JEDDAH: A Special Criminal Court in Riyadh began the trial of two Arabs accused of spying.
The prosecutor demanded their conviction and condemnation with discretionary penalties to dissuade others from cooperating with foreign intelligence network.
The prosecutor also demanded the confiscation of their mobile phones and their deportation from the Kingdom at the end of the trial.
The two men have been accused of cooperating with Mossad, entering the Kingdom to gather information , declaring their sympathies for Daesh and supporting the terrorist organization.
The two suspects have been given the right to appoint lawyers. In case they cannot afford the lawyers, the Ministry of Justice will appoint a lawyer at its own expense.
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Trial of two Arabs accused of espionage begins
Trial of two Arabs accused of espionage begins
- The prosecutor demanded their conviction and condemnation with discretionary penalties
- The claimant has also been accused of using illegal drugs, violating the Kingdom’s law by overstaying after Hajj and giving false information about himself
40 killed in central Sudan paramilitary attack on village
PORT SUDAN: A medic on Wednesday said 40 people were killed “by gunshot wounds” during a paramilitary attack on the Sudanese village of Wad Oshaib in the central state of Al-Jazira.
Eyewitnesses in the village told AFP the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, attacked the village on Tuesday evening. “The attack resumed this morning,” one eyewitness said by phone Wednesday, adding that paramilitary fighters were “looting property.”
Eyewitnesses in the village told AFP the Rapid Support Forces, at war with the army since April 2023, attacked the village on Tuesday evening. “The attack resumed this morning,” one eyewitness said by phone Wednesday, adding that paramilitary fighters were “looting property.”
Webuild reports no hiccup on NEOM activities after mega project CEO’s departure
LONDON: Italy’s construction group Webuild told Reuters on Tuesday its activities connected to Saudi Arabia’s NEOM are continuing in line with the plan, after the infrastructure mega project’s long-time CEO left the role last week.
“Webuild has no evidence of changes in the activity plan initially set for the projects it is implementing, nor has it recorded any delay in payments,” the company said.
NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium due to house nearly 9 million people, is central to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to create new engines of economic growth beyond oil.
Webuild, which has been active in Saudi Arabia for 60 years, is building a system of three dams that will feed an artificial lake in the Trojena area and a high-speed railway called the Connector.
Riyadh’s office space to see major expansion by 2026, driven by regional HQ program: Knight Frank
- Saudi capital to see 1m sq. meters of new office space in two years
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s push for regional headquarters has spurred demand for office space in Riyadh, with the capital’s stock set to grow by 1 million sq. meters by 2026, a report showed.
According to global property consultancy Knight Frank’s Autumn 2024 Saudi Arabia Commercial Market Review, this will bring the city’s total office space to 6.3 million sq. meters.
The regional HQ program also impacts office lease rates, with 517 companies now committed to establishing their primary hub in the Kingdom, the report disclosed.
This comes ahead of the nation’s goal of attracting approximately 480 multinational corporations to move their headquarters to the Kingdom by 2030.
“Vision 2030 is reshaping Saudi Arabia’s economy and society, with a central focus on transforming Riyadh into a key regional and global center for business, finance, leisure, and tourism,” said Faisal Durrani, partner and head of research for the Middle East and North Africa at Knight Frank.
“Indeed, 49 percent of the new jobs created in the Kingdom over the last five years has been in Riyadh, which is adding to the upward pressure on office rents, with many key office districts and business parks fully leased, with waiting lists,” Durrani added.
He went on to say that the limited availability of office space is also forcing up Riyadh’s Grade B rents, which have climbed by 27 percent over the past year.
In the Dammam Metropolitan Area region, Grade A rents have climbed by 2.2 percent since the third quarter of 2023, fueled mainly by strong demand from the public sector, he added.
Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says
- The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager
ISTANBUL: Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment seeking a prison sentence of 72 to 240 years for the chief executive of lender Denizbank for the alleged fraud of soccer stars, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager. Denizbank has denied any role in wrongdoing.
Anadolu on Tuesday reported Denizbank CEO Hakan Ates and former assistant general manager Mehmet Aydogdu, who faces similar charges, had denied the allegations against them in the indictment, prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office.
Responding to the widely reported details on the indictment, Denizbank said late on Tuesday: “We have not received any information regarding the prosecutor’s investigation reflected in some press and publication outlets today.”
The bank said the disclosure of the indictment details violated the confidentiality of the case. Details of indictments are regularly released via Anadolu news agency.
Denizbank said last week that Aydogdu had resigned.
“I do not accept the allegations,” CEO Ates is quoted as saying in the indictment.
Aydogdu was quoted as saying: “I have no connection with or knowledge of the matter.”
No arrests have been made or court appearances set in relation to the new indictment.
Under the case opened last year, prosecutors sought a 216-year prison term for Secil Erzan, the former branch manager charged with defrauding soccer celebrities including Turan, a former Barcelona midfielder, and Galatasaray goalkeeper Muslera.
According to last year’s indictment, Erzan defrauded some $44 million from 18 individuals, promising substantial returns on their investments in a “secret special fund.” There are 24 complainants in the latest indictment.
Erzan convinced them to invest in the fund in part by telling them that former Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim had also invested, according to that indictment.
Erzan has been jailed as the case against her continues.
Ten army, two paramilitary soldiers killed as militants attack check post — Pakistan army
- Tuesday’s attack took place on joint army-FC check post in Mali Khel area of Bannu District
- Seven policemen abducted by gunmen from Bannu district on Monday recovered by police
ISLAMABAD: Ten Pakistan army soldiers and two from the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were killed on Tuesday as militants attacked a checkpost in the northwestern Bannu district, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has seen a surge in attacks in recent months, which Islamabad says are mostly carried out by Afghan nationals and their facilitators and by Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups who cross over into Pakistan using safe haven in Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul denies the charges, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue.
The remote southwestern province of Balochistan has also seen an increase in strikes by separatist ethnic militants this year.
Tuesday’s attack was on a joint army-FC check post in the Mali Khel area of Bannu District, with six militants killed in the exchange of gunfire, the army said.
“The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the khwarij [militants] to ram an explosive laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post,” the statement said.
“The suicide blast led to collapse of portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in Shahadat [martyrdom] of twelve brave sons of soil that include ten Soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of Frontier Constabulary.”
On Monday, seven policemen were abducted from a check post in Bannu district, but the cops were recovered on Tuesday through the efforts of local tribal elders and a massive search operation by police in the unforgiving mountainous terrain.
The TTP, which operates along the Pak-Afghan border, is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
Islamabad says TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and that the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.
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