Trump Blows Off Claims of Lucrative Property Deals in Saudi Arabia
www.thedailybeast.com

... The president insisted he has nothing to do with his family business. ...

But as they met in the Oval Office to discuss new pacts on defense and artificial intelligence, Trump was asked if it was appropriate for his family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while he is president.

"I have nothing to do with the family business," he said, visibly annoyed at the question. ...

The president's family has numerous ties to Saudi Arabia, mostly through real estate licensing and investment.

This week, for instance, the Trump Organization and its Saudi-based development partner, Dar Al Arkan, announced a project allowing cryptocurrency investors to buy into Trump-branded real estate projects.

The Trump Organization is headed by the president's sons, Don Jr. and Eric. The company also has Trump-branded projects in the capital of Riyadh, a Trump Tower planned in the port city of Jeddah, and ties with LIV Golf, the league backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

Meanwhile, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is married to his daughter, Ivanka, runs a private equity firm that has taken $2 billion from a fund led by the crown prince.

However, Trump told reporters on Tuesday: "What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They've done very little with Saudi Arabia ...

Ex-U.N. investigator 'shocked and angry' at Trump's defense of Saudi crown prince over Jamal Khashoggi murder
www.nbcnews.com

... A former United Nations investigator who wrote the authoritative report on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi told NBC News on Wednesday that she was "shocked and angry" at President Donald Trump's dismissal of intelligence saying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing.

Agns Callamard, the secretary general of the watchdog Amnesty International, said there was "no doubt whatsoever" that the crown prince ordered Khashoggi's grisly bone-saw killing inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. American intelligence said that the crown prince personally approved the operation to kill or kidnap the Washington Post columnist, something the de facto Saudi leader has denied despite apologizing for the murder by his officials.

As the Saudi leader visited the White House on Tuesday, Trump disavowed the findings by his own intelligence agencies, saying the crown prince "knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that," even chiding the enquiring reporter for trying to "embarrass our guests by asking a question like that." ...

Why Left-Handed Eating Is Frowned Upon In The Middle East (May 2024)
www.foodrepublic.com

... In many parts of the world, it's not uncommon for hands to be the go-to utensils for enjoying a meal. For most of human history, hands have been the primary tool for most things, food consumption included.

Today, the tradition is governed by cultural etiquette rules in much of India, Africa, and the Middle East -- the birthplaces of human civilization. In majority-Muslim countries, Islamic doctrine dictates that food should be consumed with the right hand, a decree by the Prophet Muhammad that can be found in the Qur'an.

This is one of the reasons why in most Middle Eastern countries, the left and right hands have distinct purposes when it comes to activities involving cleanliness and consumption.

Custom dictates that the left hand should be reserved for bodily hygiene purposes, or "unclean" activities, while the right hand is favored for eating, greeting, and other such "clean" activities.

It's best practice to default to the right hand for gift-giving, handing over money, or greeting another person -- while the left is primarily for cleaning oneself.

For this reason, using the left hand to eat or shake someone's hand is considered not only unhygienic but potentially insulting as well. ...

OK, I tried ...