#source: a softer sea 09

[seattlesolace]

water // jay (ENHYPEN)

pairing: prince!jay x mermaid!fem!reader

summary: your father sends you to inspect a ship, and by doing so you found yourself a new acquaintance.

content: sfw

word count: ~1k

for tropetember – 18/09 fairytale au // tropetember masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were huffing and puffing as soon as you emerged from the water. Your jet black luscious hair lay flat on your head, and you fixed the shells that covered your chest as you made your way to the nearest bed of rocks. Your father instructed you to observe the ship that arrived on the island last night, and although he could have asked his other sons or daughters, he just chose to send you.

It was early in the morning, and you couldn’t see any signs of life coming from the boat. Except for one voice. You squinted your eyes and saw a man, a human, with the sharpest jawline you had ever seen in your life. Based on what he was wearing, he seemed to be a prince, or someone of royalty. You decided to swim closer to the ship, getting a better view and a better taste of his voice.

He was belting notes to a song that you did not know, and it made you knit your eyebrows and hold in your laughter when he started singing way too enthusiastically and exaggerating the adlibs. The man then leaned to the side of the ship where he could see you floating in water, but his eyes were set somewhere else.

“You sound awful.”

The man lost his balance and tripped backwards as soon as he heard your voice. Standing up with wobbly legs, he brushed his hair back and looked left and right, searching for the source.

“Down here, Sir,” you called for him. You waved at him when his eyes landed on you.

You could see him gulp and hear him clear his throat before he spoke. “You’re… a mermaid…”

It seemed like he was awestruck by the way his eyes were looking at you and the way his mouth stayed agape.

“What’s the matter, you’ve never seen one before?” You asked, purposefully bringing your tail to the surface of the water. He saw the purple scales you had matched the shells that covered your top. If he decided to come closer, he’d see that your eyes were purple, too.

“I’ve always thought you were a myth,” the man leaned forward, desperate to get a better look. “Where did you come from?”

“Uh, under the sea,” you answered matter-of-factly. “What about you?”

“Esgalduin,” the man said, pulling on the collar of his outfit. “I’m sorry, talking like this seems very uncomfortable. Is there any way I can get closer to you?”

You frowned before nodding. “Yeah,” you smiled. “Jump in the water.”

The man scoffed and backed away. He disappeared and you really thought that you had offended him. However, as you turned your tail around to swim away, you heard the sound of a huge splash behind you. You swiveled in the water and was instantly met with the same man with the chiseled jawline. He was wiping the water out of his eyes, smiling at you.

“You can call me Jay,” he bent his head slightly to greet you formally. “My father is the King of Esgalduin.”

“Wait,” you blinked twice. “So you’re a prince?”

“His only son, yes,” the man pulled on the strings that held his white top together. “And you are?”

“My father is the King of Themyscira, the kingdom…”

“Underwater, yes,” the man finished your sentence. “That’s what we’re here for. We’ve been told that your kingdom is in this area. So you’re a princess?”

“One of many,” you shrugged, pulling your hair to the front. “My father sent me here to inspect your ship.”

“Oh?” Prince Jay brushed his wet hair back and took a quick glance at his own ship. “Is there some sort of requirement for us to visit your kingdom?”

You chuckled. “No, I guess he wanted to make sure you all are friends and not foe.”

“Well, judging from this friendly interaction we’re having, I hope you don’t see us as the latter,” Prince Jay swam closer to you and reached out his hand to take yours. “Princess…?”

“Y/N,” you replied, your voice sounding way softer than the first time you opened your mouth.

Prince Jay planted a chaste kiss on the back of your hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Your Royal Highness.”

You snorted, and Prince Jay looked at you weird. You pulled your hand away and started swimming around him. “My father has been waiting for your King’s visit.”

“That’s great,” Prince Jay rotated in his place to follow your movements. “How are we going to get there then?”

“I pull you down and hopefully you can hold your breath for an hour,” you said, eyes wide anticipating for Prince Jay’s reaction.

He stared at you in horror and you could no longer hold back your laughter. “I’m kidding. We will come to your ship. After I report back, of course. There will be a feast and a party.”

“Now when you say party, will there be entertainment?”

“There should be?” You answered with an uncertain tone. “Why?”

“Earlier you said I sounded awful,” Prince Jay swam closer to you again. “So I’m dying to find out what your standard for singing is. I’ve heard mermaids have beautiful voices.”

You chuckled, splashing your hand from underneath the water to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “My apologies, Your Highness, although I am certain I can sing better. Than you, at least.”

Prince Jay let out a soft laugh that showed his fake disappointment towards your comment. You then gently swam backwards, keeping your distance from him.

“I shall go back to my kingdom,” you declared, ready to leave.

“I look forward to seeing you again soon,” Prince Jay bowed again, this time in a bigger gesture to the point that his nose touched the water. You responded with a smile before turning your back to him, playfully flapping your tail so it would make a big splash against his face.

-END-

© seattlesolace 2022, all rights reserved

tropetember authors: @vivvys @aira-mai @nyanggk

for more tropetember, click on the hashtag below

the masterlist for my tropetember entries will be updated regularly

[appassaddle]

maybe if the time is right, i can be both in one day?

[magicwebsitesnet]

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

[captainblogger100posts]

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

[computacionalblog]

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

[internetbetterforall]

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

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Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince http://www.nature-business.com/business-saudi-admission-on-khashoggis-death-wont-touch-reformist-crown-prince/

Business

(CNN)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has tried to craft his image as a young reformist pushing the Saudi kingdom into the 21st century.

He touts his vision to modernize Saudi Arabia by weaning its economy from fast-depleting oil reserves and ushering in a more moderate form of Islam, a vision that Western leaders have welcomed.

His leadership, once praised, is now overshadowed by

the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After first claiming that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, Saudi officials on Friday — 18 days later —

finally admitted he was killed on their premises.

US officials say privately that an operation to target Khashoggi could never have happened without the knowledge of the Crown Prince, the de facto head of government. The arrest of 18 men, some from bin Salman’s inner circle, can only make the argument that he had no knowledge of it harder to swallow. Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.

How a figure embroiled in such a horrific scandal could survive politically seems unfathomable. But the Khashoggi case is just one of many missteps the 33-year-old Crown Prince has tangled himself in, and the extraordinary amount of impunity he has enjoyed suggests his position is unlikely to change.

That’s despite growing international pressure over the journalist’s death and further threats of Saudi isolation.

Some of the biggest names in global business and senior ministers from around the world, for example, have canceled plans to attend an investment conference in the kingdom, dubbed “Davos in the desert.” The Crown Prince’s 2030 vision for the economy was going to be a centerpiece of the event.

The UK, Germany, France and the European Union

have demanded the Saudis conduct a credible investigation

and take part in Turkey’s probe over what happened. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply troubled” after hearing the Saudis’ admission.

While US President Donald Trump has said he believes the Saudis’ version of events — although he added that a US review of the investigation was yet to be completed — members of Congress of both parties are already pushing for sanctions on Saudi officials.

But such pressure is unlikely to keep the Crown Prince from ascending to the throne, said Neil Quilliam, who directs the Future Dynamics in the Gulf project at the Chatham House think tank in London.

“There is a tremendous amount of international pressure, but it won’t amount to much in terms of getting him to step down. The international community has no ability to influence King Salman to say ‘drop your son,’” Quilliam told CNN.

“At most, in private, his wings will effectively be clipped. Some of these more ‘adventurous’ behaviors will be curtailed. Ultimately, that will be the kind of compromise reached.”

He added that he was not surprised by

Trump’s defense of the Saudis.

Trump himself has mentioned job-creating defense deals with the Saudis as reason to keep relations intact.

“We’re starting to understand what Trump’s all about. He’s a transactional politician, and issues concerning human rights don’t really feature. Even if it weren’t for Trump, the US-Saudi relationship is not about to be derailed.”

Fiery foreign relations

The Crown Prince, known by the initials MBS, has made an extraordinary debut in Saudi politics, embarking on a series of high-profile, politically risky moves to consolidate his rise and to begin remaking the kingdom in his own image.

Many of these moves have reeled in other nations and have made for testy foreign relations, forcing allies into uncomfortable corners to justify their continued cooperation with the Saudis.

Bin Salman’s consolidation of power at home came through a highly publicized palace coup masked as an “anti-corruption drive” last year, in which he had senior government figures, top advisers and businesspeople

detained for months in Riyadh’s lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Around the same time, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a dual Saudi-Lebanese citizen, was detained while visiting Saudi Arabia on an official visit, according to multiple sources. While in Riyadh, he resigned as prime minister in a bizarre recorded statement. He

rescinded that resignation

shortly after setting foot back on Lebanese soil.

Bin Salman also led an aggressive land, air and sea blockade against Qatar last year in what was seen by critics as an attempt to expand his regional influence.

Even Canada has not been spared bin Salman’s overreach. After officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights violations and demanded the release of imprisoned activists, Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment deals, suspended flights to Canada, reassigned students studying there and expelled Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, while recalling its own.

But it is the Crown Prince’s handling of the proxy war at Saudi Arabia’s southern border that is perhaps most telling. In his additional role as defense minister, bin Salman has intensified the country’s assault on rebels in Yemen, in operations that have also killed thousands of civilians.

The war is now one of t

he world’s worst humanitarian disasters,

with more that 16,000 casualties, according to th United Nations Human Rights Council.

Calls for more answers

While bin Salman’s power in the kingdom may seem unshakeable, the Khashoggi case could isolate the country just as it seeks better relations with the world, largely to attract foreign investment.

Western leaders are hesitant to name bin Salman in their calls for accountability, but the voices are louder from other pockets of politics, particularly in the United States, a key Saudi ally.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on Twitter: “To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi is an understatement,” adding it was “hard to find this latest ‘explanation’ as credible.”

Robert Jordan, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that there are “serious reservations” about bin Salman’s leadership.

“If you look at the track record of the Crown Prince, he’s presided over one failure after another over the last two years — the war in Yemen, the detention of the Lebanese Prime Minister, the blockade of Qatar .. you can go down the line and one would ask, if this fellow was applying for a job, what administration would hire him, or give him a promotion?

“So I think we’ve got serious reservations about his suitability for the job and long term I think we need to have some very frank conversations with the Saudis about how this is going to be handled going forward.”

Armida van Rij from The Policy Institute at King’s College in London pointed to the pressure Saudi Arabia’s allies are now under to respond to the Khashoggi case, saying it should be “a defining moment in UK-Saudi relations.”

“At a time when the UK is reshaping it’s foreign policy and the role it would like to play on the global stage, and when it states that as part of that role it wants to defend and uphold the international rules based order, the UK risks significant reputational damage if it were to take a softer stance on this than it did with Russia over the Novichok attack,” she told CNN.

“This admission from the Saudi authorities should not stand in the way of the remainder of the investigation. There are still important questions that remain unanswered, such as who gave the order, and who knew? What happened to Khashoggi’s body?”

Read More | Analysis by Angela Dewan and Euan McKirdy, CNN,

Business Saudi admission on Khashoggi’s death won’t touch ‘reformist’ crown prince, in 2018-10-20 16:40:09

[newsintodays-blog]

Asian shares a sea of red on trade, emerging market anxieties

New Post has been published on https://newsintoday.info/2018/09/06/asian-shares-a-sea-of-red-on-trade-emerging-market-anxieties/

Asian shares a sea of red on trade, emerging market anxieties

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares skidded for a sixth straight session on Thursday, oil slipped and safe-haven gold gained with investor confidence shaken by turmoil in emerging markets and jitters over a potentially severe escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.

FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of a screen showing today’s movements of Nikkei share average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

European shares were expected to be subdued too with futures for Eurostoxx 50 STXEc1, Germany’s DAX FDXc1 and London’s FTSE FFIc1 all starting lower.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dropped more than 1 percent to hit a one-year trough of 515.24 points.

Japan’s Nikkei .N225 slipped 0.4 percent while Australian shares faltered 1.1 percent.

China’s blue-chip index .CSI300 fell 1.2 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index .HSI stumbled 1.5 percent.

Investors were on edge with a public consultation period on the Trump administration’s intent to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods ending on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States was not yet ready to come to an agreement over trade disputes with China but he said talks would continue.

“An escalation of the U.S.-China trade war may be imminent, the timing is somewhat unclear and this justifies caution even given the (U.S. dollar) pullback,” JPMorgan analysts said.

Measured against a basket of currencies, the dollar index .DXY retreated from two-week highs hit earlier this week to stand flat at 95.16.

“Conviction and participation will likely remain light until an announcement,” they said.

Further weighing on sentiment, data out earlier showed German industrial orders fell unexpectedly in July in another sign that factories in Europe’s largest economy are feeling the bite of protectionist trade politics.

The euro was a tad softer at $1.1624.

Investors are also watching for developments as the United States and Canada resume talks about revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada insisted there was room to salvage the pact despite few signs a deal was imminent.

The dollar, considered a safe haven at times of turmoil because of its status as the world’s reserve currency, has generally benefited from these trade uncertainties. It has gained 8 percent since end-March, with currencies in emerging markets taking a hammering.

PAUSE, NOT PANACEA

The financial crises in Argentina and Turkey have sent shivers through emerging markets while in Indonesia the central bank has had to intervene several times in recent weeks to stem the rupiah currency’s slide.

Indonesia’s benchmark stock index .JKSE was last up 0.1 percent while the rupiah also gained a tad.

An index of emerging market currencies .MIEM00000CUS paused near 15-month lows after two straight days of heavy declines.

But analysts warned about further losses as investors were no longer looking at Argentina, Turkey and South Africa as isolated cases. They are fretting over the impact of rising U.S. inflation and interest rates on heavily indebted Asian economies.

“The upshot is that this pause should not be mistaken for a panacea to the ongoing emerging market crisis, which demands utmost policy vigilance; and perhaps coordination,” analysts at Mizuho said in a note.

The emerging market equity index .MSCIEF has been crunched in the past month or so, falling for six consecutive sessions and down more than 3 percent this week.

Analysts at Capital Economics believe there is room for further declines.

A range of factors have hit EM stocks recently, namely policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve, crises in Turkey and Argentina, the Sino-U.S. trade war and broader concerns about China’s economy.

“We doubt that the main factors which have caused equities across much of the emerging world to weaken together recently will go away just yet,” Capital Economics said in a note.

Elsewhere, sterling GBP= held on to gains made on Wednesday as investors positioned for a favourable Brexit outcome. It was last up 0.1 percent at $1.2910.

In commodities, oil prices fell as emerging market woes weighed on sentiment. U.S. crude CLcv1 eased 14 cents to $68.58 a barrel while Brent LCOcv1 was last down 7 cents at $77.21.

Gold was stronger with spot gold XAU= up 0.1 percent at $1,197.33 an ounce.

Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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