Arab world

    Militants have launched a suicide attack on a natural gas plant near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and injuring a dozen more. During the assault, which extremist militant group Isis said it had carried out, a car was blown up at the entrance to the facility approximately 20km north of Baghdad. Six people then entered the site with explosive vests and fought security officers, the Reuters news agency reported. Three gas storage tanks were set on fire during the fighting. Flames and smoke could be seen billowing from the facility. More than 100 people have been killed in terrorist attacks over the last week, mostly in a car bomb blast that claimed the lives of 93 people in a market in the Shia Muslim area of Baghdad. Shia Muslims are considered aposta...

    Saudi Arabia is planning a three-way foreign listing in London, Hong Kong, and New York for the record-smashing privatisation of its $2.5 trillion oil giant Aramco, anchored on a triad of interlocking ties with three foreign energy companies. The Saudi authorities hope to entice ExxonMobil, China’s Sinopec, and potentially BP, into taking strategic stakes, offering them long-term access to upstream operations in return for cutting-edge technology or refinery deals, according to sources close to Saudi thinking. The moves come amid a profound shake-up of the kingdom’s energy strategy, with the dismissal of veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi over the weekend. Aramco chief Khalid al-Falih will take over, though there may not be immediate changes to Opec policy. The Aramco sale ...

    A car bombing Saturday in southeastern Baghdad killed at least 21 people wounded at least 42 others, according to police and hospital officials. The attack targeted Shiite pilgrims walking to Baghdad's holy Kadhimiyah shrine, according to local police officials at the scene. But other Iraqi security officials say the attack targeted an open-air market. The two differing accounts could not be immediately reconciled. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press. Thousands of Shiite pilgrims from across Iraq are expected to travel on foot to the shrine of 8th-century Imam Moussa al-Kadhim over the coming days to commemorate the anniversary of his death. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, ...

    A middle eastern billionaire was spotted driving his fleet of ultra-expensive gold supercars around London with a parking ticket on the windscreen. Turki Bin Abdullah, a member of the house of Saud, appeared unconcerned by the fine as he dined in a west London restaurant nearby. As he ate with friends his £370,000 Mercedes G63 and £350,000 Lamborghini Aventador SV were parked immediately outside. The wealthy Saudi Arabian is known for his opulent lifestyle and his fleet of flashy vehicles. His cars drip in gold, with cheetahs in the front seat as he enjoys fine dining and multiple luxury watches. He flew four of his fleet of supercars wrapped in gold to London. And he has been busy on social media too, posting jaw-dropping examples of his huge wealth. Bin Abdullah, who div...

    Saudi Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced his "Vision 2030" economic reform plan (Picture: [copyright]) Saudi Arabia is not yet ready to end the world's only ban on women driving cars. Despite moves towards rights for women under King Abdullah before his death, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has said the Saudi community "is not convinced about women driving." The 30-year-old prince, who has amassed increasing powers since his father King Salman came to the throne, said the topic was not about Islam but about cultural norms. "[Women driving] is not a religious issue as much as it is an issue that relates to the community itself that either accepts it or refuses it," he said, according to local media reports. The defence mi...

    ISIS has been killing its injured fighters so there organs can be extracted and sold on the black market abroad, it has been claimed. Doctors in Iraq say they have been threatened by fighters to remove the organs from wounded militants. It is believed they then sell the organs abroad to raise money. A report by an unnamed source in the al-Sabah newspaper said: "Doctors were threatened to take out the body organs of a wounded ISIL militant,' the report said. As reported by Fars News, it is also believed that prisoners held by ISIS have been forced to give blood to the terror group. It emerged today that hundreds of women are now fighting for ISIS in Libya - many as suicide bombers - after being "promoted" from their roles as wives. Experts say as many as 1,000 women are wit...

    Officials in Saudi Arabia have reportedly told the Obama administration they will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars of American assets if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible for any role in the September 11 attacks. On the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the New York Times said the White House had been lobbying Congress to block the bill’s passage and that the threat from Saudi Arabia had been the subject of intense talks. It said that Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom’s message last month during a trip to Washington, telling legislators that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750bn in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they c...

    Reports that Islamic State militants have massacred 175 captured workers from a cement plant near Damascus have been withdrawn. The news agency, Reuters, this morning quoted the Syrian military as suggesting the plant workers had been killed by the militants. But minutes later the agency withdrew the report. The workers were captured at the Al Badia Cement company, near the town of Dumeir, 30 miles northeast of the capital Damascus. Contact has been lost with the employees, and it is not known what has happened to them, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It took place in the same area where IS militants launched an assault on Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces on Tuesday night. They reportedly captured much of Dumeir, including its military airpo...

    The $2tn (£1.4tn) wealth fund will be created by selling off state petroleum company Aramco's assets in a dramatic plan to transform the country's economy, which heavily relies on the oil industry. The megafund will be enough money to buy the four largest US companies, Apple, Google's parent company Alphabet, Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway. It will also be more than double Norway's sovereign wealth fund, regarded as the largest in the world by assets. The scheme is aimed to generate state revenue, which will be used to invest abroad and in new industries and tourism to diversify the economy and end the country's dependence on oil. Ras Tannura's oil production plant, Saudi Arabia (Rex) The 30-year-old son of King Salman and second-in-line for the throne Prince Mohammed bi...

    In what officials said was a major strike against Isis, the US military has claimed it has killed the Islamist group's deputy in an operation inside Syria. While he declined to provide anything other than the most basic details, US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter, sitting next to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joseph Dunford, announced that Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was targeted and killed earlier this week. The militant was better known as Haji Imam and considered to be the deputy of Isis leader Omar al-Baghdadi. The former physics teacher was designated as a global terrorist by the US in 2014 and the following year it offered a reward of $7m for information about him that led to his arrest or capture. "We are steadily eliminating Isil's cabinet," sai...