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The <keyword id="206645" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-interior">Ministry of Interior</keyword> has warned Saudi citizens against travelling to countries that have been put on the no-travel list recently as these countries are currently witnessing a surge in cases of Covid-19 and its new variants. In a statement carried by the <keyword id="310010" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saudi-Press-Agency">Saudi Press Agency</keyword> on Tuesday, an official source at the ministry said that travelling to the banned countries is an explicit violation of the announced instructions, the <keyword id="175749" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saudi-Gazette">Saudi Gazette</keyword> reported. The source said that there are reports about citizens travelling to the countries where travel is prohibited in violation of the instructions issued by the official authorities, warning that such deception, if proven, warrants legal accountability and heavy penalties. He added that those who are found to have violated the instructions would be banned from travelling abroad for 3 years. The Ministry of Interior in the statement called on citizens against travelling directly or indirectly to countries where the pandemic has not yet been controlled and there are cases of mutated strains. It also urged citizens to exercise caution and stay away from areas where instability prevails or the virus is spreading, and take all precautionary measures regardless of their destination. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/maharashtra-karnataka-and-telangana-plan-to-use-ethereum-in-their-fight-against-fake-degrees/articleshow/84823688.cms">This Indian startup is using Ethereum to help Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana fight against fake degrees</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/list-of-stocks-are-down-today-like-zomato-dixon-technologies-cdsl-happiest-minds-shree-renuka-sugars-and-more/slidelist/84817104.cms">It's not just Zomato -- From Happiest Minds to CDSL, some of India's hottest stocks are melting too</a>

Saudi citizens warned against visiting countries facing travel ban

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Business and Energy Secretary <keyword id="12553954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kwasi-kwarteng" source="Orion">Kwasi Kwarteng</keyword> received free hospitality from <keyword id="12258194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="saudi-aramco" source="Orion">Saudi Aramco</keyword> in January.</li><li>Kwarteng was flown around <keyword id="11894587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="saudi-arabia" source="Orion">Saudi Arabia</keyword>, courtesy of the majority state-owned energy firm.</li></ul>Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng accepted flights and hospitality from Saudi Aramco, the majority state-owned energy firm, while on a trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this year.Kwarteng visited Saudi Arabia in late January, flying to the country on a UK government-paid commercial flight on January 29.But Kwarteng was flown within the kingdom by Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer in the world.UK government transparency registers say Kwarteng was flown to Dammam and stayed at an Aramco guesthouse there on January 30, before having lunch with the firm on January 31, flying to Jubail, and then to the capital, Riyadh. Kwarteng flew back to the UK on a commercial flight on February 1.<a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/616565/SAUDI-ARABIA/Dressed-in-traditional-Saudi-clothing-UK-minister-visits-Shaybah-oil-field">Saudi press reports</a> say Kwarteng also visited Aramco's Shaybah oil field with the Saudi energy minister, although this is not logged in BEIS transparency records. The Shaybah oil field is more than 750km from Dammam. However, it does have its own airport, built and operated by Aramco. Photographs show Kwarteng at Shaybah posing with the Saudi energy minister, joining hands to hold the sun over the desert sands. They are also seen at a tent believed to be overlooking Aramco's complex at Shaybah.UK government transparency releases do not explain how Kwarteng could have crossed Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter desert to make it to Shaybah – and then back to Jubail – without support from Aramco.Kwarteng's acceptance of Aramco's hospitality has led to criticism from opposition MPs.Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, told Insider: "Kwasi Kwarteng has huge questions to answer. Who co-ordinated this trip? How much did it cost? What was discussed over 'lunch'? What were the Saudis' demands?"We can't have a government minister in charge of climate policy who's glad-handing and jet-setting with Saudi Arabian oil giants."We're in a climate emergency – the extreme heat we're experiencing this week couldn't make that any more clear. And we know that we can't keep temperatures in check by greenlighting new climate-wrecking oil &amp; gas fields."Government ministers and any prospective Tory leaders need to get their heads out of the Saudi Arabian sand, stop going cap-in-hand to tyrannical regimes begging for more emissions-busting oil, and commit to keeping fossil fuels in the ground for good."Kerry McCarthy, Labour's shadow minister for climate change, told Insider: "It's bad enough that Conservative energy policy failures mean the UK has to go cap in hand to fossil fuel dictators. Now the Secretary of State must clarify whether he allowed oil money to pay for him to dine out and jet around Saudi Arabia."Questions are also being asked about whether the trip may constitute a breach of the ministerial code.Susan Hawley, executive director at Spotlight on Corruption, told Insider: "As the ministerial code makes clear, UK ministers should clearly not be accepting hospitality and travel junkets when they make overseas visits from the likes of state-owned oil companies such as Saudi Aramco where there is any risk of undue obligations or influence being created."It is essential that the department release full details of these visits, what was discussed, and the purpose of the visit, with full costs of the hospitality and travel provided, so that the public can have confidence that no such undue obligations were created."<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-code/ministerial-code">The code states</a>: "When ministers travel on official business, their travel expenses should be borne by the departmental vote. Offers of free travel should not normally be accepted. The only exception to this is in the case of an offer of transport from an overseas government provided no undue obligation is created."While Saudi Aramco is majority state-owned by the Saudi Arabian state, it is not part of the Saudi government.A BEIS spokesperson told Insider: "Travel to and from Saudi Arabia was arranged by the British Government. These short, internal flights within Saudi Arabia were arranged by the Saudi government and have been properly and publicly declared, as is required."No details of any other meetings held by Kwarteng in Saudi Arabia were published by BEIS. <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2015836/business-economy">Saudi press reports</a> Kwarteng had "introductory visits to several companies to learn about their most important products" while in Jubail.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng travelled around Saudi Arabia on flights paid by energy giant Aramco

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO49eDY-SNs">mrkillerdeathtwenty via YouTube</a>Kingdom Tower</div></div>Saudi Arabia is expected to begin work on the Kingdom Tower next week. 
The building in Jeddah is expected to cost $1.23 billion and stand 3,280 feet tall, according to <a href="http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&amp;contentid=20140218196138">the Saudi Gazette</a>.
That's 568 feet taller than Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
Construction is also underway on Sky City in China, which is projected to be 2,749 feet tall. Sky City is expected to finish before the Kingdom Tower and will for a very brief period hold the title of the world's tallest building.
All of this construction has some talking of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-the-skyscraper-index-2012-1">Barclays' Skyscraper Index,</a> which suggests that construction booms highlighted by record-breaking skyscrapers coincide with the beginning of economic downturns.
Drawing on Barclays' Skyscraper Index, we pulled 10 skyscrapers whose constructions coincided with the financial crises of their times.

Why A New Skyscraper In Saudi Arabia Could Mean Doom For The Global Economy

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div>AP</td></tr></table>A Saudi man has been sentenced "to be fully paralyzed" as punishment for stabbing and paralyzing his best friend 10 years ago, The Saudi Gazette <a href="http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&amp;contentid=20130331159230">reports</a>.
At age 14 Ali Al-Khawahir stabbed his friend in the backbone. The victim has been "completely paralyzed ever since and has not been able to lead a normal life and has been deprived of being a father," according to Ali's mother.
Now Ali must either pay more than $260,000 in compensation — which his family cannot afford — or face being paralyzed.
This type of eye-for-an-eye punishment comes from the code of <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp">Hammurabi</a>, a legendary Mesopotamian king who ruled the Babylonian Empire from 1792-1750 B.C.E.
"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" was one of <a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/ham/ham07.htm">282 laws</a> inscribed on a stone pillar.
It's unclear how the punishment would be carried out.

Saudi Man Sentenced To Be 'Fully Paralyzed' For Stabbing His Friend

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesPolice stand outside the headquarters of The New York Times. NYPD announced increased security in Manhattan at major media companies following a shooting today at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland.</div></div></div>Hello! Here's what's happening on Friday.1. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/capital-gazette-newspaper-shooting-maryland-2018-6">Five people were killed and several injured in a shooting at Capital Gazette newsroom in Maryland</a>. The suspected gunman in custody has been identified as Jarrod Ramos, in his late 30s. Police are still determining motive. 2. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-summit/eu-struggles-to-bridge-migration-rift-at-tense-summit-idUSKBN1JN3AP">EU leaders reached a vague agreement on the issue of mass migration</a>. Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was satisfied by the deal, which would see joint asylum processing sites and restrict migrant movements within the bloc. 3. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-looking-to-replace-john-kelly-2018-6">US President Donald Trump could reportedly replace White House chief of staff John Kelly as early as this week</a>. Roughly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-white-house-staffing/">half of those who held top positions</a> in the White House have left under varying circumstances.4. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-passed-foreign-interference-laws-amid-china-tensions-2018-6">Australia passed sweeping laws to limit foreign interference</a>. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the laws don't target any one country, but he has previously mentioned "disturbing reports about Chinese influence".5. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-protests/protestors-lawmaker-arrested-in-senate-building-sit-in-over-immigration-idUSKBN1JO173">600 people were arrested during protests in the US Senate building over Trump's immigration policy</a>. Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal sat with the protestors and was also arrested.6. <a href="https://www.axios.com/israeli-defense-chief-urgent-visit-washington-talks-on-syria-6997f44d-852a-4d77-8f19-5821a6b6cfa2.html">Israel's army chief arrived in Washington for "urgent" talks on intensified fighting in Syria</a>. Israel is worried about spillover near its border in the Golan Heights and an influx of refugees.7. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/bali-flights-grounded-volcano-2018-6">Flights have been canceled after a massive volcano in Bali erupted yet again, spewing ash 2000 yards into the sky</a>. The volcano <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/bali-volcano-eruption-v2-2017-11">f</a>orced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people when it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/bali-volcano-eruption-v2-2017-11">erupted last year</a>.8. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-bid-to-weaken-iran-is-strengthening-the-saudi-economy-1530207076">US threats against Iranian oil trade is strengthening the Saudi economy</a>. The Saudi government is planning <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-suddenly-needs-a-lot-more-oil-after-u-s-move-on-iran-sanctions-1530045308?mod=article_inline">to increase its oil production</a> to a record high of nearly 11 million barrels a day to compensate for Iran's loss.9. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-warns-customers-potential-data-breach-2018-6">Adidas has warned millions of customers that their data may have been leaked in a security breach</a>. The data could include contact information, such as addresses and email addresses, but not financial information.10. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-production/tesla-lagging-on-model-3-production-workers-say-idUSKBN1JO2XI">Tesla workers say the company is lagging on its Model 3 production</a>. The Model 3 is meant to bring electric-powered vehicles to the mass market, but problems in production have plagued its production.And finally...<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/victims-of-capital-gazette-newsroom-shooting-in-maryland-2018-6#rebecca-smith-34-4">These are the people killed in a mass shooting at the offices of the Capital Gazette</a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blue-man-group-behind-the-scenes-new-york-city-2018-6">What it takes to be a Blue Man</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The 10 most important things in the world right now

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Saudi court identified a person convicted of <keyword id="11910996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sexual-harassment" source="Orion">sexual harassment</keyword> for the first time last week.</li><li>A court ordered Yasser Muslim al-Arawi's name to be published in Saudi newspapers on Sunday.</li></ul>A court in <keyword id="11894587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="saudi-arabia" source="Orion">Saudi Arabia</keyword> ordered the identity of a person convicted of sexual harassment to be made public for the first time, the latest step forward for women's rights in the country.On Sunday, a criminal court in Medina sentenced Yasser Muslim al-Arawi to eight months in prison for sexually harassing a women, <a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/615749/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-mosque-imam-acquitted-of-sexual-harassment-charges">the Saudi Gazette reported.</a>He was also fined 5,000 Saudi riyals ($1,332) and the court ordered details of his case to be published in local newspapers.The country's anti-harassment law, <a href="https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&amp;newsid=1770722">passed by royal decree in 2018</a>, was updated in January 2021 so that a court could shame convicted sexual harassers by ordering them to be publicly named.Al-Arawi's case marks the first time that the amendment has been used.Under the rule of Crown Prince <keyword id="12060852" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mohammed-bin-salman" source="Orion">Mohammed bin Salman</keyword>, the de facto Saudi ruler since 2017, the country has gone through some rapid social change.That year, women <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-allows-women-to-drive-2017-9">were granted the right to drive</a> and in 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-women-can-join-army-but-still-need-male-guardian-2018-2">permitted to join the military</a>. In 2019, the country said it would <a href="https://www.insider.com/saudi-arabia-women-can-travel-guardianship-laws-lifted-2019-8">no longer require women to get the permission of their male guardian</a> to travel after Insider published an <a href="https://www.insider.com/absher-saudi-website-men-control-women-stop-escape-2019-1">investigation into the realities of the system</a>.Crown Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS, has also welcomed international sports events and set up several music festivals. However, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-59689797">some of those festivals have been blighted by reports of sexual harassment.</a>Despite giant leaps forward at the national level, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/world/middleeast/saudi-women-rights.html">many woman are still considered second-class citizens</a> in the kingdom, and rights groups say more must be done to reach gender parity. Though MBS has ushered in change for the Saudi citizens, he has also cracked down on dissent and opposition to his rule: Detaining royals, activists, and lawyers and targeting threats abroad. In 2018, the Washington Post writer <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-murder-of-jamal-khashoggi-2019-10">Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate</a> in Istanbul, a crime that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cia-mohammed-bin-salman-ordered-jamal-khashoggi-killed-report-says-2018-11">CIA concluded MBS likely ordered</a>. In 2020, Saad al-Jabri, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saad-al-jabri-saudi-spy-official-sues-mbs-assassination-claim-2020-8">former top Saudi spy chief, accused MBS of sending a hit squad to kill him</a> in Canada in 2018.MBS <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-mbs-final-threats-saad-aljabri-mohammed-bin-nayef-2020-8">has also detained his predecessor</a>, the former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and other prominent royals <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-prince-faisal-detained-ritz-carlton-disappeared-again-mbs-2021-8">such as Prince Faisal bin Abdullah al-Saud</a>.

A Saudi court ordered the name of a convicted sexual harasser to be made public for the first time

Jeddah, Apr 19 () Eight Indians, including two engineers, have died due to the novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, according to a media report on Sunday.Mohammed Aslam Khan, an electrical engineer in Mecca, and Azmatullah Khan, an engineer at the Mecca Haram power station, have died due to the COVID-19, Saudi Gazette reported.Aslam Khan, aged 51, who hailed from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was admitted to King Faisal Hospital, Mecca on April 3, following worsening of his condition after being infected with fever and throat pain.He had been on ventilator for more than two weeks and breathed his last on Saturday night, the paper said.Khan is survived by wife and a daughter and a son. His wife and children are under self-imposed home quarantine.Azmatullah Khan, from Telangana, died of coronavirus on Friday.Mujeeb Pukkottoor, a prominent Indian social worker and general secretary of Mecca chapter of Kerala Muslim Cultural Center, told the paper that the body of Khan was buried in Mecca on Sunday.Khan, aged 65, had been working with Saudi Binladin Group for the last 32 years.Fakre Alam, an employee at the Haram Project of Saudi Binladin Group in Mecca, died on Sunday due to infection, the paper said.Barkt Ali Abdullatif Fakir, an electrical technician working in Medina, also died of coronavirus, it said. According to the Saudi Ministry of Health's daily report published on April 14, the number of coronavirus infected cases among workers of Saudi Binladin Group in various parts of the Kingdom stood at 117, and these included 70 cases in Mecca. The first two Indian fatalities were reported from Medina and Riyadh earlier this month with the death of Shebnaz Pala Kandiyil (29) and Safvan Nadamal (41), both from Kerala. Mohammed Sadiq, from Hyderabad, working in Jeddah and Suleman Sayyid Junaid (Maharashtra) are other Indians who died due to COVID-19 in the Gulf kingdom, the paper said.Shebnaz from Panoor in Kannoor district died on April 3 and his body was buried in Medina on April 7. He came back to the Kingdom March 3 after his marriage in January.Safvan, a taxi driver from Chemmad in Malappuram district, died on April 2 and was buried in Riyadh on April 8. ZHZH

COVID-19: 2 engineers among eight Indian fatalities in Saudi

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A four-day electronic music festival took place in the socially conservative kingdom of <keyword id="11894587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="saudi-arabia" source="Orion">Saudi Arabia</keyword>.</li><li>Martin Garrix, David Guetta, and Tiësto were among the internationally famous DJs to perform.</li></ul>A four-day music festival took place in a desert in Saudi Arabia this weekend, and a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-19/giant-rave-in-saudi-desert-pushes-kingdom-s-changing-boundaries">Bloomberg report</a> says it looked remarkably similar to its' Western equivalents. <a href="https://mdlbeast.com/">MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2021</a> kicked off on December 16 on the outskirts of Riyadh, the socially conservative nation's capital, and it featured internationally famous DJs like Martin Garrix, David Guetta, and Tiësto.<div type="image" title="MDLBEAST in Saudi Arabia" height="3648" width="4864" msid="88377894" hostid="261"></div>The festival organizers say that 200,000 people attended on the second day alone, making it one of the best-attended music events in the world, the <a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/614852/SAUDI-ARABIA/MDLBeast-draws-20000-visitors-on-day-two">Saudi Gazette reported.</a>"Women and men danced with abandon" as electronic music blared, Bloomberg said, only for the rave to be temporarily put on pause for 15 minutes while participants responded to the Islamic call to prayer.Bloomberg reported that the women at MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2021 wore everything from "skintight pants" to "full-length robes and face veils."<div type="image" title="A general view during MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM 2021 on December 18, 2021 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." height="3378" width="4504" msid="88377895" hostid="261"></div>Saudi women are required to dress modestly, per <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/60339/things-women-cant-do-in-saudi-arabia">The Week,</a> meaning that tight-fitting clothing is generally prohibited. Traditionally, women were expected to wear the abaya — a loose overgarment — in public, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman relaxed this dress code requirement in 2018.According to Bloomberg, other sights to behold were a sign of "pushing boundaries" as the kingdom transforms. Previously, religious police once punished restaurants for playing music — a far cry from this weekend's reported activities."Inebriated men stumbled through crowds perfumed with the distinct scent of marijuana," said Bloomberg, "alongside a limited but notable display of local queer culture."<div type="image" title="MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM 2021 on December 18, 2021 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." height="2649" width="3532" msid="88377896" hostid="261"></div>Cannabis, alcohol, and homosexuality are forbidden in Saudi Arabia, but Bloomberg described a "carnival-like" atmosphere where these rules were apparently snubbed.Critics have accused the festival organizers of "culture-washing." <a href="https://ra.co/features/3948">Resident Advisor </a>journalist Joe Siltanen said it was an attempt to distract from the "authoritarian regime."MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2021 was just one event in a roster of activities this month, spearheaded by the crown prince, to create the optics of a softer and more secular image of the kingdom. Recently, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dont-let-saudi-arabia-use-formula-1-to-hide-abuses-2021-12">Saudi Arabia hosted a Formula One race</a> and <a href="https://www.biennialfoundation.org/biennials/diriyah-biennale/#:~:text=Established%20in%202020%20by%20the,be%20held%20in%20late%202022.">two art biennials.</a>An oil-themed amusement park is also being opened as part of <a href="https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/">Saudi Vision 2030,</a> as <a href="https://www.insider.com/saudi-arabia-oil-themed-amusement-park-the-rig-offshore-platforms-2021-10">Insider previously reported,</a> which is a strategic framework to diversify the nation's dependence on oil and move towards entertainment and tourism.

A massive rave took place in a Saudi desert. It was just like any other festival, bar the electronic music pausing for the Islamic call to prayer, say reports

Saudi Press AgencyWhen President Donald Trump set his hands on a glowing orb during his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia, social media lit up with science fiction jokes.Social media users <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-trumps-encounter-with-glowing-orb-sets-alight-social-media-2017-5">mused</a> that the image, in which Trump touches a globe with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, resembled a scene where villains enact their master plan.And there were Photoshops galore:In reality, Trump had touched the globe<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-trumps-encounter-with-glowing-orb-sets-alight-social-media-2017-5"> as part of an inauguration ceremony</a> for the Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology in Ridyah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Together, the three leaders placed their hands on the globe to start a film about the center.The newly-opened center has a large TV wall displaying ongoing extremist activity and aims to come together to stop the spread of violent extremism, the <a href="http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/center-combat-extremist-ideology-inaugurated/">Saudi Gazette reports</a>. It will be used to monitor potential threats of terrorism and, through the help of experts, reveal and confront extremist speech.Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said his country wants the US to know that they are "not an enemy" and are committed in the fights against extremist groups like Daesh, also known as the Islamic State."We are the second army after the US military in the international coalition against terrorism," Al-Jubeir said. "The efforts will be an effective partnership between the Islamic world and the West in general to combat terrorism."Trump referenced the new center in his <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-saudi-arabia-speech-drive-out-islamic-extremism-terrorism-2017-5">speech to 50 Middle East leaders</a> Sunday afternoon."This groundbreaking new center represents a clear declaration that Muslim-majority countries must take the lead in combatting radicalization, and I want to express our gratitude to King Salman for this strong demonstration of leadership," Trump said. "We must be united in pursuing the one goal that transcends every other consideration. That goal is to meet history's great test - to conquer extremism and vanquish the forces of terrorism."But the seriousness of the center didn't stop people on the internet from joking at the sight of Trump touching the glowing orb. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-students-walk-out-mike-pence-commencement-speech-graduation-video-protest-2017-5">Watch students walk out during Pence's commencement speech</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Here's what the 'glowing orb' Trump touched in Saudi Arabia actually was

Twitter/5a1diAn anti-Bezos image shared on Twitter on Thursday. The text identifies Bezos as the owner of Amazon, Arabic marketplace Souq.com, and The Washington Post.<ul class="summary-list"><li>Social media users in Saudi Arabia are reacting angrily to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-hack-timeline-2020-1">accusations that Mohammed bin Salman hacked</a> Jeff Bezos' phone.</li><li>The hashtag #قاطعوا_منتجات_امازون (#BoycottAmazonProducts) was used more than 10,000 times by 6 a.m. EST on Thursday. It was the top trending topic at that time.</li><li>Videos of the Amazon app being deleted from an iPhone were also shared, while some accused Bezos of having an affair with Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée.</li><li>The popular Okaz newspaper also published an article titled "Jeff Bezos, fleeing from sin, uses accusation," which slammed his extramarital affair with his now-girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. </a></li></ul>Pro-Saudi social media, and Saudi newspapers and government officials, are reacting angrily to the accusation that their <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-phone-hacked-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-report-explained-2020-1">Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hacked Jeff Bezos' phone</a>. Saudi officials <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-embassy-calls-mbs-jeff-bezos-phone-hack-claims-absurd-2020-1">refuted the claims on Tuesday</a>, and on Thursday the hashtag #قاطعوا_منتجات_امازون (#BoycottAmazonproducts) trended in Saudi Arabia, and was used 10,000 times by 5 a.m ET. The hashtag, started <a href="https://twitter.com/MBS_MBSKSA">by a pro-government account</a> with 60,000 followers called "MBS_MBSKSA," was trending at number one in Saudi Arabia as of 6 a.m. EST.Fifty accounts posted 1,400 of the tweets using the hashtag, disinformation analyst <a href="https://twitter.com/benimmo/status/1220291399557550081">Ben Nimmo noted on Twitter</a>. Many of those accounts displayed signs of inauthentic activity. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%22If%20you%20do%20not%20apologize%2C%20you%20will%20accept%20the%20loss%20of%20millions%20of%20dollars%20at%20the%20hands%20of%20the%20Saudi%20people%22&amp;src=typed_query">Tweets warning Bezos</a>: "If you do not apologize, you will accept the loss of millions of dollars at the hands of the Saudi people" were also shared by dozens of accounts, typically distributing pro-government content.Multiple accounts also showed videos of the Amazon app being deleted from iPhones.In traditional media, the popular Okaz newspaper also <a href="https://www.okaz.com.sa/variety/na/2006704">published an opinion article</a> by journalist Sultan bin Bandar on Wednesday night, titled "Jeff Bezos, fleeing from sin using accusation."This referred to Bezos' extramarital affair with Lauren Sanchez, his now-girlfriend. There is mounting speculation that the alleged Saudi hack is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-saudi-arabia-phone-hack-reports-national-enquirer-link-2020-1">tied to the National Enquirer tabloid's publishing of Bezos' intimate texts</a> to Sanchez in early 2019, and threats to publish intimate photos.Bezos is attempting "to distort the Saudi image," bin Bandar wrote, and said The Washington Post - which Bezos owns - is "leading an unjust campaign against Saudi Arabia and the crown prince."Associated Press/Virginia Mayo; Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/GettyA composite image of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.The article added that The Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince">which broke the news of the alleged hack</a>, shows "long-term hostility to Saudi Arabia."The UN <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/un-statement-jeff-bezos-mohammed-bin-salman-2020-1">backed The Guardian's reporting</a> in a Wednesday statement and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/un-calls-investigation-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-hacking-jeff-bezos-2020-1">called for an "immediate investigation."</a>The Saudi embassy in Washington, DC, said on Tuesday the notion that Crown Prince Mohammed hacked Bezos' phone was "absurd.""I think absurd is exactly the right word," Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-davos-meeting-saudi-arabia/saudi-foreign-minister-calls-claim-that-crown-prince-hacked-bezos-phone-absurd-idUKKBN1ZL1MH">told Reuters in Davos</a> on Wednesday. "The idea that the crown prince would hack Jeff Bezos' phone is absolutely silly."None of the other prominent Saudi newspapers have published opinion articles about Bezos, but many, <a href="https://twitter.com/Saudi_Gazette/status/1220269942521520128">including the Saudi Gazette</a>, reported the embassy's and foreign minister's denial.Other attacks on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/MBS_MBSKSA/status/1220245698832142336">suggested Bezos was having an affair with</a> Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who died at the hands of Saudi agents in October 2018. He wrote articles criticizing the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed for The Washington Post.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-saudi-arabia-phone-hack-reports-national-enquirer-link-2020-1">How the Saudis and the National Enquirer are linked to the alleged hacking and blackmail attempt against Jeff Bezos</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-saudi-phone-hack-jamal-khashoggi-jake-tapper-cnn-2020-1">CNN anchor Jake Tapper trolled the Saudi government, saying Jamal Khashoggi could have investigated the reported Jeff Bezos phone hack 'but you killed him'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-dont-know-mbs-hacking-jeff-bezos-phone-2020-1">6 big things we still don't know in the bombshell report saying Jeff Bezos' phone was hacked by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-officials-crown-prince-mohammed-bezos-hack-wsj-2020-1">Saudi officials close to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly knew of plans to hack Bezos phone</a></li></ul> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ces-tech-product-launch-events-trade-show-2018-12">Apple forever changed the biggest tech event of the year by not showing up</a></h3>

'#BoycottAmazonProducts': How Saudi bots, Twitter, and newspapers are reacting to accusations that their Crown Prince hacked Jeff Bezos' phone

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Marty Baron is executive editor of The Washington Post where he oversees a staff of more than 800 journalists.</li><li>In his <keyword id="9235048" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="commencement-address">commencement address</keyword>, Baron speaks to the challenges facing a free press and American democracy if people fail to agree on what constitutes truth and fact, and instead base decisions around people's assertions or opinions.</li><li>He urges students to embrace education, expertise, and experience throughout their lives, and continue to model <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword>'s motto 'Veritas,' which is Latin for 'truth.'</li><li>Watch Baron's speech and read the full transcript below.</li></ul>Good morning from my home. Like you, I wish we were together on campus. There is so much now we can no longer take for granted. The air we breathe is first among them. So, those of us who are healthy have ample reason to be grateful.I am also grateful to Harvard and to President Bacow for inviting me to be with you. To the Harvard <keyword id="8665841" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="class-of-2020">Class of 2020</keyword>, congratulations. And congratulations to the parents, professors, mentors and friends who helped you along the way. Joining you for graduation is a high honor.For me, this is an opportunity — an opportunity to speak about subjects that I believe are of real urgency. Especially now during a worldwide health emergency. I would like to discuss with you the need for a commitment to facts and to truth. Only a few months ago, I would have settled for emphasizing that our democracy depends on facts and truth. And it surely does. But now, as we can plainly see, it is more elemental than that. Facts and truth are matters of life and death. Misinformation, disinformation, delusions, and deceit can kill. Here is what can move us forward: Science and medicine. Study and knowledge. Expertise and reason. In other words, fact and truth. I want to tell you why free expression by all of us and an independent press, imperfect though we may be, is essential to getting at the truth. And why we must hold government to account. And hold other powerful interests to account as well. When I began thinking about these remarks, I expected, of course, to be on Harvard's campus. And I thought: Not a bad place to talk about a free press. Not a bad place to talk about our often-testy relationship with official power.It was in Boston, after all, where the first newspaper of the American colonies was founded. Its first edition was published September 25, 1690. The very next day, the governor and council of Massachusetts shut it down.So, the press of this country has long known what it means to face a government that aims to silence it. Fortunately, there has been progress. With the First Amendment, James Madison championed the right of "freely examining public characters and measures." But it took a very long time before we as a nation fully absorbed what Madison was talking about. We took many ominous turns. We had the Alien and Sedition acts under John Adams, the Sedition and Espionage Acts under Woodrow Wilson, the McCarthy era. It was not always clear where we as a nation would end up.Finally, witnessing the authoritarianism of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, we began to secure a free press in this country. The Supreme Court would forcefully emphasize the press' role in guaranteeing a democracy.Justice Hugo Black said it well decades later: "The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people."Not only the secrets of government, I would add. Our duty to inform the public does not stop there. Not by a long shot.That was evident during my years as a journalist in Boston. Amid today's crisis, it seems like another era. And I guess it is. But I want to tell you about it — because I think it remains instructive about what a strong, independent press must do.I started as editor of the Boston Globe in the summer of 2001. One day prior to my start date, a Globe columnist wrote about a shocking case. A priest had been accused of abusing as many as 80 kids. A lawsuit alleged that the cardinal in Boston at the time knew about the serial abuse, didn't do anything about it — and repeatedly reassigned this priest from parish to parish, warning no one, over decades.The Archdiocese called the accusations baseless and reckless.The Globe columnist wrote that the truth might never be known. Internal documents that might reveal it had been sealed by a judge.On my first day of work, we asked the question: How do we get at the truth? Because the public deserved to know.That question led us to challenge the judge's secrecy order. And our journalists launched an investigation of their own.In early 2002, we published what we had learned through reporting and by prevailing in court. We published the truth: The cardinal did know about the abuse by this priest. Yet he kept him in ministry, thus enabling further abuse.Dozens of clergy in the diocese had committed similar offenses. The cardinal had covered it all up. And a bigger truth would emerge: Covering up such abuse had been practice and policy in the Church for decades. Only now the powerful were being held to account. Late in 2002, after hundreds of stories on this subject, I received a letter from a Father Thomas P. Doyle. Father Doyle had struggled for years — in vain — to get the Church to confront the very issue we were writing about. He expressed deep gratitude for our work. "It is momentous," he wrote, "and its good effects will reverberate for decades."Father Doyle did not see journalists as the enemy. He saw us an ally when one was sorely needed. So did abuse survivors. I kept Father Doyle's letter on my desk — a daily reminder of what journalists must do when we see evidence of wrongdoing.Harvard's commencement speaker two years ago, civil rights pioneer John Lewis, once said this: "When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something."We as journalists have the capacity — along with the constitutional right — to say and do something. We also have the obligation. And we must have the will. So must you. Every one of you has a stake in this idea of free expression. You want to be free to express your views. You should be free to hear the views of others, the same or different. You want to be free to watch any movie. To read any book. To listen to any lyrics. You should be free to say what you know is true without threat of government reprisal.And you should acknowledge this if you value these freedoms that come with democracy: Democracy cannot exist without a free and independent press. It never has. Leaders who crave more power for themselves always move quickly to crush an independent press. Next, they destroy free expression itself.Sadly, much of the world is on that worrisome path. And efforts in this country to demonize, delegitimize, and dehumanize the press give license to other governments to do the same — and to do far worse.By the end of last year, a near-record 250 journalists worldwide were sitting in prison. Thirty of them faced accusations of "false news," a charge virtually unheard-of only seven years earlier. Turkey has been trading places with China as No. 1 on the list of countries that jail the most journalists. The Turkish government has shut down more than 100 media outlets and charged many journalists as terrorists. Independent media have been largely extinguished. China, of course, imposes some of the world's tightest censorship on what its citizens can see and hear.In Hungary, the prime minister has waged war on independent media. Harvard Nieman fellow Andras Petho, who runs an investigative reporting center there, notes that the prime minister's business allies are "taking over hundreds of outlets and turning them into propaganda machines." Like other heads of state, Hungary's prime minister has exploited the pandemic to grab more power, suppress inconvenient facts, and escalate pressure on news outlets. A new law threatens up to five-year jail terms against those accused of spreading supposedly false information. Independent news outlets have questioned how the crisis was managed. And the fear now is that such accountability journalism will lead to harassment and arrests, as it has in other countries.In the Philippines, the courageous Maria Ressa, who founded the country's largest online-only news site, has been battling government harassment for years on other fronts. She now faces prosecution on bogus charges of violating foreign ownership laws. By the end of last year, she had posted bail eight times. Her real violation? She brought scrutiny to the president.In Myanmar, two Reuters journalists — Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — were imprisoned for more than 500 days for investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys. Finally, a year ago, they were released.In 2018, an opinion writer for The Washington Post, Jamal Khashoggi, walked into Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul to get documents he needed to marry. He was murdered there at the hands of a team sent by highest-level Saudi officials. His offense? He had sharply criticized the Saudi government.In Mexico, murderous vengeance against journalists is common. Last year, at least five were killed, more than in any other country.I think also of the risks that American journalists have taken to inform the public. Among them are colleagues I can never forget. One is Elizabeth Neuffer. Seventeen years ago this month, I stood before her friends at the Boston Globe to report that she had died covering the war in Iraq. Elizabeth was 46, an experienced foreign correspondent, a mentor to others; vivacious and brave. Her Iraqi driver was traveling at high speed because of the risk of abductions. He lost control. Elizabeth died instantly; her translator, too.Elizabeth had a record of fearlessness in investigating war crimes and human rights abuses. Her goal: Reveal the world as it is — because someone might then make things better. Another colleague was Anthony Shadid. In 2002, I visited Anthony, then a reporter for the Globe, after he was shot and wounded in Ramallah. Lying in a hospital in Jerusalem, it was clear that he had narrowly escaped being paralyzed. Anthony recovered and went on to report from Iraq, where he won two Pulitzer Prizes for The Washington Post. From Egypt, where he was harassed by police. From Libya, where he and three New York Times colleagues were detained by pro-government militias and physically abused. He died in 2012, at age 43, while reporting in Syria, apparently of an asthma attack. Anthony told the stories of ordinary people. Without him, their voices would have gone unheard.And now I think constantly of reporters, photographers, and videographers who risk their own well-being to be with heroic frontline health workers — frontline workers of every sort — to share their stories.Anthony, Elizabeth, and my present-day colleagues sought to be eyewitnesses. To see the facts for themselves. To discover the truth and tell it. As a profession, we maintain there is such a thing as fact, there is such a thing as truth. At Harvard, where the school's motto is "Veritas," presumably you do, too. Truth, we know, is not a matter of who wields power or who speaks loudest. It has nothing to do with who benefits or what is most popular. And ever since the Enlightenment, modern society has rejected the idea that truth derives from any single authority on Earth.To determine what is factual and true, we rely on certain building blocks. Start with education. Then there is expertise. And experience. And, above all, we rely on evidence. We see that acutely now when people's health can be jeopardized by false claims, wishful thinking, and invented realities. The public's safety requires the honest truth. Yet education, expertise, experience, and evidence are being devalued, dismissed. and denied. The goal is clear: to undermine the very idea of objective fact, all in pursuit of political gain.Along with that is a systematic effort to disqualify traditional independent arbiters of fact. The press tops the list of targets. But others populate the list, too: courts, historians, even scientists and medical professionals — subject-matter experts of every type. And so today the government's leading scientists find their motives questioned, their qualifications mocked — despite a lifetime of dedication and achievement that has made us all safer.In any democracy, we want vigorous debate about our challenges and the correct policies. But what becomes of democracy if we cannot agree on a common set of facts, if we can't agree on what even constitutes a fact?Are we headed for extreme tribalism, believing only what our ideological soulmates say? Or do we become so cynical that we think everyone always lies for selfish reasons? Or so nihilistic that we conclude no one can ever really know what is true or false; so, no use trying to find out? Regardless, we risk entering dangerous territory. Hannah Arendt, in 1951, wrote of this in her first major work, "The Origins of Totalitarianism." There, she observed "the possibility that gigantic lies and monstrous falsehoods can eventually be established as unquestioned facts . . . that the difference between truth and falsehood may cease to be objective and may become a mere matter of power and cleverness, of pressure and infinite repetition."One hundred years ago — in 1920 — a renowned journalist and leading thinker, Walter Lippmann, harbored similar worries. Lippmann, once a writer for the Harvard Crimson, warned of a society where people "cease to respond to truths, and respond simply to opinions . . . what somebody asserts, not what actually is." Lippmann wrote those words because of concerns about the press itself. He saw our defects and hoped we might fix them, thus improving how information got to the public. Ours is a profession that still has many flaws. We make mistakes of fact, and we make mistakes of judgment. We are at times overly impressed with what we know when much remains for us to learn.In making mistakes, we are like people in every other profession. And we, too, must be held accountable. What frequently gets lost, though, is the contribution of a free and independent press to our communities and our country — and to the truth. I think back to the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 when the Miami Herald showed how lax zoning, inspection, and building codes had contributed to the massive destruction. Homes and lives are safer today as a result.In 2016, the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia exposed how opioids had flooded the state's depressed communities, contributing to the highest death rates in the country.In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's newspapers were indispensable sources of reliable information for residents.The Washington Post in 2007 revealed the shameful neglect and mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. Corrective action was immediate.The Associated Press in 2015 documented a slave trade behind our seafood supply. Two thousand slaves were freed as a result. The New York Times and The New Yorker in 2017 exposed sexual predators in elite boardrooms. A movement of accountability for abuses against women took root.The New York Times in 1971 was the first to publish the Pentagon Papers, revealing a pattern of official deceit in a war that killed more than 58,000 Americans and countless others. The Washington Post broke open the Watergate scandal in 1972. That led ultimately to the president's resignation.Those news organizations searched for the truth and told it, undeterred by pushback or pressure or vilification. Facing the truth can cause extreme discomfort. But history shows that we as a nation become better for that reckoning. It is in the spirit of the preamble to our Constitution: "to form a more perfect union." Toward that end, it is an act of patriotism.W.E.B. Du Bois, the great scholar and African American activist — and the first African American to graduate with a PhD from Harvard — cautioned against the falsification of events in relating our nation's history. In 1935, distressed at how deceitfully America's Reconstruction period was being taught, Du Bois assailed the propaganda of the era. "Nations reel and stagger on their way," he wrote. "They make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth be ascertainable?"At this university, you answer that question with your motto — "Veritas." You seek the truth — with scholarship, teaching and dialogue — knowing that it really matters.My profession shares with you that mission — the always arduous, often tortuous and yet essential pursuit of truth. It is the demand that democracy makes upon us. It is the work we must do. We will keep at it. You should, too. None of us should ever stop.Thank you for listening. Thank you for honoring me. Good luck to you all. And please, stay well.Martin "Marty" Baron is executive editor of The Washington Post. He oversees The Post's print and digital news operations and a staff of more than 800 journalists.Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-legendary-journalist-martin-baron-commencement-harvard-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

Legendary journalist Marty Baron offered critical advice for the next generation in his 20-minute Harvard commencement speech: 'We risk entering dangerous territory.

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