Mohammad bin Salman

Prime Minister Theresa May has defended Britain’s links to security ally Saudi Arabia following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting with Queen Elizabeth for lunch on a high-profile visit that drew protests over Riyadh’s human rights record.

The Riyadh Prosecutor's Office said that for the first time they wanted to hire Saudi women to work at a time when Saudi Arabia is seeking to favor women's employment as part of a plan for economic and social reform.

"There are available positions for women in the prosecution service as lieutenant-investigator," the Prosecutor General's office said.

Saudi Arabia said on Dec. 19 its economy contracted for the first time in eight years due to painful austerity measures as it announced record spending to stimulate growth.

"I will eradicate extremism." - His strong message surprised everyone in October. And he has kept his promise.

Saudi Arabia lifted on Dec. 11 a decades-long ban on cinemas, part of a series of social reforms by the powerful crown prince that are shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is the actual buyer of a painting by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci that sold for a record-breaking $450 million at auction last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 7.

The Social Movement to Combat Sexual Abuse #MeToo was chosen to be the winner of this year's award of Time magazine "Personality of the Year".

Bulgaria said Wednesday that an aircraft taking its prime minister and former king to Saudi Arabia was denied permission by Iran to enter its airspace, forcing them to fly via Iraq.

"The refusal is inexplicable," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva was quoted by Bulgarian media as saying from Riyadh a day after the incident.

Saudi Prince Miteb bin Abdullah was released yesterday from the arrest after an "acceptable settlement," paying the authorities over USD 1 billion. This was announced by a Saudi representative participating in the anti-corruption campaign in the kingdom, quoted by Reuters.

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Nov. 23, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.