In Moscow, Saudi deputy crown prince strengthens ties with Russia

May 31, 2017

Moscow, May 31: Russia and Saudi Arabia hailed their growing partnership in oil markets and dialogue on Syria on Tuesday.

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with President Vladimir Putin one week after the US President Donald Trump's historic visit to Riyadh. Moscow

Putin praised the deputy crown prince, who looks after the Kingdom's defense and energy, as he welcomed him to the Kremlin. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year.

The deputy crown prince's visit to Russia followed some anxiety in political and diplomatic circles in Moscow since US-Russian ties continue to be strained.

Washington's movements in the strategically important Middle East made Russia keep a close eye on what happened in Riyadh.

“Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are seeing one of their best stages at the moment,” the deputy crown prince said.

“The two countries have a lot of points of mutual understanding. As for the points on which we have differences, a clear mechanism exists to overcome them and we are progressing at a quick pace in this respect,” he said.

The deputy crown prince believes his visit to Moscow would help strengthen bilateral relations. “The main thing is that we manage to build a strong foundation as concerns the oil market and prices of energy resources. This offers opportunities for building a strategic future further,” he said.

Russia is seeking to extend its presence in the region. Despite its close ties with Iran, Moscow is interested in building bridges with the Arab Gulf states. The deputy crown prince's visit to Moscow balances the Riyadh Summit, demonstrating that the Kingdom is ready to maintain open dialogue with all countries that are eager to do so.

The prince and Putin discussed stabilizing the world oil market and Syria. Putin's and the deputy crown prince's estimations of bilateral ties are similar.

There are 25 mutually beneficial investment projects totaling $10 billion that are under examination.

Nickolay Soukhov, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies at Russia's Academy of Sciences, said the visit will have a positive impact on bilateral ties.

“The fact that the Saudi deputy crown prince arrived in Moscow one week after the historic summit in Riyadh demonstrates that the Kingdom is eager to keep balance in its foreign policy and to diversify its ties,” Soukhov said.

Anton Mardasov, expert at the Russian Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Middle East conflicts department at the Institute of Innovative Development, said: “Moscow is interested in building partnerships with the Gulf monarchies, and with Saudi Arabia in particular.

It was noticeable even in contacts within the framework of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Cooperation between the two countries is also needed on Syria. It's likely that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has come to Russia partly to figure out how serious Moscow is about maintaining safe zones in Syria.”

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Saudi King Salman chairs cabinet meeting from hospital via video call

Agencies

July 22,2020

Riyadh, Jul 22: Saudi King Salman held a cabinet meeting via video call from hospital in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, a day after the 84-year-old monarch was admitted with inflammation of the gall bladder.

Three Saudi sources said the king was in stable condition.

A video of the king chairing the meeting was broadcast on Saudi state TV on Tuesday evening. In the video, which has no sound, King Salman can be seen behind a desk, wordlessly reading and leafing through documents.

The king, who has ruled the world’s largest oil exporter and close US ally since 2015, was undergoing medical checks, state media on Monday cited a Royal Court statement as saying.

Three well-connnected Saudi sources who declined to be identified, two of whom were speaking late on Monday and one on Tuesday, said the king was “fine”.

An official in the region, who requested anonymity, said he spoke to one of King Salman’s sons on Monday who seemed “calm” and that there was no sense of panic about the monarch’s health.

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Saudi govt asks expats to cancel final exit, reentry visas

News Network

March 24,2020

Riyadh, Mar 24: General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) on Tuesday asked all expatriates in the Kingdom, who have a final exit visa or an exit and reentry visa, to quickly cancel them before their expiry. This is to avoid the prescribed fines for not availing of these visas before their expiry date, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The new measure was taken following the Saudi government’s suspension of international flights as part of the preventive and precautionary measures to stem the spread of new coronavirus. The Jawazat asked expatriates to verify the validity of such visas and cancel them through Ministry of Interior’s electronic service portals of Absher or Muqeem.

It underlined the need to adhere to the regulations and instructions in order to avoid fines prescribed by law against the violators.

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My reentry expair date 26-03-2020 plz help me

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Trail of death and devastation as massive explosion rocks Lebanon's capital

Agencies

August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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