Saudi Arabia

War on Yemen

 * Saudi Arabia intercepts Yemen missile over Riyadh - video, 4 November, 2017

Great Saudi Purge

 * Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Waleed bin Talal -New York Times, 4 November, 2017

Coup attempt?

 * Gunfire reported outside royal palace in Riyadh, some reports say it is attempted coup, some that this is a drone getting too close and shot down  ( RT), (Ruvesna, video),  April 21, 2018
 * No, it was just a drone that we nuked.
 * Saudi police shoot down unauthorized drone over restricted area in Riyadh - Arab News, April 22, 2018
 * Saudi forces shoot down 'toy drone' near royal palaces - AFP, April 22, 2018

Nuclear?
It is believed that Saudis invested in Pakistani program, and feel that they can buy the bomb at will (BBC, Nov. 2013).


 * Kerry: (Saudis do not have the bomb)--Interview With CNN's Wolf Blitzer, January 18, 2016


 * ''QUESTION: Because the Saudis have not even ruling out the possibility, given their concern about this nuclear deal with Iran, they could go forward and buy some – maybe buy a nuclear bomb, maybe from Pakistan. You’ve heard those concerns.


 * ''SECRETARY KERRY: Sure, we’ve heard those things. But you can’t just buy a bomb and transfer it.


 * ''QUESTION: Why not? They got a lot of money.


 * ''SECRETARY KERRY: There are all – there’s all kinds of NPT consequences. I mean, there are huge implications of that. And Saudi Arabia knows, I believe, that that is not going to make them safer, nor is it going to be easy, because the very things that Iran went through, they would then be subject to with respect to inspection, NPT, and so forth.


 * Saudi Political Analyst Dahham Al-‘Anzi: KSA Has Obtained Nuclear Bomb. Test May Be Held Soon, we have it for two years, and the superpowers know (RT Arabic, video posted Feb. 16, 2016).
 * Saudi Foreign Minister refuses to answer question on acquiring nuclear weapons from Pakistan, Independent, Jan. 22, 2016

Socio-Economic

 * 'Universal basic income', 1200 riyals (around 350 USD) per months in the lowest bracket
 * Health care provided by the goverment
 * GDP per capita, around 20 thousand USD nominally, 50 thousand adjusted buying power (close to nominal is USA)

Al-Akbar publication
'A secret document about a correspondence between al-Jubair and Mohammed bin Salman', Al-Akbar, in Arabic (robo-translation), 14 November, 2017
 * Unknown whether this is genuine
 * 'Reconciliation with Israel and the revocation of the right of return and the internationalization of Jerusalem' ( + support against Iran).
 * Appeared on wider-audience Moon of Alabama earlier than here, anyway.

Discussion
This may be controversial enough, and no need to make it even more so. Thus the comment is limited to two technical points:
 * Unknown whether it's true, but may be genuine.
 * Right of return had no chance to be accepted, that was known for a long time, and a series of attempted solutions did not have it as an item. What's new here is acceptance and measures to re-settle refugees (as opposed to maintaining the problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict).
 * International status of Jerusalem is not a new idea; different versions were proposed in attempted settlements (administered by God, or UN, or security control by Israel among the proposals). Being administered by USA is a new element which has practical (in the human world) side to it, and is a compromise with a chance of acceptance. (Russia has religious presence in Jerusalem. If this comes to UN vote, Russian position is unknown).
 * --Resup (talk) 21:28, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

History

 * How Zionism helped create the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nu'man Abd al-Wahid, Mondo Weiss, January 7, 2016
 * Sykes-Picot, Churchill White paper and other historic documents here
 * Nov. 20, 1979- Dec. 3, 1979 Siege of Grand Mosque of Mecca.
 * How the 1979 Siege of Mecca Haunts the House of Saud -Stratfor, 2 July. 2017
 * Trofimov book website: collection of declassified documents
 * Background:
 * January 1978-February 1979, Iranian revolution, Khomeini returns to Iran after 14 years exile on 1 February 1979
 * December 27, 1979. USSR deployment in Afghanistan (Alpha and troops entering)