Author: Aya Batrawy
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Changing story again, Saudi Arabia says killing was planned
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi prosecutors say the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was planned, state-run media reported Thursday, reflecting yet another change in the shifting Saudi Arabian account of what happened to the writer who was killed by Saudi officials in their Istanbul consulate. Saudi Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb said investigators concluded that Khashoggi’s…
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Emirates throws Airbus A380 a lifeline with $16 billion deal
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Middle East’s largest airline, Emirates, is throwing Airbus a lifeline for its troubled A380 jumbo jet. The carrier said Thursday it struck a deal with Airbus to buy 20 of its A380 double-decker jets, with the option to buy 16 more, in a deal worth $16 billion. Airbus had…
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Politics, religion interfere as Saudi Arabia hosts world chess games
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia is hosting a world chess tournament for the first time on Tuesday nearly two years after the country’s top cleric issued a religious edict against playing the board game. Politics have also interfered, with players from Israel and Qatar missing the tournament due to regional tensions. Saudi…
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Saudis intercept Yemen rebel missile targeting royal palace
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels said it intercepted a missile fired over southern Riyadh on Tuesday, which the rebels said was targeting the royal palace in the kingdom’s capital. It was the second time in as many months that a rebel projectile had reached as far inside the kingdom…
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Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive for 1st time next year
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Women will be allowed to drive for the first time next summer in Saudi Arabia, the ultra-conservative kingdom announced Tuesday, marking a significant expansion of women’s rights in the only the country that barred them from getting behind the wheel. While women in other Muslim countries drove freely, the kingdom’s blanket…
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Fire put out at 86-story residential skyscraper in Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Police in Dubai have reopened the streets around one of the world’s tallest residential skyscrapers after firefighters put out a blaze that erupted early Friday in the high-rise, forcing residents to evacuate in the middle of the night and sending chunks of debris plummeting below. No major injuries had…
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No veil, no visa? Saudi Arabia may ease rules for tourists
FILE- In this Saturday, April 8, 2017 file photo, a girl plays with her kite as visitors walk on the Red Sea beach, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is planning to build a semi-autonomous luxury travel destination along its Red Sea coast that visitors can reach without a visa. The Red Sea area, which…
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AP Exclusive: Dead Brussels gunman sought IS suicide mission
PARIS — The Algerian gunman newly linked to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris after being killed by police joined the Islamic State group in 2014 and told the extremists he wanted to die as a suicide bomber, bypassing the choice to be a fighter. Previously unknown to authorities, Mohamed Belkaid was shot to death…
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Saudi single women challenge tradition in love and marriage
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Amna Fatani knows she wants a brilliant career and a life different from that of Saudi women of her mother’s generation who married early, usually to a husband not of their own choosing. The 27-year-old, studying for her master’s degree at Georgetown University in Washington and hoping to someday become Saudi…
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Saudis question Mecca preparedness as MERS spreads
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) â Officials in Saudi Arabia are raising alarm that the kingdom is not doing enough to prevent Mecca from becoming a route for exporting an often deadly respiratory virus as millions of Muslims from around the world converge on the city to perform pilgrimage at Islam’s holiest site. The calls have…