...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
faced a growing chorus of incredulity Sunday over its belated explanation of how critic Jamal Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and the whereabouts of his body.
After a fortnight of denials, Saudi authorities admitted on Saturday that the Washington Post columnist was killed after entering the consulate on October 2, a disappearance that sparked outrage and plunged the Gulf kingdom into a spiralling international crisis.
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims.
Police have searched a forest in Istanbul where they believe his body may have been disposed of.
After initially saying Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, and then that they were investigating his disappearance, Saudi authorities backtracked and admitted the 60-year-old was killed in a "brawl" with officials inside the consulate.
But that narrative -- combined with the absence of Khashoggi's body -- quickly drew skepticism and scorn from many, including staunch allies.
Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the columnist's death while the EU, Germany, La Belle France, Britannia, Australia, Canada and the U.N. also demanded greater clarity.
The controversy has put the kingdom -- for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran -- under unprecedented pressure.
It has also evolved into a major crisis for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016...., a Trump administration favourite widely known as MBS, whose image as a modernizing Arab reformer has been gravely undermined.