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Saudi investment forum opens under haze of Khashoggi’s death

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A high-profile economic forum in Saudi Arabia began on Tuesday in Riyadh, the kingdom’s first major event on the world stage since the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

Khashoggi’s death loomed large over the Future Investment Initiative forum and coincided with Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s claim Tuesday that Saudi officials murdered Khashoggi in their consulate after plotting his death for days. The Turkish leader demanded the kingdom reveal the identities of all involved in the killing, regardless of rank.

Saudi Arabia, which for weeks maintained Khashoggi had left the consulate, on Saturday acknowledged he was killed there in a “fistfight.” Turkish media and officials say a 15-member Saudi team was flown in to kill Khashoggi and accosted the writer in the consulate, cutting off his fingers before killing and dismembering the 59-year-old Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As the Riyadh conference opened, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih described the killing as “abhorrent” in his speech.

The forum kicked off without some of its keynote speakers after numerous Western executives and officials cancelled plans to attend over Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 slaying.

“As we all know, these are difficult days for us in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Al-Falih said to attendees seated in the forum’s ornate hall.

“Nobody in the kingdom can justify it or explain it. From the leadership on down, we’re very upset at what has happened,” he added, referring to Khashoggi’s slaying.

The forum is the brainchild of Prince Mohammed and is aimed at drawing more foreign investment into the kingdom to help create desperately needed jobs for millions of young Saudis entering the workforce in the coming years.

International pressure is mounting against the prince, who did not attend the start of forum. Critics suspect the powerful crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing or at the least had knowledge of it.

Despite the absence of key executives and speakers from the United States and other Western partners, some $50 billion in deals were signed Tuesday at the forum with Russian and Asian businesses and officials eager to do business with the kingdom.

“Those partners who are here with us today to continue that journey with us are certainly going to look back and find out … how committed the kingdom is to its partners that stay the course,” Al-Falih said, just moments before several deals were inked on stage.

The forum last year grabbed headlines when Prince Mohammed wowed the crowd of global business titans with pledges to lead the ultraconservative kingdom toward “moderate Islam.” He also announced plans to build a $500 billion futuristic city in the desert.

At the time, Prince Mohammed spoke on stage alongside Stephen Schwarzman of U.S. private equity firm Blackstone.

Schwarzman is among those who’ve backed out of attending this year. Others include U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who met with Prince Mohammed separately before the forum, according to Saudi state television.

Among its many investments domestically and abroad, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which the crown prince oversees, has invested $20 billion in a U.S.-focused infrastructure fund with Blackstone.

The Public Investment Fund has also invested $3.5 billion in ride-sharing firm Uber, whose CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also backed out of attending this year’s forum.

Lubna Olayan, a Saudi businesswoman moderating the forum’s first session Tuesday, opened with remarks about Khashoggi.

“As we gather here in Riyadh this morning, it is natural that our thoughts tend to focus on recent events surrounding the death of Jamal Khashoggi — a writer, a journalist and a Saudi journalist known to many of us,” said. “May he rest in peace.”

She added that such “terrible acts … are alien to our culture and DNA.” Some in the crowd applauded her remarks.

Directors of the Saudi, Russian and United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth funds took part in the opening panel. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan headlined another session, with Jordan’s King Abdullah expected to speak at the forum on Wednesday.

“I think this conference will open the gateways to Asian and Russian investment in the Saudi economy regardless, irrespective if the crisis gets resolved or not,” said Ayham Kamel of Eurasia Group.

Aya Batrawy, The Associated Press



















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Border Patrol Agent Lashes Out At Biden-Harris Admin, Calling Job ‘Migrant Concierge Service’ Amid Border Crisis

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

The border agent stated he is prepared to risk his career to bring attention to what he views as grave mismanagement and potential dangers posed by current border policies.

A Border Patrol agent criticized the recent changes in his role under the Biden-Harris administration, condemning it as transforming into a “migrant concierge service,” according to The New York Post Friday.

Zachary Apotheker, who joined the force in 2020, voiced his frustration over the shift in his duties under the Biden administration from intercepting drug traffickers and apprehending illegal entrants to what he now sees as aiding migrant entry, in an interview with the NYP. Apotheker highlighted concerns about security and vetting under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, noting that over 8 million migrants have crossed the southern border since January 2021, including members of the Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua.

“I don’t want to bring people into the country. That’s not what I signed up to do,” Apotheker told NYP. Apotheker’s distress is further compounded by over 1.7 million illegal migrants who have evaded capture since Jan. 2021, as he shared encounters with victims of migrant-committed crimes, naming individuals and emphasizing the personal toll on him.

“I’m an apolitical person and I just want to do my job and protect this country,” the agent said, the NYP reported. “When I see people from another country coming here, getting resources beyond what the American citizen can get, that’s where I have to draw the line. And then they’re going out and committing crimes and we’re still not removing them and American citizens are being killed, women are being raped.”

Apotheker and multiple Border Patrol sources have raised concerns to the NYP about the inadequate documentation for unaccompanied migrant children under 14, including missing biometric data, complicating their safe relocation to families or sponsors in the U.S. He highlighted a backlog in the immigration system, noting that 291,000 migrant children have been released in the U.S. without court dates, with an additional 32,000 failing to appear for their scheduled hearings.

The border agent stated he is prepared to risk his career to bring attention to what he views as grave mismanagement and potential dangers posed by current border policies. “However bad you think it is now, it’s only going to be worse,” he warned.

The White House and Border Patrol did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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Rumored deal with Bloc Quebec party could keep Trudeau Liberals in power, stave off election

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

“The federal government does not have a mandate to bargain with Quebec separatists at the expense of Alberta, the West and the rest of the country”

The possibility of an early Canadian election may not come to fruition after Bloc Québécois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet hinted that an alliance between the separatist party and the Liberals under Justin Trudeau could become a reality.

Rumors began to swirl that a Bloc-Liberal deal could happen after Bloc House leader Alain Therrien said Sunday that the party’s “objectives remain the same, but the means to get there will be much easier.”

“We will negotiate and seek gains for Quebec … our balance of power has improved, that’s for sure,” he said, as reported by the Canadian Press.

Therrien made the comments in light of the possibility of a federal election taking place before fall 2025 after New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh pulled his official support for Trudeau’s Liberals last week.

Late last month, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre called on Singh to pull his support for Trudeau’s Liberals so that an election could be held.

Therrien also noted that the NDP pulling its support of the Trudeau Liberals has created a “window of opportunity” that his party may exploit. The Canadian Press reported that a person close to the Bloc party said directly that the NDP had in essence handed the party the balance of power.

As it stands now, the Bloc has 32 seats to the NDP’s 24, which is more than enough to prop up the Liberals, who have 154 seats.

As for Blanchet, he told the media on Monday that he was feeling “good” about his party’s newfound power. He then took a shot at Poilievre, saying he is more or less like Trudeau. “There are plenty of issues on which (Poilievre’s) in the same position as Justin Trudeau,” Blanchet said.

“Show us that you’re different, Justin Trudeau, apart from being against abortion, then we’ll see what you have to offer,” he said.

While most Conservative MPs are pro-life, Poilievre supports abortion and has a poor track record when it comes to life and family issues, with Campaign Life Coalition having given him a “red light” rating.

News of a possible Bloc-Liberal deal to keep Trudeau in power drew the immediate ire of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

“The federal government does not have a mandate to bargain with Quebec separatists at the expense of Alberta, the West and the rest of the country,” she wrote Monday on X. “If the Liberals go down this path, we need an election to be called immediately.”

On Tuesday, Blanchet responded to Smith’s comments to reporters by saying he found her remarks “funny,” adding that “Canadians are suddenly very interested in us.”

As for Trudeau, his woes continue to mount. LifeSiteNews recently reported how national elections campaign director for Canada’s federal Liberal Party announced he was stepping down because, according to sources close to the party, he does not think Trudeau can win a fourth consecutive election.

Recent polls show that the Conservatives under Poilievre would win a majority government in a landslide in an election held today. Singh’s NDP and Trudeau’s Liberals would lose a massive number of seats.

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