United Arab Emirates denied Japan and took the final place at next year’s men’s T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket victory in the qualifier in Oman.
Japan could have reached their first major tournament with a victory but UAE held them to 116-9 and then chased their target in 12.1 overs.
It means UAE join Oman and Nepal in progressing from the Asia and East Asia-Pacific qualifier to the World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March next year.
In addition to the two hosts getting automatic spots, England, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, United States and West Indies qualified courtesy of reaching the Super 8 stage of the 2024 edition held in the United States and West Indies.
Ireland, Pakistan and New Zealand qualified via the rankings while Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Namibia and Zimbabwe came through their regional qualifying tournaments.
The tournament schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Japan beat Kuwait and Samoa earlier in their qualifying tournament which meant they would have progressed had they beaten UAE and overturned a net run-rate deficit.
They slumped to 58-8, however, with spinner Haider Ali taking 3-20, and only limped to their total thanks to 45 not out from Wataru Miyauchi.
Alishan Sharafu and Muhammad Waseem put on 70 for the first wicket of the chase and, despite the pair falling for 46 and 42 respectively, UAE, who played at the 2014 and 2022 T20 World Cups, eased to victory.
A BRITISH grandad and veteran suffering from cancer has been left homeless and starving in Dubai after being arrested for a crime he’d been acquitted of a decade earlier.
John Murphy, who served in the British military before building a life in the UAE, was arrested a decade earlier over allegations of being offensive to hotel security.
The 59-year-old’s lawyers said he should have walked free but he was jailed awaiting trial.
In the interim period, John’s landlord sued him for rent arrears that piled up during his detention.
His belongings were seized, a travel ban imposed, and his passport withheld.
The travel ban imposed on him has also never been lifted.
For nearly 10 years he has been trapped in Dubai, unable to work and unable to leave, putting John in an ‘inescapable legal limbo’.
John’s lawyers now say he has been ‘literally starving’.
The grandfather has been forced to sleep on public transport and wash in shopping centre toilets, according to his legal contacts.
“I haven’t eaten in four days,” Murphy said in a message sent from Dubai.
“I’ve been on the streets for three weeks.
“I try to ride the metro all day to rest, but security chase me away.
Brit student in Dubai jail facing 25 YEARS for ‘single line of cocaine’ after being ‘busted at party’, cell mate reveals
“I wash in mall toilets, I’ve been in the same clothes for weeks, and my health is failing.
“I need urgent cancer treatment and dental care, but I have nowhere to turn.”
Despite homelessness being illegal in the UAE, when John attempted to surrender to the police, they refused to arrest him.
He has been surviving on public transport, caught between a rock and a hard place – unable to leave, unable to work, unable to resolve his debts.
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British granddad John Murphy has been trapped in Dubai for a decadeCredit: SWNS
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai said John’s situation was “outrageous”.
“John was found innocent, yet ten years later he is starving on the streets, denied cancer treatment, food, or shelter,” she said.
“This is the direct result of a system that criminalises debt and traps people in a cycle of poverty and despair.
“They won’t let him leave, and they won’t even arrest him. He is being left to die in plain sight.”
A friend of John’s has launched a GoFundMe page and appealed directly to both the British and Irish embassies for help.
To date, neither has secured his release.
“The Trump administration successfully repatriated a number of American citizens from the UAE,” Stirling added.
“It is disappointing that Britain and Ireland have not stepped in to save John Murphy.
“He is a veteran, a grandfather, and he has already suffered enough.
Pakistan agrees to have Andy Pycroft as a cricket match referee after he apologises for his role in a handshake row against India.
Pakistan’s cricket match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Asia Cup was delayed by an hour amid uncertainty about the fixture as Pakistani officials deliberated pulling out of the tournament as a mark of protest.
The match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium began at 7:30pm local time (15:30 GMT) on Wednesday, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) reached an agreement on Andy Pycroft’s assignment as match referee following his role in the “no handshake” row involving India three days earlier.
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“The ICC’s match referee, Andy Pycroft, has apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team,” the PCB said in a statement released minutes before the toss for the Pakistan-UAE fixture.
“Andy Pycroft termed the September 14 incident a result of miscommunication.”
The PCB also said that the ICC “expressed its willingness to conduct an inquiry into the code of conduct violation that occurred during the September 14 match”, referring to Pycroft’s request to Pakistan and India captains to avoid the customary handshake at the toss, which the PCB alleges contravened the laws of the game.
Pycroft was the key match official in the crucial and politically charged match between the South Asian archrivals on Sunday, and had allegedly asked Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha and his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav to not partake in the customary captains’ handshake at the toss.
Later, once Yadav hit the winning runs for India, he walked off the field along with his batting partner Shivam Dube without shaking the opposition’s hands – a tradition in cricket – in a move that went uncontested by the match officials.
Additionally, the Indian players and staff did not shake hands with the Pakistani contingent and instead shut the door of their dressing room as the Pakistanis looked on.
The move, and Pycroft’s decision not to reprimand the Indian team, infuriated the PCB, which lodged an immediate complaint with the tournament’s organisers.
The PCB also wrote to the ICC on Monday, asking for Pycroft’s removal as match referee for all of Pakistan’s remaining fixtures due to his “failure to discharge his duties”, according to a PCB official who spoke to Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity.
The deadlock, resulting from the ICC’s apparent refusal to remove Pycroft, lasted up until an hour prior to the official match start time.
Later, as Pycroft conducted the toss in Dubai, the PCB released a video of a meeting where ICC General Manager of Cricket Wasim Khan is seen mediating a settlement between Pycroft and the Pakistan team – represented by manager Naveed Akram Cheema, captain Agha, and head coach Mike Hesson.
Hours earlier, the match’s fate was left in limbo as the Pakistani squad did not board the bus for the venue at its scheduled departure time, indicating a logistical logjam between the PCB and the ICC.
However, once both parties had reached an agreement, the team departed for the stadium. But the fate of the match became certain five minutes before the toss with the PCB’s statement.
Meanwhile, the UAE squad awaited Pakistan’s arrival at the stadium under a cloud of uncertainty.
The Group A fixture acts as a knockout game for both teams, with the winner progressing to the Super Four stage of the eight-nation tournament.
India have already qualified for the next stage on the back of their wins against the UAE and Pakistan.
RICKY HATTON’s next opponent has broken his silence following the tragic death of the British boxer.
The former world champion was found dead aged 46 in his Manchester home on Sunday.
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Eisa Al Dah was due to fight Ricky Hatton in DecemberCredit: Instagram/eisaaldah
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They were going to face off in DubaiCredit: Reuters
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The British boxer was found dead in his Manchester homeCredit: Reuters
Eisa Al Dah, 46, was due to be the next person to face the Hitman in the ring in Dubai on December 2.
He has now broken his silence following the news of Hatton’s death.
He told The National: “In just a couple of hours, I was [going to see] him here in Dubai.
“We booked the hotel. We booked the [plane] ticket. Everything had been arranged.
“From my side, I was checking everything, and I was so excited to see him over here and visit us here in Dubai.
“And he was also excited. But suddenly, I get this news from his managers. My heart is broken.
“Since knowing I will fight him, I became very close to him, seeing his news, following him on Instagram.
“I follow his life, how he trained, everything. I cannot believe it. I wish somebody told me this is wrong.
“I’ve been through many things in my life in the boxing or business.
“But this is something that I cannot believe.”
More to follow…
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The United Arab Emirates warned Wednesday that Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank would cross a “red line,” and end “the vision of regional integration,” Anadolu reports.
“Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace,” Emirati Special Envoy Lana Nusseibeh told The Times of Israel news outlet.
“It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution,” she said.
In 2020, the UAE signed US-sponsored agreements with Israel to normalize their relations. Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco also followed suit.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said early Wednesday that Israel plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Israeli sovereignty will be applied to 82% of the territory,” Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party, told a press conference in Jerusalem.
The far-right minister called the West Bank annexation “a preventative step” against moves by many countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Several countries, including Belgium, France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood during the upcoming meetings of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 8-23, joining 147 nations that already do.
On Aug. 20, Israel approved a major settlement project, called E1, which aims to split the occupied West Bank into two parts, cutting off the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and Hebron in the south and isolating East Jerusalem.
The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On Tuesday, New York City radio host Sid Rosenberg asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about whether the State Department intends to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American-Islamic Relations as terrorist organizations. Rubio responded that “all of that is in the works,” although “obviously there are different branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, so you’d have to designate each one of them.”
Logistics and bureaucracy aside: It’s about time.
For far too long, the United States has treated the Muslim Brotherhood with a dangerous combination of naiveté and willful blindness. The Brotherhood is not a random innocuous political movement with a religious bent. It is, and has been since its founding about a century ago, the ideological wellspring of modern Sunni Islamism. The Brotherhood’s fingerprints are on jihadist groups as wide-ranging as Al Qaeda and Hamas, yet successive American administrations — Republican and Democratic alike — have failed to designate its various offshoots for what they are: terrorist organizations.
That failure is not merely academic. It has real-world consequences. By refusing to label the Muslim Brotherhood accurately, we tie our own hands in the fight against Islamism — both at home and abroad. We allow subversive actors to exploit our political system and bankroll extremism under the guise of “cultural” or “charitable” outreach.
Enough is enough.
Founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood’s stated mission has never wavered: the establishment of a global caliphate governed by sharia law. The Brotherhood has always attempted to position itself as a “political” organization, but it is “political” in the way Lenin was political. Think subversion through infiltration — or revolution through stealth.
Consider Hamas. Hamas is not merely inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood — it is the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian-Arab branch. The link is unambiguous; as Article Two of Hamas’ founding charter states, “The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine.” And Hamas’ charter also makes clear its penchant for explicit violence: “Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.”
This is not the rhetoric of nuance or moderation. This is the ideological foundation of contemporary jihadism. Yet, while Hamas is rightly designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department, other branches of the Muslim Brotherhood remain off the list.
Why? Because Western elites have allowed themselves to be duped by the Brotherhood’s two-faced strategy. Abroad, they openly sow the seeds of jihad, cheer for a global caliphate and preach for the destruction of Israel and Western civilization more broadly. But in the corridors of power in the U.S. and Europe, they and their Qatari paymasters don suits and ties, rebrand as “moderates” and leverage media credulity and overly generous legal protections to plant ideological roots.
What’s more, CAIR — an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history — has extremely well-documented ties to the Brotherhood. And yet CAIR agents continue to operate freely in the United States, masquerading as civil rights advocates while pushing Islamist narratives that undermine the core constitutional principles of equality that they purport to champion. Today, almost two years after CAIR-linked Hamas executed the Oct. 7 pogrom in Israel, CAIR remains in good standing with many elected Democrats.
It shouldn’t be so. In November 2014, the United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist organization, citing its links to the Brotherhood and Hamas. And the Brotherhood itself is recognized as a terrorist organization by at least Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Russia. Jordan also banned the Brotherhood earlier this year. Put bluntly: There is absolutely no reason the United States should have a warmer approach toward CAIR than the UAE or a warmer approach toward the Brotherhood than Saudi Arabia.
The first Trump administration flirted with the idea of designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. It was the right impulse. But the effort was ultimately bogged down by internal bureaucracy and international pressure — most notably from Qatar and Turkey, both sometime U.S. partners that harbor strong Brotherhood sympathies and bankroll Islamist causes. And the second Trump administration’s troubling embrace of Qatar may well nip any designation in the bud before it even takes off.
Critics argue that such a designation would complicate relations with countries where Brotherhood affiliates participate in local politics. But since when did the U.S. place a premium on building alliances with the ideological cousins of Al Qaeda and ISIS?
Moreover, designating the Muslim Brotherhood would empower domestic law enforcement and intelligence agencies to go after its networks and financial infrastructure. It would send a clear signal that the U.S. government no longer accepts a claim of “nonviolent Islamism” as a pass when designating terrorist groups.
In a time when the threat from Islamic extremism remains global and decentralized, we can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the architects of the movement. The Muslim Brotherhood is not, as “Arab Spring” boosters risibly claimed a decade and a half ago, a Western partner in “democracy.” It is the mother’s milk of modern Sunni jihadism.
The question is not whether we can afford to designate Muslim Brotherhood offshoots as terrorist organizations. It is: How much longer can we afford not to?
Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.” This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. @josh_hammer
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Ideas expressed in the piece
The Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, ending what the author characterizes as a dangerous combination of naiveté and willful blindness toward the group. The organization has served as the ideological wellspring of modern Sunni Islamism since its founding in Egypt in 1928, with stated goals of establishing a global caliphate governed by sharia law.
Hamas represents a direct branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, as explicitly stated in Article Two of Hamas’ founding charter, which declares “The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine.” This connection demonstrates the Brotherhood’s clear ties to recognized terrorist organizations, yet other Brotherhood branches remain undesignated.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) maintains well-documented ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and was an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history. Despite these connections, CAIR continues operating freely in the United States while pushing Islamist narratives under the guise of civil rights advocacy.
Multiple American allies have already taken decisive action, with the United Arab Emirates designating CAIR as a terrorist organization in 2014, and countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Russia recognizing the Brotherhood itself as a terrorist organization. Jordan banned the Brotherhood earlier this year, making American inaction increasingly inconsistent with international consensus.
Designation would empower domestic law enforcement and intelligence agencies to target Brotherhood networks and financial infrastructure while sending a clear signal that claims of “nonviolent Islamism” no longer provide protection from terrorist designations. The failure to act has real-world consequences, allowing subversive actors to exploit the American political system and bankroll extremism through supposed cultural or charitable outreach.
Different views on the topic
The search results do not contain substantial opposing perspectives to the author’s position on designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that designation efforts are “in the works” but acknowledged significant legal and bureaucratic challenges that complicate the process[1].
Procedural complexities present obstacles to designation, as each regional branch of the Muslim Brotherhood must be formally designated separately due to the organization’s decentralized structure. Rubio noted that “we have to be very careful, because these things will be challenged in court” and emphasized the need to “show your work like a math problem” to withstand legal scrutiny[1].
Federal judicial oversight poses potential barriers to implementation, with Rubio expressing concern that “all you need is one federal judge—and there are plenty—that are willing to basically try to run the country from the bench” through nationwide injunctions that could block designation efforts[1].
Tri-series between UAE, Pakistan and Afghanistan hastily penned as warm-up for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup.
The United Arab Emirates will host a Twenty20 tri-series including Afghanistan and Pakistan later this month, as part of the teams’ buildup for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Sharjah will host all seven games of the tri-series, starting August 29. Teams play against each other twice before the top two qualify for the final.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have already secured direct qualification for the T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. UAE could also qualify, but it has to play ICC’s Asia-East Asia and Pacific qualifiers in Oman in October.
Afghanistan, which finished seventh in the last T20 World Cup, hasn’t played a T20 since a bilateral series against Zimbabwe late last year. Pakistan is currently playing a T20 series against the West Indies in the United States.
The tri-series will be followed by the Asia Cup, also scheduled to be held in the UAE, from September 9, when Afghanistan takes on Hong Kong in the opening game.
Israel said ‘terrorist organisations’ were motivated to exact revenge on it due to its recent military campaigns against Iran and in Gaza.
Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) has sharpened its travel warnings for Israelis visiting and staying in the United Arab Emirates, citing a heightened risk of “terrorist organisations” carrying out attacks in the Gulf State.
In a statement published on Thursday, the NSC cited a growing threat from “terrorist organisations (The Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad)” attacking Israeli targets, motivated by Israel’s military operations in the Middle East.
“They are driven by heightened motivation to exact revenge following Operation Rising Lion, in addition to the anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian incitement which has intensified since the start of Operation Iron Swords, and even more so in response to Hamas’ starvation campaign,” it said, using the names for its military assaults on Iran and Gaza.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over Gaza’s ongoing starvation crisis, caused by the Israeli military’s months-long blockade on aid entering the Palestinian enclave.
In 2020, the UAE became the most prominent Arab state in 30 years to establish formal ties with Israel under a United States-brokered agreement dubbed the Abraham Accords. The country’s Israeli and Jewish community has grown larger and more visible in the years since the accords were signed.
But the NSC statement said “past experience” has taught Israel that “terrorist organisations often focus their efforts in neighbouring countries”.
“In light of this, the NSC is reiterating the possibility that they will try to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in the UAE, especially on Jewish holidays and Shabbat,” it added.
The NSC’s travel alert for the UAE – which remains unchanged at level 3 – strongly advises against non-essential travel and urges Israeli citizens to “seriously reconsider” visiting the Gulf state.
While the UAE is viewed as one of the safest places in the Middle East, three people were sentenced to death there in March for the murder of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeal Court ruled that the November killing of 28-year-old Zvi Kogan – a representative of Orthodox Jewish organisation Chabad in the UAE – was committed by the defendants in pursuance of a “terrorist purpose”.
Syria has finalised an $800m agreement with Dubai-based DP World to redevelop its Tartous port in a bid to speed up post-war reconstruction.
State news agency SANA said the deal was signed in Damascus on Sunday between DP World and the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports, in the presence of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Syrian officials described the deal as a key step towards modernising the country’s logistics infrastructure.
“This strategic move will bolster our port operations and logistics services,” SANA quoted an unnamed official as saying.
Since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December, Syria’s new leadership has been pushing to re-establish economic ties with international companies and bring the war-torn country back into the global market.
Speaking after the signing, DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said Syria’s economic potential remained strong, noting the Tartous port could play a central role in reviving local industry.
“Syria possesses valuable assets,” he said, “and Tartous is an essential hub for trade and exports. We aim to transform it into one of the world’s leading ports.”
‘Laying the groundwork’
DP World manages dozens of port facilities across Europe, Africa and Asia and has been expanding its reach in the Middle East.
Qutaiba Badawi, who heads Syria’s port authority, said the agreement marked more than just a commercial venture.
“We are laying the groundwork for a new era of maritime development, positioning Syria again on the international economic stage,” he said.
The Tartous deal follows several high-profile contracts signed in recent months.
In May, Damascus entered a 30-year agreement with French shipping company CMA CGM to operate Latakia port. That same month, Syria inked a $7bn energy deal with a coalition of Qatari, Turkish, and US firms to revive the country’s power sector.
Earlier this month, the United States said it will revoke its designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a “foreign terrorist organization” as Washington softens its approach to post-war Syria.
Last month, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting several longstanding sanctions on Syria, which Washington said would support the country’s reconstruction. The US Treasury noted the decision would ease restrictions on companies considered vital to Syria’s rebuilding and governance.
Western sanctions had hampered reconstruction efforts for years, further crippling an economy already shattered by more than a decade of civil war and human rights abuses under al-Assad’s rule.
Draft deal to end bitter decades-long conflict agreed 4 months ago, but timeline for sealing it remains uncertain.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks in the United Arab Emirates after nearly four decades of conflict.
The meeting in Abu Dhabi on Thursday between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, confirmed by both their governments, comes after the two countries finalised a draft peace deal in March.
The South Caucasus countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
Peace talks began after Azerbaijan recaptured Karabakh in a lightning offensive in September 2023, prompting a huge exodus of almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians, who fled to Armenia.
But the timeline for sealing a deal remains uncertain.
Ceasefire violations along the heavily militarised 1,000km (620-mile) shared border surged soon after the draft deal was announced, though there have been no reported violations recently.
In a potential stumbling block to a deal, Azerbaijan has said it wants Armenia to change its constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to Azerbaijani territory.
Yerevan denies this, but Pashinyan has repeatedly stressed in recent months – most recently this week – that the South Caucasus country’s founding charter needs to be updated.
Azerbaijan also asked for a transport corridor through Armenia, linking the bulk of its territory to Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani enclave that borders Baku’s ally, Turkiye.
Pashinyan and Aliyev’s last encounter was in May, on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania.
In June, Pashinyan made a rare visit to Istanbul to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a meeting Armenia described as a “historic” step towards regional peace.
This week, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope for a swift peace deal between the Caucasus neighbours.
The outbreak of hostilities between the two countries in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia, and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan.
A FLASHY crime lord was snared for a murder plot and major cocaine smuggling racket by his clothes and tattoos featured in selfies he posted from Dubai.
Drug baron James Harding, 34, masterminded a drug empire which made £5 million in profits during a 10-week period.
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James Harding, 34, was the mastermind behind a drug empireCredit: PA
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Harding boasted of the luxury life he was living abroadCredit: PA
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He was arrested at Geneva airport and extradited to the UKCredit: PA
But the vain villain took selfies of himself posing shirtless in front of the mirror flexing his muscles and sitting in supercars while living a life of luxury in the desert kingdom.
Harding sent the photos and messages about his opulent lifestyle to criminal cronies on the EncroChat encrypted mobile phone system believing it was totally secure.
But the swaggering poser’s boasts rebounded on him when the communication network was infiltrated by cyber cops in 2020.
Messages uncovered Harding’s cocaine empire – and his plan to rob and kill a rival drug courier.
Harding was yesterday convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and of conspiracy to murder following a heavily-guarded eight-week trial.
His right hand man Jayes Kharouti, 39, earlier admitted the same drug offence and was also found guilty of the murder plot.
Jurors heard how Harding used the EncroChat handle ‘thetopsking,’ while Kharouti went under the tags ‘besttops’ and ‘topsybricks.’
They sent 9,136 messages to each other via EncroChat between March and June 2020, detailing their vast shipments of cocaine from the Netherlands into the UK, where it was distributed across the country.
The pair spelled out how they were laundering their money – as every message was read by Scotland Yard detectives following the penetration of the EncroChat platform by French law enforcement.
Harding, originally from Alton, Hampshire, and his lieutenant Kharouti were making £70,000 every day during the period their phones were being hacked by cops, jurors heard.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson, KC, said the pair were responsible for “approximately 50 importations of cocaine into the UK with a total weight of approximately 1,000 kilograms.”
He went on: “The messages also show that once the cocaine was in the UK, it was broken into smaller parcels, of between 5kg and 10kg, and distributed across the UK to wholesale purchasers, who would then sell to end users.
“An analysis of the messages that discuss money and financial gain suggests that the conspirators made £60-70,000 per importation, and about £5m in profit overall in just 10 weeks.”
The messages also revealed how Harding and Kharouti tried to hire a hitman for £100,000 to rob and kill a drug mule.
Watch ‘movie-style’ masked gang raid to spring Brit drugs boss from custody in Spain while he was being taken to dentist
They arranged a gun and ammunition for a hitman to carry out the “full M” – murder, jurors heard.
Cops moved in and arrested the alleged hitman before the contract murder could be carried out.
Harding claimed in court he was not the EncroChat user known as ‘thetopsking’ – and claimed the handle belonged to a mystery gay lover he identified in court only as ‘TK.’
But cops were able to prove Harding was the ‘thetopsking’ because of his love for selfies and boasts about his luxury lifestyle.
A phone seized from an associate had a video showing Harding in the driver’s seat of a £2.5 million Bugatti Chiron car with a tattoo on his leg clearly visible.
There were pictures of him living it up in his lavish villa at The Nest development in Dubai, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a swimming pool and rooms for maids and drivers.
Harding lived there with Liverpudlian girlfriend Charli Wylde, 33, and her daughter Milly-Mai, 15, who he treated as his own.
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There were photos Harding living it up in Dubai with his £2.5 million BugattiCredit: PA
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The vain villain sent messages of himself sitting in the supercarCredit: PA
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Harding sent messages to his criminal cronies via an encrypted mobile phone systemCredit: PA
The court heard that on May 6, 2020, EncroChat user ‘thetopsking’ boasted to pals how he was taking his “Mrs” out that evening to Zuma, an award-winning Japanese restaurant in Dubai.
Investigations found that two days earlier Harding made the booking from a personal email account.
And eight days later ‘thetopsking’ boasted in messages how he was staying at the five-star Waldorf hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and sent an image of the hotel pool area via EncroChat.
Mr Atkinson said: “Enquiries with the Hilton Hotel Group showed that Harding stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in the United Arab Emirates and gave (his) mobile telephone number and produced a UAE identification card.
“During the stay, thetopsking had sent an image of James Harding relaxing on a sun lounger at, of all places, the Waldorf.”
One March 26 2020, thetopsking also wrote a message about how he had got back a Lamborghini Urus and sent an image of the dashboard.
Mr Atkinson said: “The person who took the image caught their leg in the photograph, and on that leg is a tattoo which matches the tattoo on James Harding’s leg.”
Kharouti’s home in Epsom, Surrey, was searched in 2020 after he was linked to the messages.
Police found a handset with the same number he gave to Harding.
He fled the country before being found in Turkey and extradited back to the UK.
Harding was arrested on 27 December 2021 at Geneva Airport, Switzerland, and from there Switzerland to the UK the following May.
The pair will be sentenced on Thursday.
Met Detective Chief Inspector Jim Casey, said: “This conviction sends a clear message – no matter how sophisticated the methods, criminals cannot hide behind encrypted software.
“This operation dismantled a major supply chain and is a testament to the relentless work of our officers.
“We monitored their drug-dealing activity but then we saw the group discussing the contract killing of a rival.
“We moved fast to protect those in danger.”
“Harding and Kharouti planned to kill, we stopped that and put them before the courts.”
Harding was previously jailed for nine years when he was aged 21 for running a drug racket.
Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey, was jailed for 13 years and six months while Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough, Berkshire, got 15-and-half-years after admitting conspiracy to smuggle cocaine.
Peter Thompson, 61, of South-West London, received 21 years after he pleaded guilty to the same drug charge and possessing a pistol.
A man alleged to have been the gang’s proposed hitman was cleared.
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The drug kingpin made £5 million in profits in a 10 week periodCredit: PA
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Packages of drugs smuggled in 2020Credit: PA
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Harding’s right hand man, Jayes Kharouti. fled to Turkey before being returned to the UKCredit: PA
The digital battleground has become an increasingly critical theatre for modern geopolitical conflicts, and the Taliban’s recent social media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia (KSA) underscores this shift. Following the UAE’s warm reception of former U.S. President Donald Trump, a surge of hostile online activity emerged, orchestrated by Taliban-linked accounts under the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI). This campaign, executed through human-operated parody profiles, blends religious rhetoric, violent threats, and geopolitical grievances to undermine Gulf states’ legitimacy while reinforcing the Taliban’s ideological stance. The sophistication of this operation reveals not just a localized grievance but a broader strategy of asymmetric warfare, leveraging digital tools to exert influence beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
Central to the Taliban’s messaging is the accusation that the UAE has “disgraced Islam and the Ummah” by engaging with Trump, a figure historically criticized in the Muslim world for policies such as the travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations and his administration’s unwavering support for Israel. By framing the UAE’s diplomatic overtures as a betrayal of Islamic solidarity, the Taliban seeks to galvanize conservative Muslim audiences, casting Gulf states as Western collaborators. This narrative is not new, extremist groups have long employed religious rhetoric to isolate moderate Muslim nations, but the Taliban’s institutionalized use of social media amplifies its reach and potency.
Beyond ideological condemnation, the campaign escalates into explicit threats, with multiple accounts referencing the “yellow keg”, a signature Taliban improvised explosive device (IED) used extensively against US forces during the 2001–2021 conflict. The deliberate invocation of this imagery serves a dual purpose: it signals the Taliban’s continued embrace of violent tactics while psychologically intimidating its targets. Such threats, even if symbolic, carry the risk of inspiring lone actors or affiliated militant cells to pursue physical attacks, particularly given the historical precedent of Taliban-linked violence extending beyond Afghanistan’s borders.
While the UAE remains the primary target, the campaign’s inclusion of Saudi Arabia suggests a broader ideological offensive against Gulf monarchies perceived as aligning too closely with Western powers. The use of Pashto and Dari, languages dominant in Afghanistan but also understood among diaspora and regional jihadist circles, ensures localized resonance while maintaining plausible deniability for the Taliban’s central leadership. This linguistic choice, combined with the recycling of accounts historically used to promote Taliban edicts, reinforces the campaign’s authenticity within its intended audience.
The campaign’s timing, thematic coherence, and operational signatures point to centralized coordination, likely emanating from the Taliban’s GDI. Unlike fragmented extremist online activity, this effort displays a clear command structure, mirroring the Taliban’s disciplined approach to information warfare. The reuse of accounts previously associated with official Taliban narratives further underscores institutional involvement, distinguishing it from grassroots anti-UAE sentiment. This digital offensive aligns with the Taliban’s long-standing reliance on psychological operations, extending their influence without direct military confrontation.
The ramifications of this campaign extend far beyond social media vitriol. First, it seeks to erode the UAE’s and KSA’s religious legitimacy, particularly among conservative Muslim populations and transnational jihadist groups still active in Afghanistan. By casting these nations as apostates, the Taliban aims to fracture intra-Islamic solidarity, potentially driving recruitment for anti-Gulf militancy.
Second, the campaign reaffirms the Taliban’s commitment to asymmetric warfare. Despite their formal control of Afghanistan, the group continues to employ hybrid tactics, blending insurgency, propaganda, and diplomacy, to challenge adversaries indirectly. The digital domain offers a low-cost, high-impact arena to sustain pressure without provoking immediate military retaliation.
Most alarmingly, the explicit references to past IED tactics suggest a latent threat of physical escalation. While the Taliban may not directly orchestrate attacks on Gulf soil, the rhetoric could incite sympathizers or affiliate groups, such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), to act. The UAE and KSA, both vocal opponents of Islamist extremism, remain high-value targets for such elements.
To counter this evolving threat, a multi-faceted approach is essential:
Gulf states should collaborate with international cybersecurity firms to identify and dismantle Taliban-linked networks, focusing on parody accounts and coordinated disinformation campaigns.
Governments and religious institutions in the UAE and KSA must amplify moderate Islamic voices to delegitimize the Taliban’s extremist framing.
Strengthening intelligence cooperation among Gulf nations and allies can pre-empt potential offline threats inspired by online incitement.
Social media companies must enforce stricter verification processes to curb the proliferation of fake accounts disseminating violent propaganda.
The international community should hold the Taliban accountable for digital incitement, linking sanctions relief to the cessation of hostile online campaigns.
“The internet is the first battlefield of the 21st century.”Wang Huning
The Taliban’s latest campaign exemplifies this reality, proving that in an interconnected world, ideological and physical conflicts are increasingly waged through pixels and propaganda. For the UAE and KSA, the challenge lies not only in defending their digital frontiers but in ensuring that online hostilities do not manifest in tangible violence. As the Taliban refines its hybrid warfare playbook, the global community must adapt, recognizing that the next threat may emerge not from a battlefield, but from a smartphone.
United Arab Emirates Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan greets President Donald Trump in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday. Photo by UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE
May 20 (UPI) — The United States and United Arab Emirates are deepening their commercial and defensive ties following President Donald Trump‘s recent diplomatic trip to the Middle East.
Officials with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit and the UAE’s Tawazun Council signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen defense cooperation between the two nations, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday in a news release.
“We are building a global network by fostering collaboration to stay ahead of emerging threats,” DIU Director Doug Beck said.
“We are accelerating the integration of commercial technologies into the defense markets,” Beck added.
He said the accelerated integration of technologies will occur by working together to develop technologies with the help of national security and private sector experts and non-traditional companies.
The MOU includes using “non-traditional practices” to develop and access “cutting-edge technologies” to improve both nations’ defensive capabilities.
The collaborative effort expands defensive investments and industrial partnerships while building a “strong international community of defense innovation entities, according to the DOD.
The Defense Department “is enhancing best practices for harnessing and sharing the best commercially derived technologies for the warfighter in defense of the free and open international system through mission-driven collaboration among the many nations that rely on that system,” the DOD release said.
Trump on Thursday also announced $200 billion in commercial agreements between the United States and the UAE.
The agreement includes forming an artificial intelligence alliance and launching a 1-gigawatt and jointly run AI technology cluster that will be located in the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi.
Other elements of the $200 billion deal include the UAE’s Etihad Airways spending $14.5 billion to buy 28 U.S.-built Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines.
Emirates Global Aluminum will invest another $4 billion to develop an aluminum smelter in Oklahoma and double that nation’s annual aluminum production capability.
UAE entities also will collaborate with U.S.-based oil and natural gas producers to expand production of both inside the United States and to lower energy costs in both nations.
Many other deals were secured during Trump’s visit to the Middle East last week and total $2 trillion in investment agreements, according to White House officials.
The United States reached a deal with the United Arab Emirates to collaborate on an artificial intelligence technology cluster in Abu Dhabi. Photo by UAE Presidential Court/EPA-EFE
May 16 (UPI) — The United States and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to form an Artificial Intelligence alliance.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in a statement that the United States will launch a one-gigawatt AI data center, which in turn will be a part of a five-gigawatt “UAE-U.S. artificial intelligence technology cluster” in the UAE capital city of Abu Dhabi.
The cluster will manage the region’s computation needs that will operate under American-level security standards and be open to the distribution of new AI infrastructure that can serve on an international level.
A group will be formed between the countries within 30 days of its announcement and will “work together to make more efficient the process of inward investments into the United States by UAE Investment Funds,” which also involves UAE investment in American digital infrastructure.
“We are proud to announce the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick posted to X Thursday. “Together we will build the largest AI data center outside the United States, powered by American companies and high tech manufacturing.”
The deal was made public as President Donald Trump continues a trip through the Gulf region and stopped to visit a new AI campus in Abu Dhabi, where American-produced AI chips will computationally power the facility and become the largest project of its type anywhere outside the United States.
The Biden administration had set an “AI Diffusion Rule” in January, under which the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security added exceptions to the facilitation in regard to the export, reexport of transfer of “advanced computing” to ensure the tech ended up with “users in destinations that do not raise national security or foreign policy concerns.”
The Trump administration rescinded that rule Tuesday, a deregulation that now allows the federal government to make deals with other countries to decide how many American chips they would like to purchase.
“The Trump Administration will pursue a bold, inclusive strategy to American AI technology with trusted foreign countries around the world, while keeping the technology out of the hands of our adversaries,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Jeffery Kessler in a Tuesday press release.
Senators accuse US President Donald Trump of engaging in ‘corruption of US foreign policy’ with defence deals.
A group of United States senators is trying to halt $3.5bn in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar over concerns that the deals will personally benefit the family of US President Donald Trump.
Two “resolutions of disapproval” were submitted on Thursday in the US by Democratic Senators Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kaine, along with Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who often votes with Democrats.
The legislators also issued statements accusing President Trump, who is concluding a trip to the Middle East, of actively engaging in the “corruption of US foreign policy” over the timing of the sales and recent investment deals.
The Department of State this week approved the $1.6bn sale to the UAE of Chinook helicopters and equipment, F-16 aircraft components, and spare and repair parts to support Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters. Initial reporting cited the figure as close to $1.3bn, but the $1.6bn figure was used in a statement from the legislators. The lawmakers are also seeking to block $1.9bn in sales to Qatar of MQ-9B Predator drones and associated equipment, which was approved by the State Department in March.
The legislators accuse Trump of accepting favours in exchange for the deals, citing news from April that the Emirati investment firm MGX would use a stablecoin – a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another asset – issued by the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial to finance a $2bn investment in the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The Trump family is reported to have made millions off niche cryptocurrencies like the $TRUMP “meme coin” since the president returned to the White House in January.
I know Trump’s crypto scams can seem hard to understand. So I went the Senate floor to break down the most outrageous one.
A foreign government is investing $2 billion in Trump’s coin to get favorable treatment from the Administration. A wild corruption.
In addition to business dealings, the senators also expressed fears that US weapons sent to the UAE could end up in the hands of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which is allegedly backed by the UAE and has played a critical role in Sudan’s civil war.
“The US should not be delivering weapons to the UAE as it aids and abets this humanitarian disaster and gross human rights violations,” Van Hollen said, citing Sudan’s civil war.
The senators also cited Qatar’s offer of a Boeing 747 jumbo for the president’s temporary use as Air Force One. The offer has drawn criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans because it would be the most expensive foreign gift ever exchanged between a foreign government and an elected US official.
“There’s nothing Donald Trump loves more than being treated like a king, and that’s exactly why foreign governments are trying to buy his favour with a luxury jumbo jet and investments in Trump’s crypto scams,” Murphy said in a statement.
When asked about the offer of the aircraft, Trump blamed Boeing’s lack of progress in building a new Air Force One and said he would be “stupid” to refuse a free plane.
“It’s not a gift to me, it’s a gift to the Department of Defense,” he said.
It is unclear when a vote will happen on the joint “resolutions of disapproval”, but the US political news outlet The Hill said that due to the nature of the bills, Democrats will likely force them to the floor of the Senate.
US president claims he has sealed deals worth $10 trillion during visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE.
President Donald Trump has hailed deepening ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates and said that the latter will invest $1.4 trillion in the former’s artificial intelligence sector over the next decade.
“I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better,” Trump said on Thursday at a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the final leg of his three-country tour of the Gulf region that saw him strike a series of lucrative tech, business and military deals that he said amounted to $10 trillion.
Sheikh Mohammed said the UAE remained “committed to working with the United States to advance peace and stability in our region and globally”.
The deal with UAE is expected to enable the Gulf country to build data centres vital to developing artificial intelligence models. The countries did not say which AI chips could be included in UAE data centres. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had earlier been seen in conversation with Sheikh Mohamed and Trump.
The AI agreement “includes the UAE committing to invest in, build, or finance U.S. data centres that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE,” the White House said.
Reporting from Doha in Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said such a deal had been “a national security concern” for Washington in the past. “But then they decided to change their mind under Trump, particularly when the UAE said that it was willing to invest $1.4 trillion,” he said.
Ahelbarra said the deal was a “significant step” for the UAE, positioning it as “the most important player in artificial intelligence, followed by Saudi Arabia”.
Before his departure for the UAE, Trump said in a speech to US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha in Qatar that defence purchases signed by Qatar on Wednesday were worth $42bn.
Other agreements signed during Trump’s four-day swing through the Gulf include a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, and a commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest $600bn in the US and to buy $142bn worth of US arms.
The tour also brought a flurry of diplomacy, with Trump saying in Qatar on Thursday that the US was getting close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran. On Tuesday, he said the US would remove longstanding sanctions on Syria.
Trump said he would probably return to Washington on Friday, although he said it was “almost destination unknown because they’ll be getting calls ‘Could you be here? Could you be there?’”
Trump had previously hinted that he could stop in Istanbul for talks on the Russia-Ukraine war.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The first time President Trump visited Riyadh in 2017, he posed with a ceremonial orb, took part in a traditional sword dance and secured an agreement by Saudi Arabia to purchase $350 billion in weaponry, the largest arms deal in U.S. history.
The sequel, coming eight years later — almost to the day — promises much the same in the way of pageantry and purchases, only more so.
Even before the trip, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed he would invest about $600 billion over the four years of Trump’s presidency (Trump asked him to round it up to $1 trillion).
And although the orb will probably not make an appearance this time around, Trump is bringing with him a phalanx of business leaders for a Saudi-U.S. business summit Tuesday — the day he arrives — that will include BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Palantir Technologies’ Alex Karp, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
The heads of other major firms, including IBM, Boeing, Qualcomm and Alphabet, also will attend. White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks, meanwhile, is already in Riyadh.
Trump will then attend a summit with gulf leaders on Wednesday, travel to Qatar that same day and end the trip Thursday in the United Arab Emirates. There will be more gifts: The UAE has pledged $1.4 trillion in U.S. investment packages over the next decade.
“Trump is there to solidify a very close relationship,” said Ali Shihabi, a political and economic expert who is close to the Saudi government, adding that although he did not expect a breakthrough on security matters, the deals signed would nevertheless bring “economic ties and coordination to a very high level.”
Not to be outdone by its two regional competitors, Qatar is in discussions about the “possible transfer” of a luxury Boeing 747-8 to replace Air Force One.
Before departing on the current Air Force One, Trump found himself defending plans to accept the gift, which is thought to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. He dismissed those with concerns over the ethics and constitutionality of the gift as “stupid people,” suggesting he planned to proceed with it, a topic sure to fuel questions over his visit to Doha, the Qatari capital.
Trump also visited Saudi Arabia on the first international trip of his first term, breaking a presidential tradition of visiting U.S. allies and major trade partners such as the United Kingdom and European countries. That Trump chose the gulf region as his first destination, commentators say, reflects the Mideast’s growing centrality to the U.S. in terms of political and security partners. (Technically, this is not his first overseas trip since returning to the White House because he attended the recent funeral of Pope Francis.)
“The gulf nations succeeded in positioning themselves in a way that lets them play constructive roles in several issues,” said Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain. He pointed out that Saudi Arabia has sponsored talks between Russia and Ukraine and was involved in peacemaking efforts in Sudan.
Qatar is a driving force in negotiations between Israel and Hamas and has helped to stabilize Syria. Oman, which is not on the itinerary but whose leader will take part in the summit, is hosting high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran.
“Trump is not tied to the protocols of other presidents. He sees an overlap in aims, whether political or commercial,” Alhasan said.
Israel is watching the visit with consternation on a host of fronts, expecting Trump to hear an earful from Arab governments on its continuing conflict with Hamas militants in Gaza and the role Israel is playing in the future of Syria. And Israeli officials are increasingly concerned that their voices will be drowned out as the Trump administration progresses in its negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
Any hint from Trump that he would tolerate the Iranians continuing with a civilian nuclear program will send reverberations throughout Washington, particularly on Capitol Hill, where Republicans have long opposed allowing Iran to continue any enrichment of uranium on its soil.
Trump also appears unconcerned with limits placed by his predecessors on what countries can receive from the U.S. He has reportedly revoked the AI diffusion rule, the U.S. policy intended to control the export of advanced semiconductor chips and AI, paving the way for gulf nations to ramp up their already considerable advanced chip holdings.
That’s especially true for the UAE, whose $1.4-trillion investment will be heavily weighted toward AI. Meanwhile, MGX, an investment fund based in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, has pledged $100 billion in energy infrastructures and data centers in the U.S. to support AI.
At the same time, G42, another UAE-based AI firm, has divested from Chinese companies and partnered with Microsoft in an attempt to appease U.S. lawmakers.
There have also been reports that Trump will revive potential arms deals that were on the table from his first term but were never completed, including sales of F-35 fighter jets and Reaper drones to the UAE, and the co-production of advanced missiles with Saudi Arabia, said Prem Thakker, a partner with the global advisory firm DGA and a former official with the National Security Council under President Obama.
Another issue on the table could be nuclear power for Saudi Arabia. President Biden made supporting a civilian nuclear program for the kingdom contingent on Riyadh agreeing to a peace deal with Israel similar to the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements forged with the UAE, Bahrain and others during Trump’s first term.
Under Trump, that condition appears to have been dropped, with negotiations that could potentially allow Saudi Arabia to capitalize on its uranium reserves and a domestic enrichment program.
“And this means that traditional nonproliferation concerns over Saudi Arabia have really subsided over the last few years,” Thakker said. “Twenty years ago no one in the U.S. would have contemplated such an agreement.”
The trip dovetails with a raft of investments involving the Trump Organization. Its real-estate development arm, which is led by Trump’s son Eric, has announced since last year construction projects across the gulf region, including a $2-billion golf course in Qatar, an 80-story hotel and residential tower in Dubai and two Trump towers in Saudi Arabia — one in Riyadh and one in Jeddah.
Though the deals appear gargantuan, experts say financial realities will cut them down to size. Many point out that Saudi Arabia’s investments during Trump’s first term did not reach the $450 billion he mentioned (the figure includes nonmilitary spending). Even the most generous of calculations would put the Saudi investments at less than $300 billion, experts say.
Though its investments in the U.S. are likely to increase during Trump’s second term, Riyadh has focused much of its spending on gigaprojects such as NEOM. And current oil prices sitting below the government’s break-even price of around $100 a barrel means that it will be running a deficit, said David Butter, a Middle East energy expert at Chatham House, a think tank in London.
He added that the Saudi government and its colossal sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund, both of which own a part of Saudi oil giant Aramco, have not received performance-linked dividends for this year. The result, Butter said, is a looming financial crisis.
“The investment numbers are fantasy,” he said.
Bulos reported from Riyadh and Wilner from Washington.
