invest $10 billion into Russian projects. It is the largest foreign investment in Russia.