Saudi Arabia

28 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's former commander in charge of the coalition war in Yemen has been sentenced to death following a military trial, according to a report yesterday by the Washington DC-based Institute for Gulf Affairs. The report cited one of his relatives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

27 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia said it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle 14.4 million amphetamine pills from Lebanon, two months after it banned imports of Lebanese agricultural produce, citing an increase in drug smuggling, reports Reuters.

22 June 2021; MEMO: The six countries forming the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will remain heavily dependent on hydrocarbon production for at least the next ten years, despite efforts to diversify their economies, Moody's said yesterday.

21 June 2021; MEMO: US military hardware and personnel are being withdrawn from Saudi Arabia and several other countries in the Middle East as Washington nears the completion of its global review of American forces and issues final recommendations on confronting the threat from China.

21 June 2021; MEMO: The United States is withdrawing its Patriot anti-missile defence batteries from four Middle Eastern states as it continues to reduce its military presence in the region, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal.

Citing anonymous US officials, the newspaper revealed on Friday that the Pentagon is currently in the process of pulling out eight of the Patriot system's batteries from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

20 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabian air defences late on Saturday destroyed six armed drones launched by Yemen's Houthi movement towards the kingdom, bringing the total it intercepted during the day to 17, state TV cited the Saudi-led coalition as saying, reports Reuters.

The Houthi military spokesman had said earlier in the day on Twitter that one drone was launched at a military base in Khamis Mushait.

19 June 2021; MEMO: The Saudi minister confirmed that the world has become a mobile media outlet.

Saudi acting Media Minister Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi announced the formation of a working group to develop a unified media vision with Egypt, stressing that there is an urgent need to unify the two countries' media horizons.

RIYADH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Aramco announced on Saturday the completion of a 12.4-billion-U.S. dollar sale in its natural gas pipeline to an international investor consortium.

The consortium consists of a broad cross-section of investors from North America, Asia and the Middle East, in which it acquired a 49-percent stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines Co, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

As part of the transaction, first announced in April 2021, Aramco and its subsidiary entered into a 25-year leaseback agreement for Aramco's stabilized crude oil pipelines network.

14 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) yesterday announced the arrest of 136 citizens and expatriates for their "alleged" involvement in corruption.

Nazaha said in a statement that the detainees include employees in the ministries of defence, interior, National Guard, health, justice, municipal and rural affairs, and housing and education.

The defendants face charges related to bribery, abuse of power, and forgery, it said.

13 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has restricted the annual Hajj pilgrimage to its own citizens and residents for the second year running in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the state Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Saturday, reports Reuters.