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  • Court of Appeal upholds acquittal verdict, bringing down curtain on Makkah crane crash case

    The Court of Appeal upheld on Wednesday the verdict of the Makkah Criminal Court to acquit all the defendants in the Grand Mosque crane crash case. The verdict is final, bringing down curtain a case that has been in the limelight for a number of years since the crane crash in 2015, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from well informed sources.

  • Israel Reimposes Covid Restrictions In Hopes of Avoiding a Lockdown

    With its population vaccinated against the coronavirus at a fast pace and only a handful of new cases being reported, Israel all but declared victory over the virus earlier this year. But now, as the country’s authorities struggle to contain the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, they are set to reintroduce restrictions, in what they say is a last attempt to forestall another lockdown.

  • Collapse: Inside Lebanon’s Worst Economic Meltdown in More Than a Century

    Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country still haunted by a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990, is in the throes of a financial collapse that the World Bank has said could rank among the world’s worst since the mid-1800s. It is closing like a vise on families whose money has plummeted in value while the cost of nearly everything has skyrocketed.

  • Perspective: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed seeks to cut influential clerics down to size

    These changes represent the latest steps taken by Saudi Arabia under its influential crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to curtail the authority of the religious establishment. While many Saudis may cheer the moves as further evidence that Mohammed is liberalizing the kingdom, the developments also reflect his continuing effort to consolidate power and clip the wings of anyone who could challenge him.

  • Israel Ben & Jerry end of sale in West Bank overshadows Pegasus NSO spyware scandal

    Free-speech and digital rights activists want to see a moratorium on the sale and transfer of spyware technology until a more transparent global regime to monitor these exports is in place. Israel’s booming tech sector could fall under particular scrutiny.

  • As Hajj winds down, Saudi Arabia ramps up big tourism plans

    Between the Hajj, which happens at specified times each year and is one of the five pillars of Islam, and Umrah, a pilgrimage to the holy sites that can occur at any time, the kingdom hosted 9.5 million pilgrims in 2019.

  • US military drawdown in Mid East is for real

    The US operates 800 military bases worldwide and Biden’s “global force posture review” was scheduled to be completed by mid-summer. About 165,000 US troops are stationed in 150 countries around the world.

  • Saudi Arabia steps up crackdown on shadow economy

    The Kingdom’s commerce ministry referred 446 commercial concealment cases to the Public Prosecution during the first half of this year, Al Eqtisadiah reported. At the same time, some 16,000 inspections were carried out on businesses to verify their compliance. The new legislation includes fines of as much as SR5 million ($1.3 million) and up to five years in prison for violators. It also rewards whistleblowers with up to 30 percent of any fine collected, while protecting their identity.

  • Microsoft says Israeli group sold tools to hack Windows

    An Israeli group sold a tool to hack into Microsoft Windows, Microsoft and technology human rights group Citizen Lab said on Thursday, shedding light on the growing business of finding and selling tools to hack widely used software. The hacking tool vendor, named Candiru, created and sold a software exploit that can penetrate Windows, one of many intelligence products sold by a secretive industry that finds flaws in common software platforms for their clients, said a report by Citizen Lab.

  • Saad Hariri steps down as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate pushing country into more uncertainty

    The Lebanese lira, which has lost more than 90% of its value in less than two years, fell in value within minutes of Hariri's resignation announcement. The country's currency has been in freefall since a popular uprising against Lebanon's ruling elite gripped the country in October 2019.