Saudi Arabia

15 June 2020; MEMO: The Riyadh Municipality has removed a street sign bearing the name of the renowned stree, also known as Suleiman the Magnificent, from one of its streets, local media reported.

The Riyadh Municipality did not give a reason for the move, however social media users believe strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey could be the trigger.

VIENNA, June 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia, and other key oil producers agreed to extend historic output cuts through July, as oil prices tentatively recover and coronavirus lockdowns ease.

The 13-member cartel and its allies, notably Russia, decided to extend by a month deep May and June cuts agreed in April to boost prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a statement.

Prices had plummeted owing to falling demand as countries around the world imposed strict lockdowns to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

RIYADH, June 3 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia pledged, on Tuesday, 500 million U.S. dollars for Yemen.

The Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, Abdullah Al Rabeeah, announced the plan during the virtual Yemen High-Level Pledging Conference 2020, that is organised by Saudi Arabia, in partnership with the United Nations.

He said 300 million dollars shall be allocated to the UN agencies and the rest to the centre’s Yemen-related projects.

02 June 2020; MEMO: The net foreign assets of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) dropped by nearly $20 billion in April, Reuters reported.

The news site said on Sunday that SAMA’s net foreign assets fell from $464.64 billion in March to $443.75 billion in April.

RIYADH, June 2 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia announced, on Monday, the pumping of 50 billion riyals (13.3 billion U.S. dollars) into the banking system, the Arabiya TV reported.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority’s (SAMA’s) decision, comes, to manage the fallout from the coronavirus and the drop in oil prices.

The amount will boost credit facilities to the private sector, help banks amend restructure loans, without additional fees, and support private sector employment.

RIYADH, May 26 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia announced on Monday, the gradual ease of precautionary measures against COVID-19.

The gradual steps, with social distancing regulations obeyed, will start from Thursday and expand until the situation is back to normal, the Health Minister, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, was quoted as saying.

The easing will be based on medical reports of the spread of the virus.

Saudi Arabia controlled the spread of the virus through early precautionary measures, especially maintaining a low death rate.

25 May 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s finance minister Mohammed al Jadaan said on Sunday that the kingdom’s economy is solid and has the ability to deal with the coronavirus crisis despite the need to cut spending, Reuters reports.

“The Saudi economy is able to absorb the decline in revenues and to deal with budget deficit,” he said in a statement published by the state news agency.

22 May 2020; AFP: The sons of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said Friday they "forgive" the killers of their father, a move analysts said effectively grants clemency to five convicts on death row.

Khashoggi -- a royal family insider turned critic -- was killed and dismembered at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, in a case that tarnished the reputation of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

21 May 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Housing yesterday suspended applications for support under the Sakani affordable housing program.

Announcing the move on Twitter, the program said applications for civilians and military personnel will be suspended from 31 May.

RIYADH, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's COVID-19 cases on Wednesday exceeded 60,000 with nearly 2,700 new infections, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi Health Ministry spokesperson Mohammed Al-Abdulaali told the daily press briefing that the kingdom reported 2,691 new cases, raising the overall infections to 62,545.

The death toll of the virus rose to 339, with 10 new fatalities while the tally of recoveries in the country rose by 1,844 to 33,478.