by bbc – One of the world’s richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has been released two months after being detained in Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption purge. He was freed after a financial settlement was approved by the state prosecutor, an official said. Prince Alwaleed was held in November by a new anti-corruption body headed by the Saudi crown prince. More than 200 princes, politicians, and wealthy businessmen were detained in the crackdown. Since then, they have been held in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, which is due to reopen on 14 February. Prince Alwaleed is the most high-profile detainee to have been released so far. Speaking to Reuters news agency before his release he said that no charges had been laid against him and expressed support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The multi-billionaire has a vast array of business interests across the world, including holdings in Twitter and Apple.

A Canada-based businessman tells the BBC about how Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption drive is being conducted. In November, Forbes estimated his net worth at about $17bn (£13bn), making him the 45th richest man in the world. Officials say he will remain as head of his company, Kingdom Holding. Other high-profile figures that have been set free include Waleed al-Ibrahim, the head of MBC television network, and Khalid al-Tuwaijiri, a former chief of the royal court. They have paid substantial financial settlements, reports say – though the amounts have not been made public. Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who was released at the end of November, paid more than $1bn (£750m). Media reports suggest that Mr al-Ibrahim’s deal may have included his controlling share in MBC – the largest media company in the Middle East. The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh is holding about 200 members of the Saudi elite The anti-corruption drive was instigated by Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who has been accused of using the investigation to remove opponents and consolidate his power. In the aftermath of the purge, Saudi Arabia’s attorney general said at least $100bn (£76bn) had been misused through systemic corruption and embezzlement going back decades. The detentions – and the expensive settlements – are being characterised by the state as an attempt to recover those funds. Many more of those detained remain in the Ritz Carlton under guard, until it reopens for Valentine’s Day in mid-February. Those who do not reach settlements before then are expected to be sent to prison to await trial.

BRITAL, Lebanon (AP) – To bird lovers, the scenes are upsetting. Dozens of dead buzzards lie on a carpet of feathers on a rocky hill in northern Lebanon. Hunters pose with their catch – scores of calandra larks, known for their melodious birdsong, arranged neatly on the hoods of their Land Rovers. Great white pelicans, […]

by aawsat.com –  Four months before the scheduled date of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, the country is witnessing an unprecedented movement aimed at increasing the number of female representation in Parliament, which has been very shy since 1953, when women were granted the right to vote and to run for the elections. Despite the fact that most of […]

by en.annahar.com–  BEIRUT: Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun indicted on Thursday Lebanese comedian Hicham Haddad after he mocked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on his “Lahon W Bass” TV show. Aoun, which indicted Haddad upon the request of General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, referred the case to Lebanon’s Court of Publications.Haddad’s indictment also sparked an […]

By aawsat.com – Speaker Nabih Berri and Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouq have stressed that Lebanon’s parliamentary elections will be held on time next May. “The collective determination by the Lebanese affirms the need and duty for parliamentary polls to take place as scheduled and this has become a reality that can’t be doubted,” Berri was quoted […]

by Annahar – Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Hariri said that his decision to rescind his resignation was based on Lebanon’s rival political parties abiding to a “dissociation policy that will save Lebanon.” Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Hariri said that his decision to rescind his resignation was based on […]

Arab filmmakers have been sending out a number of submissions for Oscars every year, but not all of them have made the cut. In one such, Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri’s latest film The Insult bagged a nomination for Oscars at the 90th Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Starring Adel Karam, Kamel […]

Article 97: Voting for a list and the preferential vote

1 – Each voter is to vote for one list from those competing and is entitled to choose a single candidate as their preferential vote in the respective administrative district.

2 – In the case that a voter does not choose a preferential vote, the list voted for will still be counted. In the case that a voter chooses more than one preferential vote, the preferential vote will not be counted and only the list will be counted.

3 – In the case that a voter chooses a preferential vote from a different list than they have voted for or from a list of a different administrative district, the preferential vote will not be counted and only the list will be counted.

4 – In the case that a voter does not vote for a complete list and only chooses a preferential vote, both the list that the preferential vote is from and the preferential vote will be counted.

Article 98: The proportional representation

1 – The number of MPs taken from each list will be determined by the percentage of votes each list gains.

2 – The percentage of the seats earned by a list will be determined by the number of voters in each electoral district relative to the number of seats.

3 – Lists which do not receive a high enough percentage of votes to earn a seat will be eliminated and votes will be counted again based on the lists that met the threshold percentage to earn a seat.

4 – The remaining seats will be distributed to the eligible lists that gained the largest percentage of votes remaining from the first division. This process shall be repeated in the same manner until all seats are distributed. If one seat remains and two eligible lists have the same percentage, the seat will be awarded to the list that gained the largest number of seats. In the event that the two lists have the same percentage for the available seat, the seat will be given to the list whose candidate received the highest number of preferential votes. In the event that two candidates from two different lists receive the same percentage of votes, the candidate from the list which received more overall preferential votes will earn the seat. And so on.

5 – After it is determined how many seats each list will be assigned, the candidates will be sorted from first to last, based on the percentage of preferential votes each candidate earned in their respective administrative district. The percentage of preferential votes for each candidate will be determined by the number of overall preferential votes cast in their administrative district. In the event that two candidates receive the same number of preferential votes, the candidate who is older will advance. If the candidates receive the same of preferential votes and are the same age, the winner will be determined by a “coin-toss.”

6 – The distribution of seats for the winning candidates will be determined with the highest vote getters from the top of each list. The first seat will be allocated to the candidate who receives the highest percentage of preferential votes and the second seat to the second-ranked candidate on the list and so on.

7 – The seats will be distributed based on the following:

– Seats in each district will be filled by winning candidates for a certain sect until the quota is complete. Once the quota is complete, the candidates who did not earn a seat will be eliminated.

– If a list has not been completely filled with the specified quota and the distribution process reaches a candidate belonging to a list that has fulfilled its quota of seats, the seat will be passed on to the next eligible candidate.

SOURCE: AP NEWS AGENCY – Lebanon is campaigning to get at least five times more women elected to parliament this spring in its first vote in nearly 10 years, the country’s first women’s affairs minister says. With diverse religious groups and women in prominent positions in the business world and the media, but female politicians […]

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc will open its checkout-free grocery store to the public on Monday after more than a year of testing, the company said, moving forward on an experiment that could dramatically alter brick-and-mortar retail. The Seattle store, known as Amazon Go, relies on cameras and sensors to track what shoppers remove from […]