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FULFORD: THE FALL OF THE ZIONIST HOUSE OF SAUD PLUS POSSIBLE COUP ATTEMPT IN RUSSIA[FULL REPORT]

Benjamin Fulford

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10-18-18 

NOTE:  THE LINKS IN MR. FULFORD'S UPDATE ARE BELOW

 

  1. Volker says Russia continues to fuel fighting in eastern Ukraine
  2. Wife of Israeli prime minister goes on trial for
  3. No Israeli air strikes during past month. Iran replenishes destroyed arms stocks fraud
  4. All US F-35s grounded worldwide
  5. Saudi Crown Prince Discusses Trump, Aramco, Arrests: Transcript
  6. The Triumphal Arch of Palmyra in Washington D.C.
  7. At “World Government Summit,” Top Globalists Drop The Mask
  8. MELANIA

 

The fall of the Zionist house of Saud plus possible coup attempt in Russia

By Benjamin Fulford, White Dragon Society, October 15, 2018

World events are quickly coming to a head, with a major move against the house of Saud and a possible coup attempt this weekend against Russian President Vladimir Putin, say Pentagon, CIA, and FSB sources.

 

First, the murder (or psy-ops staged murder) of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is part of a move to remove the Zionist/Satanic house of Saud from control of Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern oil, according to Pentagon and CIA sources. The operation is also aimed at grabbing funds to keep the bankrupt U.S. afloat, CIA sources say.

This is how the CIA summed up the situation:

“The U.S. Treasury is holding between $3-5 TRILLION of Saudi Arabia’s petrodollars, which have been accumulating since the 70’s when this whole petrodollar sleight of hand began (around the same time that Nixon closed the gold window). These trillions have been confiscated and will not be returned. The same for the thousands of tons of gold stored in Credit Suisse and UBS banks in Switzerland, which was owned by Saudi Arabia (the House of Saud). It has been confiscated as well. It is game over financially for the Zionist Khazarian House of Saud. This really is Game-Set-Match.”

It is also no coincidence the Khashoggi incident happened just as the head of the CIA in Turkey, “Pastor” Andrew Brunson, was released from Turkish prison. The longer-term scenario will be for Turkey to resume control of its former holdings in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, while Israel becomes a Jewish autonomous zone under Turkish protection, the sources say.

As a preliminary step, “Saudi clown prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) may be purged, as Saudi Arabia is facing Western sanctions and boycotts in a dry run for an attack on Israel when 9/11 documents are declassified,” Pentagon sources add.

We will discuss this further below, but as this newsletter was about to be published we got urgent communications from FSB sources about an attempted coup this weekend against Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the sources, a big move against the autonomous Donbass region of the Ukraine by “Rothschild forces” led to a “huge dispute inside the Russian general staff with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu…

…backing former FSB head and Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev as the new Russian leader,” the sources say.  However, Putin was evacuated from Moscow, supported by “three patriotic generals,” and the coup was averted with the help of Russian special forces, the sources say.

This preliminary intelligence may be linked to the following report from CIA sources claiming that “various world leaders have been called to Russia for a meeting with Putin but no one came from the USA.  They were not allowed any representation whatsoever.  What is Putin planning with the rest of the world leaders?”

The reported coup attempt coincides with a sudden upsurge of fighting in the Eastern Ukraine, as reported by multiple regional news outlets.

http://tass.com/emergencies/1025467

1.    https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/volker-says-russia-continues-to-fuel-fighting-in-eastern-ukraine.html

The Russian sources say a landing by 5,000 troops along the border of the Eastern Ukraine and Russia was repelled.  The fighting in the Ukraine was part of an attempt to provoke a NATO attack on Russia to distract Russian attention from the coup attempt.  We have contacted White Dragon Society FSB sources for further confirmation, but none has been received as this newsletter went public.  We will provide emergency updates as required.

In any case, the Rothschilds may have tried to overthrow Putin as a result of the dire situation facing their slave colony Israel.  Here, satan-worshiping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under attack on multiple fronts.  His wife, Sara Netanyahu, began her criminal trial on charges of fraud on Sunday.  Benyamin Netanyahu has been questioned by police twelve times related to various fraud investigations and is expected to be arrested soon, Mossad sources say.

2.   https://www.reuters.com/article/U.S.-israel-netanyahu-wife/wife-of-israeli-prime-minister-goes-on-trial-for-fraud-idUSKCN1MH0IJ?utm_source=reddit.com

Furthermore, “U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley resigned because of the corruption charges that she herself will be charged with for her part in Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu’s fraud cases,” CIA sources say.  “It seems that she will be charged very soon with corruption for diverting $20 million of U.S. Aid funds that were earmarked for helping the Palestinian people.  We both know that U.S. Aid is a CIA front organization,” they say.

This is how Pentagon sources summed up the situation:  “The purge begins with Israeli stooge Nikki Haley being booted off the UN, whose departure is long overdue, while her preferred replacement globalist Goldmanite Dina Powell is rejected.”

The Russian troops using electronic warfare in Syria have also shut down all Israeli Air Force activities, as reported by the Mossad-linked site Debka.

3.    https://www.debka.com/no-israeli-air-strikes-during-past-month-iran-replenishes-destroyed-arms-stocks/

This may have something to do with the grounding of the entire U.S. fleet of F-35 fighters worldwide.

 4.   https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/11/dod-announces-global-grounding-of-all-f-35s/

This may be also why the reported coup attempt was engineered against Russia in a last-ditch effort to save the satanic government of Israel.  However, this last-gasp attempt by the Zionist/satanists to start World War 3 will not be allowed to succeed, Russian, U.S., and Chinese military sources all say.

Getting back to the Saudi situation, we know from our CIA sources that MBS was installed in power by Israeli special forces.  There is also a very strong possibility he was killed last April when gunfire was reported in his palace.  Last week, for example, Bloomberg Newspublished what they claimed was an exclusive interview with him, but the person shown as MBS bears little resemblance to the one seen in public before April.

5.    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-05/saudi-crown-prince-discusses-trump-aramco-arrests-transcript

We also note that the possibly murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a nephew or cousin, depending on the source (maybe both, given Saudi kin relations) of arms dealer  of Iran Contra fame.  Adnan Khashoggi once sent a honey trap to this writer (to give him credit, it was the most beautiful honey trap ever sent my way).  While I avoided the honey and thus the trap, she did give me a book in French from Khashoggi that claimed Jews actually originated in Egypt.  In other words, he appeared to be trying to warn me they were none other than the Set (Satan, Ba’al, Moloch)-worshiping Hyksos.  Japanese sources also informed the U.S. last week their research had shown that people calling themselves Jews were divided into Satan-worshiping and Yahweh (God)-worshiping factions.

This brings us back to last week’s report from various sources of Hillary Clinton and other members of the U.S. elite carrying out gruesome satanic sacrifices and rituals.  Please recall that the Arch of Ba’al was on display in Washington, DC as the fight to install Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh was reaching its climax.

6.    http://digitalarchaeology.org.uk/events/2018/9/26/the-triumphal-arch-of-palmyra-in-washington-dc

“Jonathan Cahn, author of the book The Paradigm, has pointed out that Baal was a god of power, fertility, and child sacrifice,” according to this website and many other sources.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2018/october/arch-of-palmyra-in-dc-coincidence-or-pagan-invitation-nbsp

This same Arch of Ba’al has been on display in front of various gatherings of “globalists,” including a “World Government Summit” in the UAE in 2017.

7.    https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/25404-at-world-government-summit-top-globalists-drop-the-mask

It may be just a coincidence, but last week as the globalist World Bank and IMF held their annual summit meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the island was struck with an earthquake.

8,    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-10/the-latest-earthquake-strikes-off-bali-indonesia

As a CIA source commented, “There are no coincidences in my world.”

Even if the earthquake was just a coincidence, like the lightning that struck the Vatican as Pope Francis was being selected, there can be no doubt that the good guys are winning.

On this front, our Pentagon sources wish to share the following two pictures of Melania Trump with our readers with the following explanation:  “It may be Red October, but Melania wears white hats in Kenya and Egypt.  She wears a white pith helmet in Kenya to warn China about its colonial ambitions for Africa, and a white fedora in front of a pyramid to declare war on the cabal

 Melania Image 1Melania Image 2

As usual, there is a lot we cannot report yet in order to protect our operations, but rest assured that evil is being systematically removed from this planet.

https://benjaminfulford.net/

 

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1.  Volker says Russia continues to fuel fighting in eastern Ukraine

 

A Ukrainian soldier shoots with grenade launcher during night combat with Russia-backed separatists uptown of Avdiyivka, Donetsk region on Sept. 13, 2018.

The Russian Federation, declaring its commitment to resolving the conflict in Donbas, does the opposite and continues to fuel combat operations, thereby violating the Minsk agreements, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has said.

“Russia continues to fuel and direct the fighting in eastern Ukraine in contravention of the Minsk agreements, committed to a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons/foreign fighters, and the disbanding of illegal armed formations, but does opposite. Time for#peace4Ukraine,” Volker wrote on Twitter on Oct. 12 evening.

The special envoy of the U.S. Department of State attached the publication of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to his post with an excerpt from a weekly report released earlier Oct. 12.

“In a non-government controlled area of Donetsk region near the border with the Russian Federation, an SMM UAV again spotted convoys of trucks along a dirt road where there is no border crossing facility in the middle of the night. One of the trucks carried an anti-aircraft gun,” the OSCE SMM said on Twitter.

https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/volker-says-russia-continues-to-fuel-fighting-in-eastern-ukraine.html

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2.  Wife of Israeli prime minister goes on trial for fraud

Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, appeared in court on Sunday for the first hearing in the fraud trial against her, in which she is alleged to have misused state funds in ordering catered meals.

According to the indictment, Sara Netanyahu, along with a government employee, fraudulently obtained from the state more than $100,000 for hundreds of meals supplied by restaurants, bypassing regulations that prohibit the practice if a cook is employed at home.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

She was charged in June with fraud and breach of trust and of aggravated fraudulent receipt of goods. If convicted, Sara Netanyahu could face up to five years in prison.

Looking tense, Netanyahu made no comment to reporters who had packed the tiny courtroom. She sat on a bench behind her lawyers.

“Can we ask them to move the cameras away?”, she asked the lawyer for the other defendant, who replied: “You’re used to it.”

“Not like this,” Netanyahu answered. She shook her head as the prosecutor described the gravity of her case.

The session, however, dealt mainly with procedural matters. The judge set a meeting with the prosecutors and the defendants’ lawyers for Nov. 13 in which he said he hoped all sides could narrow their differences “or even resolve the case”.

But a settlement at this stage appears remote because the prosecutors would likely demand Netanyahu plead guilty, something her lawyer has ruled out. She was not asked at the hearing to enter a plea.

Netanyahu’s lawyers contend the indictment does not hold up because the regulations for ordering meals were legally invalid and a household employee had requisitioned the food despite Netanyahu’s protestations.

The prime minister, who himself is embroiled in corruption investigations, has called the allegations against his wife absurd and unfounded.

Sara Netanyahu, 59, has inspired a multitude of headlines in the past over what family spokesmen call an undeserved reputation for imperiousness.

In 2017 the Netanyahus won a libel suit against an Israeli journalist who said Sara once kicked her husband out of their car during an argument. In 2016, a Jerusalem labor court ruled that she had insulted and raged at household staff in the prime minister’s official residence.

So far, Sara’s present legal woes have not politically damaged her husband, now in his fourth term as Israel’s leader and riding high in opinion polls despite the allegations against him.

Sara, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arrives to a court hearing in the fraud trial against her, at the Magistrate court in Jerusalem October 7, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Accusations he has made against the Israeli media of orchestrating a politically motivated witch-hunt against him and his wife appear to have struck a chord with his right-wing voter base, which has rallied in support of the 68-year-old leader.

Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Dale Hudson

SEE VIDEO

https://www.reuters.com/article/U.S.-israel-netanyahu-wife/wife-of-israeli-prime-minister-goes-on-trial-for-fraud-idUSKCN1MH0IJ?utm_source=reddit.co

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3.  No Israeli air strikes during past month. Iran replenishes destroyed arms stocks

,

10-14-18

It will be 30 days on Wednesday, Oct. 17 since the last Israeli air strike was conducted against Iranian targets in Syria, and the shooting down by Syria of the Russian IL 20 spy plane. Russian-Israeli relations remain cool and seem unlikely to go back to their old friendly nature. President Vladimir Putin is taking his time about fixing a date to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, although both said it should happen soon. Indeed, when Netanyahu suggested on Oct. 8 that he expected Putin’s understanding for the importance of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan, he was quickly slapped down. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented two days later that this would be a direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

On Oct. 9. Netanyahu emphasized the legitimacy of continued Israel bombardments of Iranian targets in Syria to visiting Russian deputy prime minister Maxim Akimov. Nevertheless, Israeli warplanes stayed on the ground. Likewise, American aerial activity in Syria remained silent

During this month, the Russian army deployed three battalion sets of S-300 air defense systems in Syria for Syrian and Iranian officers and troops. They are being trained to operate the batteries. Moscow has augmented the S-300 shield with missiles geared to stop low-flying aircraft and deployed them around Syrian towns and essential facilities. On top of these two lines of defense, Russia has arrayed in Syria advanced electronic warfare systems for countering air attacks by Israel or the US forces based in eastern Syria along the Iraqi border.

The introduction of EW is the most worrying aspect of the new Russian military build-up in Syria, DEBKAfile’s military sources stress. Although Israel’s EW capabilities are highly advanced, still Russia’s operational capabilities in this branch of combat are an unknown factor in the West and could cause surprises. No one can tell for sure what they can do until Israeli and US jets take to Syrian skies.

Just as troubling are the mounting stocks of Iranian weapons pouring into Syria during the month of Israel’s inaction. It had been hoped that Moscow would swing a reciprocal deal with Tehran to halt its arms consignments to Syria for Hizballah in return for the suspension of Israeli air strikes. The Iranians refused to hear of any such deal when it was broached by Moscow in September. In the event, they have stepped up their shipments of war materiel to Damascus as never before. Western and Middle East intelligence sources estimate that the 30-day hiatus in Israeli attacks gave Tehran the chance to replenish its own and Hizballah’s weapons arsenals and bring them level to where they stood 200 Israeli air strikes ago..

This is what Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was talking about on Friday, Oct. 13, when he said: “Netanyahu’s psychological warfare over the missiles was a farce. Our silence over our weapons is deliberate and purposeful. Our policy is based on ‘constructive silence’ and we do not give ‘free information’ to the enemy.”

There is still no word from Jerusalem on when operations over Syria are to resume.

https://www.debka.com/no-israeli-air-strikes-during-past-month-iran-replenishes-destroyed-arms-stocks/

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4.  All US F-35s grounded worldwide

and

The Pentagon announced Thursday it is grounding its entire fleet of F-35s, just days after the first crash of an F-35B led investigators to suspect there is a widespread problem with the advanced fighter’s fuel tubes.

“The U.S. Services and international partners have temporarily suspended F-35 flight operations while the enterprise conducts a fleet-wide inspection of a fuel tube within the engine on all F-35 aircraft,” the F-35 Joint Program Office announced in a statement Thursday morning.

“If suspect fuel tubes are installed, the part will be removed and replaced. If known good fuel tubes are already installed, then those aircraft will be returned to flight status. Inspections are expected to be completed within the next 24 to 48 hours.”

The office said the grounding “is driven from initial data from the ongoing investigation of the F-35B that crashed in the vicinity of Beaufort, South Carolina on 28 September. The aircraft mishap board is continuing its work and the U.S. Marine Corps will provide additional information when it becomes available.”

In the Sept. 28 crash in South Carolina near the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft, which belonged to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, known as the “Warlords.”

 

While the F-35′s U.S-based Joint Program Office had indicated that the grounding included aircraft purchased by foreign militaries, the British military signaled Monday that its entire fleet is not grounded.

At Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina, both British and American pilots are learning how to fly the F-35B. (Jeff Martin/Staff) Jeff Martin

SEE VIDEO

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/11/dod-announces-global-grounding-of-all-f-35s/

 

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5.  Saudi Crown Prince Discusses Trump, Aramco, Arrests: Transcript

Stephanie Flanders, Vivian Nereim, Donna Abu-Nasr, Nayla Razzouk, Alaa Shahine and Riad Hamade

10-5-18

Bloomberg’s Senior Executive Editor for Economics, Stephanie Flanders, and five other Bloomberg journalists spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud Wednesday night at a royal compound in Riyadh. In the wide-ranging interview, the prince spoke about his relationship with Donald Trump, his commitment to IPO Aramco, plans to invest a further $45 billion in Softbank, energy markets and the recent arrests in the kingdom.

Below is a full transcript of the interview.

Mohammed bin Salman speaks during an interview in Riyadh, on Oct. 3.

Source: Saudi Royal Court

Bloomberg: Trump said you would last two weeks only without the U.S.

 

MBS: Saudi Arabia was there before the United States of America. It’s there since 1744, I believe more than 30 years before the United States of America.

And I believe, and I’m sorry if anyone misunderstands that, but I believe President Obama, in his eight years, he worked against many of our agenda – not in Saudi Arabia, but also in the Middle East. And even though the US worked against our agenda we were able to protect our interests. And the end result is that we succeeded, and the United States of America under the leadership of President Obama failed, for example in Egypt.

So Saudi Arabia needs something like around 2,000 years to maybe face some dangers. So I believe this is not accurate.

 

Bloomberg: So if President Trump is doing other things that you want, you don’t mind him saying these incredibly rude things about your father?

MBS: Well, you know, you have to accept that any friend will say good things and bad things. So you cannot have 100 percent friends saying good things about you, even in your family. You will have some misunderstandings. So we put that in that category.

Bloomberg: I think Germany and Canada were friends, and it was less rude what they did.

MBS: It’s totally different. Canada, they gave an order to Saudi Arabia on an internal issue. It’s not an opinion of Canada about Saudi Arabia as much as they are giving an order to a different country. So we believe this is a totally different issue. Trump is speaking to his own people inside the United States of America about an issue. And you’ve got the answer now from me.

Bloomberg: It does seem to be his opinion that the kingdom should pay more for its security. So do you agree with that?

MBS: Actually we will pay nothing for our security. We believe that all the armaments we have from the Untied States of America are paid for, it’s not free armament. So ever since the relationship started between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, we’ve bought everything with money. Before two years ago, we had a strategy to shift most of our armament to other countries, but when President Trump became president, we’ve changed our armament strategy again for the next 10 years to put more than 60 percent with the United States of America. That’s why we’ve created the $400 billion in opportunities, armaments and investment opportunities, and other trade opportunities. So this is a good achievement for President Trump, for Saudi Arabia. Also included in these agreements are that part of these armaments will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia, so it will create jobs in America and Saudi Arabia, good trade, good benefits for both countries and also good economic growth. Plus, it will help our security.

Bloomberg: So we know, U.S.-Saudi relations are just as good now as they were 24 hours ago before the President said these things?

MBS: Yes of course. If you look at the picture overall, you have 99 percent of good things and one bad issue.

Bloomberg: With President Trump it seems to be a little bit more than one percent.

MBS: One percent. I love working with him. I really like working with him and we have achieved a lot in the Middle East, especially against extremism, extremist ideologies, terrorism and Da’esh [Arabic acronym for ISIS] disappeared in a very short time in Iraq and Syria, and a lot of extremist narratives have been demolished in the past two years, so this is a strong initiative. We worked together also, together with more than 50 countries, to agree on one goal in the Middle East and most of those countries are going through with that strategy. Now we are pushing back against extremists and terrorists and Iran’s negative moves in the Middle East in a good way. We have huge investments between both countries. We have good improvement in our trade – a lot of achievements, so this is really great.

Bloomberg: I think the heart of what he was saying and why he feels he has to say it is he does want a lower oil price. Can you see why he would be complaining about the oil price where it is at $80?

MBS: We never in the history of Saudi Arabia decided that this is the right or wrong oil price. The oil price depends on trade – consumer and supplier – and they decide the oil price based on trade and supply and demand. What we are committed in Saudi Arabia is to make sure there is no shortage of supply. So we work with our allies in OPEC and also non-OPEC countries to be sure that we have a sustainable supply of oil and there is no shortage and that there is good demand, that it will not create problems for the consumers and their plans and development.

Bloomberg: Has he made a specific request about oil?

MBS: Yes, actually the request that America made to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries is to be sure that if there is any loss of supply from Iran, that we will supply that. And that happened. Because recently, Iran reduced their exports by 700,000 barrels a day, if I’m not mistaken. And Saudi Arabia and OPEC and non-OPEC countries, they’ve produced 1.5 million barrels a day. So we export as much as 2 barrels for any barrel that disappeared from Iran recently. So we did our job and more. We believe the higher price that we have in the last month, it’s not because of Iran. It’s mostly because of things happening in Canada, and Mexico, Libya, Venezuela and other countries that moved the price a little bit higher. But Iran, definitely no. Because they reduced 700,000 barrels and we’ve exported more than 1.5 million barrels a day.

Bloomberg: And of that, the kingdom is producing how much?

MBS: Today we are around 10.7 million if I’m not mistaken.

Bloomberg: And for the next few months?

MBS: We have spare capacity of 1.3 million without any investment. So in Saudi Arabia we have 1.3 million to go if the market needs that. And with other OPEC countries and non-OPEC countries we believe we have more than that, a little bit more than that. And of course there is opportunity for investment in the next three to five years.

Bloomberg: I think you’ve just had a meeting in Kuwait thinking about reactivating the production in the neutral zone, so how did that go?

MBS: Actually the 1.3 million is capacity that we have today, without that opportunity in Kuwait. So we believe that we are almost close to having something with Kuwait. There are only small issues that have been stuck there for the last 50 years. The Kuwaiti side, they want to fix it today, before we continue to produce in that area.

Bloomberg; It’s an unrelated thing they want?

MBS: It’s part of the sovereignty issues that are stuck, unsolved, between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for the past 50 years. And they want to fix it now before we continue to produce from that area. We think a 50-year-old issue is almost impossible to fix in a few weeks. So we’re trying to have an agreement with the Kuwaitis to continue to produce for the next five to 10 years and at the same time, we work on the sovereignty issues.

Bloomberg: It sounds like you’re not expecting that to happen anytime soon.

MBS: We are ready in Saudi Arabia, and now we’re working with the Kuwaitis. We believe we can have something soon. We’re trying to convince the Kuwaitis to talk about the sovereignty issues, while continuing to produce until we solve that issue.

Bloomberg: But did you make progress on that in this meeting?

MBS: The leadership of Kuwait really wants to move on that. We think that in just one department there, they want to hold to the sovereignty issues before we move any further. The other department in Kuwait, they are supportive of what we are trying to say. It’s good for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, so I believe it’s a matter of time until it’s solved.

Bloomberg: Now the other big deal, because we have to talk about the other big deal that I know my colleagues are very interested in is Aramco’s negotiation for Sabic, taking the share. Do you have a sense of how that’s going to be structured, how that’s going to go?

MBS: Everyone heard about the rumors of Saudi Arabia canceling the IPO of Aramco, delaying that, and that this is delaying Vision 2030. This is not right. Actually, in mid-2017, we had an issue, which was: What’s the future of Aramco?

So Aramco today, it produces oil, and it has a few downstream projects. But if we want to have a really strong future for Aramco after 20, 30, 40 years from today, Aramco has to invest a lot in downstream because we know that the new demand for oil 20 years from now, it will be from petrochemicals. If we see the rising demand from petrochemicals, I believe it’s growing about 2-3 percent today. So definitely the future of Aramco has to be in downstream and Aramco has to invest in downstream.

So when Aramco does that, it will have a huge conflict with Sabic, because Sabic is about petrochemicals and downstream. And the main source of oil for Sabic is from Aramco. So if Aramco does follow that strategy, Sabic will definitely suffer. So before we do that, we have to have some sort of agreement to be sure that Aramco benefits from Sabic and Sabic doesn’t suffer in that process. So we’ve reached a point that PIF will sell the 70 percent that it owns in Sabic to Aramco and Aramco will do the other jobs of merging -- or whatever they will do with Sabic -- to have one huge mega company in that area in Saudi Arabia and around the world.

Of course, the money coming from that deal will go to PIF, but we cannot IPO Aramco directly after that deal, because you need at least one full financial year before that IPO. So we believe that deal will happen in 2019, so you need the whole 2020 –

Bloomberg: Is that early ‘19?

MBS: It will be somewhere in mid ’19, more or less. You’re talking about $100 billion of deals, so it’s huge.

Bloomberg: So you know what the structure is going to be, roughly?

MBS: This is really complicated, I’m not sure about the details yet. We will come to it.

So the deal in 2019, one financial year in 2020 and then immediately Aramco will be IPOed. We’ve tried to push to IPO it as soon as possible, but this is the timing, based on the situation that we have.

This will not harm the plans of Vision 2030 because PIF will still be funded from the deal of Sabic in 2019 with around $70 billion to $80 billion if I’m not mistaken, and in late 2020, early 2021, it will also have $100 billion from IPOing Aramco. So there is in the pipeline of the cash flow to PIF, $70 billion -- $70 billion to $80 billion -- then $100 billion, so we are talking about $170 to $180 billion. So PIF is good, the economic plans in Saudi Arabia is good, and that deal is good for the downstream industry in Saudi Arabia.

We will produce, we believe, more than 3 million barrels of petrochemicals in 2030, most of it in Saudi Arabia, part of it outside of Saudi Arabia, and that will be done by Aramco and Sabic and this will create huge opportunities for economic growth and jobs.

Bloomberg: Can you see why people thought that there was a connection between the two? They say oh, the IPO has been delayed, and now we have this deal we didn’t know about before? Was it not possible to do the IPO before the Sabic deal?

MBS: I believe it would be really a waste of the whole image of Aramco. You cannot do the IPO of Aramco and then give the shareholders a surprise a year later with a new deal that wasn’t on the road map then. So it has to be clear. It has to be clear IPO, clear strategy. So that’s why we have to do that before.

Why that story happened, because we believe that there was some leak about the Sabic deal before we did the PR campaign to announce it officially in Saudi Arabia. So when that leak happened, it goes the wrong way. But today I’m trying to say what the right picture is.

Bloomberg: So you still think the IPO is absolutely in the nation’s interest?

MBS: Of course, 100 percent.

Bloomberg: 2020, 2021?

MBS: I believe late 2020, early 2021.

Bloomberg: Will you do full 5 percent, because you’re saying $100 billion?

MBS: Absolutely.

Bloomberg: And you’re still on the valuation that’s $2 trillion, even though there’s a lot of skepticism about that?

MBS: We will see. So the investor will decide the price on the day.

Bloomberg: So does that mean, it can be $2 trillion, it can be based on market?

MBS: I believe it will be $2 trillion, above $2 trillion.

Bloomberg: But is it $2 trillion Sabic and Aramco together?

MBS: Of course, I believe it will be above $2 trillion – that’s why I believe it will be above $2 trillion. Because it will be huge.

Bloomberg: Your highness, on the Aramco IPO there’s been a lot of reports and we’ve heard that one of the things that was standing in the way is the international listing. Do you want to do it in New York but there’s the legal issue, do you want to do it in London, do you want to do it in Asia?

MBS: When you’re talking about the biggest IPO in human history, of course you have to look to all of the options that are available. What’s the decision? It will be the decision that helps the interest of the company, of IPOing Aramco.

I believe I’m not allowed to talk about what will happen in that area based on what our lawyer and our banks are saying. But that decision will be made at the right time.

Bloomberg: On the Sabic deal, you said it’s between $70-$80 billion. Can you tell us how would Aramco finance it? Is it going to be mostly debt and partly cash?

MBS: Aramco has really low debt, super low debt compared with the other energy companies around the world, and we now have good oil prices, and they have extra cash that they can use to reinvest in capital investment in Aramco. So they have a lot of tools to do the Sabic investment plus their other downstream strategy in the next 10 years.

Bloomberg: So there is no decision yet on how it’s going to be financed?

MBS: As you know, Aramco is a separate company. There is a board led by Khalid Al-Falih and other people, so I’m not the right person to talk about how Aramco will handle it.

Bloomberg: Let’s talk about the economy. You started to talk about reform I think nearly three years ago now, is there anything you would have done differently in this period?

MBS: Yes of course there is. Any government, any company, any team, they will learn over time. As any human works, of course there will be a few mistakes and a lot of achievements, if he is heading in the right direction. So I believe the last three years were good, and that we couldn’t do anything more than what we’ve done. We learned a lot of things – the whole team, the whole system. We will continue progressing and developing in that area, but the main picture, the main targets, the plan – it’s there. We are continuing to develop it and continuing to work in the same direction, so there’s no change on that.

Bloomberg: A lot of the governments I talk to, there’s always an issue about expectation management. There are different theories – you have to aim high, or know that you should only promise what you can deliver. You aimed very high.

MBS: Yes of course. You have to move the morale of people, the employees, the ministers, the whole area. You have to move the morale and you have to put them really under huge pressure. If you aim low, that means it’s an easy target. That means no one will try to work hard to achieve it. You have to aim high and you have to try to achieve as much as you can, and we said that clearly. We aim high. If we achieve 100 percent, great. If we achieve more, even greater. If we achieve 50 percent, great! Better than achieving nothing. So there is no problem in aiming high.

Bloomberg: Except if it’s about your credibility. If you promise to balance the budget by 2019, if you promise unemployment at 9 percent, when you have to step back from that when things are going in the other direction?

MBS: I believe we promised to balance the budget in 2023.

Bloomberg. Now. But originally, it was 2019.

MBS: Yes, because we have advice from a lot of banks, a lot of entities, including The central bank, the World Bank, that you can spend more money in the economy, so why delay that spending. Spend that money. We’ve reworked our strategy and that’s why we moved it to 2023 to raise our budget and to spend to be sure there’s job creation, economic growth and investment in Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg: But you set the expectation so high, and then you worry – the people who don’t have work now, who are thinking, you were really going to bring down unemployment and actually it’s going up and it’s much higher.

MBS: Yes, and now it’s about 13 percent. But of course, if there are two years of restructuring the economy, of course you will have side effects. You cannot do the restructuring without the side effects. This is part of the side effects of restructuring the economy.

But today we are much more powerful. Today, we talk about the budget of 2019. It’s above 1 trillion riyals for the first time in Saudi Arabia. And it’s 1 trillion and 100 billion riyals. We have our non-oil income or revenue raised by 300 percent. So from 100 billion riyals to 300 billion riyals, etcetera. So there is huge achievement that allows us to deal with the other issues from today and beyond.

I believe the unemployment rate will start to decline from 2019 until we reach 7 percent in 2030 as targeted in the Vision.

And if you look into the numbers, it’s really interesting. So if you see the male unemployment rate, it’s between 5 to 6 percent, which is almost close to normal. But if you look at the female unemployment rate, it’s above 20 percent. We don’t know how much of it is real unemployment and women seeking jobs, and non-real job seeking by women. So now we have a lot of programs to welcome those demands, and that will clarify a lot of numbers and we believe job creation will start from 2019, maybe late 2018.

Bloomberg: On the job creation front, Vision 2030 is centered around empowering the private sector. So for the private sector to create jobs there needs to be private sector growth. And because the economy has been restructuring, there’s been some sluggish growth. Do you see job creation also going again in the government? Which is something that people would say is against the spirit of Vision 2030?

MBS: The number that we look at in the government is how much we spend for employees in the government budget. So in 2015-16, it’s almost 50 percent of our budget is employee salaries and etcetera. Today, it’s 42 percent if I’m not mistaken. In 2020, I believe it will be below 40 percent. And the main target in 2030 is to be around 30 percent of government spending on government employment.

So the size of that spending doesn’t matter to us since it’s below 40 percent and it’s close to 30 percent in 2030 because our budget, our spending, is rising much much more than our spending on government employees.

Of course, the Saudi Arabian government still needs to create a lot of jobs because of the needs in the country, in the army, in the security agencies, in education – especially education – and also in other sectors that are being newly created in sports and different areas. So the economy, the country, the people, need these services, so of course we’ll create these jobs. And we believe that the job creation in the private sector will also grow with time.

Today we have a good percentage. I’m not sure of the exact percentage, but I believe it’s almost 50 percent of government employees and non-government employees. But if you look at the other GCC countries, it’s a totally different number. So today we are in a good situation. I believe in 2030 it will be lower than that. So if you watch the next two years, you will see that we are going in the right direction, but it wouldn’t happen today.

Bloomberg: One of the things if you’re going to be looking to have private sector and foreign investors be a big part of the future Vision and change in the economy, obviously the confidence of investors is very important. Do you feel that the Ritz Carlton arrests affected investor confidence? It’s certainly something that’s talked about.

MBS: It created a lot of rumors, but I don’t believe that it affected that. At the end of the second quarter of 2018, the net foreign investment in the Saudi stock market increased by 40.4% compared to the same period of 2017.

Bloomberg: But overall FDI has gone down dramatically.

MBS: Yes, it went down 80 percent in 2017 from 2016. But 2018 it will be 90 percent more than 2017. This is the number that we are getting for the first half. It will include all the investments. And the 80 percent reduction in 2017, it’s because we believe the deal, the acquisition that the Kingdom company did with Bank Saudi Fransi, it bought shares of foreign investors, so a lot of money went out because of that deal.

And just to point out one number. In 2017, direct investment around the world went down more than 20 percent.

Bloomberg: But it went up in this region, by and large.

MBS: But let’s look to the 2018 numbers. It’s above 2017 by 90 percent. So that means we are going in the right direction.

Bloomberg: This is in what period.

MBS: The first two quarters compared to the first two quarters of 2017.

Bloomberg: Are you seeing some of this coming in the non-oil sector too? Because oil has been -- historically you’ve seen a lot of oil investments but the crucial thing is non-oil FDI.

MBS: We believe it’s both. We believe we will have an amazing deal in October, in two weeks from today. So it will be big numbers. It will be in FII [The Future Investment Initiative conference] and it’s far away from oil. This deal is just what’s happening in Saudi Arabia – so there is one deal in FII and there are other deals that will be announced there.

Bloomberg: Any details we can get – what industry even?

MBS: It’s far away from oil.

Bloomberg: Is it technology?

MBS: Maybe. But this is in Saudi Arabia with big numbers.

Bloomberg: Is it anything to do with cars?

MBS: We will see. You know, we are two weeks away from that date.

Bloomberg: On a separate note, we’re very interested to know whether you’ve driven a Tesla.

MBS: Actually, we, PIF invests in a lot of companies in the United States of America, especially in the stock market. And Tesla looked like a good opportunity for PIF and we bought a few shares there. We have almost 5% of the company.

Bloomberg: But have you ever driven a Tesla?

MBS: The Tesla, I never did that. I’ve seen Tesla a lot. I just rode in one with King Abdullah of Jordan. He drove it mostly in LA. But I’ve never driven a Tesla, but they say it’s extremely good.

Bloomberg: You didn’t ask him to have a go?

MBS: It didn’t come to my mind, but it’s really smooth, no noise. I believe it will be a really promising industry in the future.

Bloomberg: Do you plan to order one for yourself?

MBS: Maybe not today. Maybe tomorrow.

Bloomberg: He wants to encourage oil.

MBS: We talked about that before and we believe that the rise of electric cars will not harm oil especially for Saudi Arabia. Oil demand will continue raising until 2030 by above 1 percent, 1 to 1.5 percent, maybe more. And some believe that after 2030, it will decline. But we believe that the other side will be a lot of producers disappearing. So for example we believe that China will be decreased sharply if not disappeared after five years from today. And other countries will continue every day to disappear as countries producing oil. Nineteen years from today, Russia will have declined heavily if not disappeared with 10 million barrels. So comparing the rise of the demand for oil and the disappearing supplier, Saudi Arabia needs to supply more in the future. So we don’t believe that there is any risk in that area for Saudi Arabia. No one is talking today about planes going and flying by electricity or ships moving in the sea by electricity. Adding to that the demand coming from petrochemicals and the future of petrochemicals after 10 to 20 30 years from today.

So if you see everyone using – you have plastic in your dress, in your pen – everywhere, and it will continue growing.

Bloomberg: Does Saudi Arabia plan to increase production between now and the end of the year?

MBS: What Saudi Arabia has announced, is that if there’s any demand, we will supply it. Considering our capacity of demand.

BLOOMBERG: There was talk that there was a deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia to increase production more.

MBS: What we’ve announced in Saudi Arabia is we’re ready to supply any demand and any disappearing from Iran.

Bloomberg: Do you have any plans to invest more in Tesla?

MBS: We’ve invested in Tesla like any other financial investor in the stock market. There are discussions with a lot of companies, a lot of funds, but we’ve announced nothing in that area.

Bloomberg: Have you met Elon Musk?

MBS: I’ve never met him.

Bloomberg: Do you think it’s risky to invest in Tesla? It’s expensive, led by an eccentric.

MBS: The PIF has invested in Tesla and we would have a conflict of interest if I say it’s risky to invest in Tesla because PIF already owns some of the shares in Tesla.

BLOOMBERG: Will there be Tesla showrooms in Saudi Arabia?

MBS: I believe this could happen in the coming years. In one or two years we will have Tesla showrooms in Saudi Arabia. Now we have allowed 100 percent ownership of foreign investments in Saudi Arabia so Tesla can open and own 100 percent of their showrooms.

BLOOMBERG: 100 percent ownership applies to which industries?

MBS: Most of the industries, especially retail. For example, Apple will open a store soon in Riyadh.

Bloomberg: Do you think of battery manufacturing as being part of the future?

MBS: We believe battery manufacturing is really changing and moving and will not mature until today so we don’t know what’s the future battery. We believe it’s too risky to invest in battery manufacturing in Saudi Arabia and outside Saudi Arabia because it moved. The source of battery and energy could be changed in the next five or 10 years. So we don’t know what kind of material that battery will use, what kind of technology that battery will use because demand is rising. We think we should just watch that area before we get into it.

Bloomberg: How much has been transferred from the Ritz arrests?

MBS: I’m not sure about the number but I believe it’s something above $35 billion as of today. We think it will complete in the next maybe two years. Forty percent of the current number is being transferred in cash and sixty percent is mostly assets.

BLOOMBERG: Is that being managed by Istidama?

MBS: That’s right. The companies and properties are. The cash goes to the treasury.

Two years from now and the case will be totally closed.

BLOOMBERG: Are there some trials happening now?

MBS: I’m sorry, I don’t have ... I don’t want to mislead you.

Bloomberg: People who are being held, there are several of them, what’s the plan for them?

MBS: Also I’m sorry I don’t have the accurate data. There are only 8 people left. They’re with their lawyers and facing the system that we have in Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg: One of the things we hear about the Ritz episode goes into the narrative of, we even hear that from Saudi businessmen and abroad, where you have a crisis or a dispute with Qatar, then you have the Ritz, then there’s an issue Germany. The narrative is there’s more unpredictability, too much unpredictably sometimes for investors, even Saudis.

MBS: I don’t believe this is a serious question. I’m sorry. Because America is now having problems with most of countries and new economic deals, with China, Canada, Mexico. This is normal, to have differences, negotiations and try to seek for better deals and better understanding between countries. It’s normal for the United States of America, it’s normal for Saudi Arabia and each leader is trying to do the best to reach the best situation for his country. This is his job. What’s happening is part of the Saudi government trying to have a better situation for Saudi Arabia, economically, in security, politically or all the areas. Today we have a new agreement with Germany, with a new understanding and business as usual. German investors in Saudi Arabia were not harmed during that period and they continue through their business, through their sales. Only the new opportunities stopped and this is back again. I believe that nothing shows there is risk for any investors or any deals or any commitments in Saudi Arabia in that area.

Bloomberg: Will the former ambassador to Germany return?

MBS: That’s right

Bloomberg: Is it Prince Faisal?

MBS: The old ambassador will go there and I believe he will go to another position later on and we will have a new ambassador there.

BLOOMBERG: and Canada?

MBS: It’s up to them. They’ve taken actions against UN law and against diplomatic principles. They interfered in issues that are not Canadian issues. They’re not Canadian citizens, they’re not Canadian interests. They’re totally Saudi domestic interests. And they’re not allowed to do that. The media can talk about any issue.

Bloomberg: How is this going to be resolved?

MBS: They have to apologize. Simply. And they have to know that they have made a mistake. I believe they know that they have made a mistake, but we will see how we can get things back again.

Bloomberg: The unpredictability point, many people thought you were different, there would be rule of law and reform for women and a change of society. So when these things happen people think, is he new or is he old?

MBS: What has this got to do with what’s happening in Saudi Arabia? There’s a person, and there are charges against him because of national security issues and all the information is available. If you have time and you want to visit the general prosecutor and take a look at the situation you’re more than welcome to go. It has nothing to do with the freedom of speech. But the Canadian government, which has no information about what’s happening, which has no right to interfere in that issue but is interfering, that’s really strange.

BLOOMBERG: Diplomats have been requesting information on these files but haven’t been receiving it.

MBS: That’s not their job. He’s a Canadian diplomat. He’s not a Saudi diplomat. The media are welcome. They have to write their opinions and what they have seen. But you have the Canadian government and you have to take care of Canadian interests. You have nothing to do with Saudi interests.

Bloomberg: What’s the Jamal Khashoggi story?

MBS: We hear the rumors about what happened. He’s a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. And we will continue our dialogue with the Turkish government to see what happened to Jamal there.

Bloomberg: He went into the Saudi consulate.

MBS: My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour. I’m not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time.

BLOOMBERG: So he’s not inside the consulate?

MBS: Yes, he’s not inside.

BLOOMBERG: Turkish officials have said he’s still inside.

MBS: We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises. The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. If they ask for that, of course, we will allow them. We have nothing to hide.

Bloomberg: Is he facing any charges in Saudi Arabia?

MBS: Actually, we need to know where Jamal is first.

Bloomberg: So he might be facing charges in Saudi Arabia?

MBS: If he’s in Saudi Arabia I would know that.

Bloomberg: So he’s not the person mentioned by Saudi Press Agency?

MBS: No, definitely not.

BLOOMBERG: The broader point is that if you add them all up - Germany, Canada, Ritz - there’s an impression, among not only international investors, but also among Saudi businessmen -- which is the private sector you’re trying to encourage -- that there’s a nervousness that there might be a next decision that might be surprising.

MBS: We’ve talked about that a lot in the past. In 2015, we had to make a lot of surprises. We didn’t want to reach a point where we would lose a lot of opportunities. Now the chances of a surprise is almost 1 percent. What we are sticking to is the vision, the program of 2020, then we will announce the program of 2025. There’s no new taxation till 2030 and we will do our best to boost the economy and to boost the development of the private sector and all the industries.

Bloomberg: By increasing spending?

MBS: By increasing capital spending, increasing the size of the new Saudi development fund which has several funds under it, increasing money into the PIF to invest in Saudi Arabia and also abroad, making regulations easier, restructuring other industries to create more opportunities for growth and for more businesses to come.

Bloomberg: What about privatization?

MBS: In 2019, we will have more than 20 services that will be privatized, most of them in water, agriculture, energy and some of it in sports. Now we’re talking with investors. Some of them here, some of them global. We want to make sure that these investors have the know how to run the businesses. We will own a little bit of those companies, as the Saudi government, to secure the quality for a period of time and also we are pushing that the majority of these companies when they move to the private sector, most of them will be IPO-ed. So the investors will own the majority, the minority will be for the Saudi government and a little bit will be IPO-ed on the stock market. We need this to increase transparency. We didn’t want to move fast with unknown investors. Picking the right investor, putting it on the stock market, watching it clearly so you can really notice if there are any problems before they really happen so you can intervene to fix things.

So in 2019, more than 20 companies will definitely start privatizing. Most of the companies will be in desalination.

Bloomberg: How concerned are you about capital outflows from the country?

MBS: I believe the numbers have been really good. In the first two quarters, we had more than 90 percent increase in investment into Saudi Arabia. I don’t think there is a reason to worry. As you know in Saudi Arabia we have a free market, a free movement of money. And if you look at the track record of Saudi Arabia, this year, last year and during for example the 1990 Gulf War, Saudi Arabia never blocked any money movement. We continue our commitment in that area, and continue working as a free market.

Bloomberg: One of the reasons why some of the money has been coming back was because of the oil prices being higher. So when you look at the broader economy, things have been definitely picking up for a lot of the same old reasons as in the past. So the oil price rise, but also fiscal spending. This year we’re going to see a rise that is going to help the economy, but it’s not the future vision, it’s back to the old.

MBS: So what should we do? Should we not use the money that is coming from oil? What we are trying to do is to be committed to our fiscal balance program 2023, to continue to spend on the programs that we identified. The only difference that will happen from the higher oil price, is that it will lower the deficit but it mostly will not affect what we’re spending, the extra money we will have - part of it will continue to be part of the Treasury of Saudi Arabia and part of it will be moved to PIF and the new Saudi development fund to raise their capital from today to 2030.

BLOOMBERG: There is extra spending happening this year.

MBS: If it’s in the range of 10% I believe it is in the normal range. As you know, 10 years ago we used to spend 45% more. So if you take the budget track record of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015 you were seeing us spending above 25% to 50% of budget, so we believe 10% plus or minus that’s the normal range.

Bloomberg: A European finance minister told me once that policy makers only do the right thing when they are on the window ledge, looking down. It strikes me it must be difficult for you now to push through reforms now oil is at $80...less urgency?

MBS: I feel the reforms today have happened. We did the reforms of gas prices in Saudi Arabia, it’s done. The electricity prices, it’s done. The water prices, it’s done. So the reform, it’s done. The taxes the VAT. It’s done. So there are no reforms in the pipeline coming that we will not do because the oil price is high. It’s already done. It’s there.

Bloomberg: One related question on this, the last year when you imposed VAT and then raised prices and then his majesty the king four days later announced a package of support that was supposed to be one year. Now the IMF is saying that your deficit is going to go down significantly next year partly based on the assumption that this package not being renewed. Are you looking at renewing it? Or are you committed to the one year?

MBS: His Majesty and the Saudi government last year they believed that part of the program - the Citizen’s Account - it couldn’t be that accurate. So we wanted to be sure that the citizens can manage themselves in 2018, that they are not harmed. Now we have a lot of negotiation in the Saudi government that should we proceed with the citizen’s account and rely on it, or should we move that and rely mostly on compensation. So this is a negotiation we will continue within the Saudi government but we believe it will not harm the spending because the amount of money allocated for that is there. Our negotiation now inside the Saudi government is about how we will spend it for the people.

Bloomberg: For me, one of the most exciting changes in the past year has been watching women be able to drive. But at the same time we’ve seen widespread arrests of people who have been very critical of the government including some of the very women who called for women to have the right to drive.

MBS: I believe there are a lot of people who called for women to have the right to drive and they are walking free in the streets so it’s not about women asking for the right to drive and they have been arrested before Women Driving day. It’s nothing at all to do with that. If you want to see some of the details, you can see tomorrow, and see the charges that they are facing (Bloomberg: they have been charged?) Yes. It had nothing to do with that rumor spreading around. They have connections with agencies of other countries. They have a network, connection with government people, leaking information for the sake these other governments.

Bloomberg: These are espionage charges?

MBS: Yes, you can say that

Bloomberg: Does that mean talking to foreign diplomats and journalists?

MBS: Journalists, no. But intelligence, yes. Secret intelligence. We have some of them with videos. We can show it to you. Tomorrow we will show you the videos.

Bloomberg: There will be a formal case against them?

MBS: I believe there will be a formal case against them based under Saudi law. I don’t have any information to suggest they have been treated in a way that is not in accordance with Saudi law and the process in Saudi Arabia. So all the movement that has happened against them, they’re based on Saudi laws and evidence. We have evidence of videos, we have evidence of voice calls...

Bloomberg: This could be them talking to foreign diplomats?

MBS: A foreign diplomat is totally different from talking to intelligence, and getting money, and being paid money to leak and to stop...

Bloomberg: Which countries are we talking about?

MBS: Qatar is one of those countries that recruited some of those people. And some agencies indirectly working with Iran. Those are the two main countries that were really recruiting these people. Some of the people on this list, they were part of that but they didn’t know that they were part of an intelligence operation, we’ve released them. But the other people, the evidence and the investigations proved that they did know it was intelligence work against Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg: As far as you’re concerned, it’s unrelated to the things they were campaigning against.

MBS: 100%. Because the things that they were campaigning for, there are thousands of people walking freely in Saudi Arabia campaigning for the same thing.

Bloomberg: For the end to the guardianship law as well?

MBS: Yes, the guardianship law. Just five minutes ago, people in Saudi Arabia will have been talking about it, especially women and they are everywhere, in every city in Saudi Arabia.

Bloomberg: Will there be any change on that?

MBS: Well if we look at the 70s, it’s different from now. The rules of guardianship were held in 1979, if I’m not mistaken, and now we’re looking at the laws that were put in after 1979 and we’re talking to most of the Council of Senior Scholars to see what’s Islamic and what’s non Islamic in that area, and I believe there’s opportunity in that area.

Bloomberg: When you say, many of the economic reforms you say you’ve done, but the social reform we had the big one, of women driving, but you’re not done? Are you going to announce more social reform?

MBS: Yes, our target in Saudi Arabia is to be competitive. So for example, I have a foundation, I’ve been trying for the past month to hire a new CEO, a non-Saudi CEO. I can’t. Because they don’t want to live in Saudi Arabia. That’s a problem. Why? Because of the quality of life and the lifestyle is not good. They want to work one week in Dubai and one week in Saudi Arabia. Come on, what’s happening? So we have to reach the best standard as soon as possible to be sure that people can work in this country and can proceed and build things in this country.

Bloomberg: So what’s the minimum for a good lifestyle? That you have to offer?

MBS: So we get those people to Saudi Arabia. We will try to do our best and I believe we have a good plan to reach that without moving from Saudi based laws and religion. The Islamic religion. We believe the Islamic religion is the model and we believe extremists are trying to move it to the wrong side, but I believe we have achieved a lot in the past year compared to what’s been achieved in the previous 30 years. If you look at that speed, you’ll know it’s only a matter of time.

Bloomberg: I’ve been covering Saudi Arabia for about 17 years. Going back to the point of the arrests. I was here last month and there were a lot of people that I have known for many years who refused to talk to me. They say it’s too risky to be seen talking to a journalist. There was the kind of fear that I haven’t saw before in Saudi Arabia. How do you explain that?

MBS: You might know a few people among 20 million people. I don’t know those people. I don’t believe you’re going to give me the names of those people. But I don’t have accurate numbers or official numbers to say if it’s happening or not. What I believe is the majority of Saudis based on most indicators of public opinion -- so a lot of companies and centers globally and a lot of companies and centers in Saudi Arabia have taken public opinion numbers -- we have a huge percentage of majority support in Saudi Arabia. This is the number that matters to us.

If there are people who think that if they talk to the media it will create problems for them because of what’s happened to several people in the last two years, it might happen to them, I might create illusions that they fear, it’s not true. I hope you can encourage them. You work for Bloomberg. They will talk to you. They won’t get harmed. It will be a good story for Bloomberg to attack me. So you can encourage them in that way.

But I believe that a lot of movements that happen around the world, they happen with a price. So for example if you look at the United States of America, when for example they wanted to free the slaves. What was the price? Civil war. It divided America for a few years. Thousands, tens of thousands of people died to win the freedom for the slaves. Here we are trying to get rid of extremism and terrorism without civil war, without stopping the country form growing, with continuous progress in all elements. So if there is a small price in that area, it’s better than paying a big debt to do that move. More than that, all these issues we look at them seriously and we’re trying to be sure that no one is harmed as much as we can.

Bloomberg: How do you feel about some of the criticism? Some people say that maybe you’ve made some reforms to the economy and allowed women to drive, but again you’ve arrested some people and you’re not really a reformer. I am sure you’ve seen some of the criticism and attacks. How do you feel about that?

MBS: Actually I didn’t call myself a reformer of Saudi Arabia. I am the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and I am trying to do the best that I can do through my position as the crown prince and the deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia. But let’s look at the numbers because numbers don’t lie. So Saudi Arabia, the number of those who’ve been arrested in the last three years -- fighting extremism, fighting terrorism, fighting a lot of agencies trying to work through Saudi Arabia and use and intimidate people by using freedom of speech etc and what we said earlier: about 1,500.

Bloomberg: Since when?

MBS: In the past three years. But how many in Turkey? 50,000. So those about 1,500, most of their cases have nothing to do with freedom of speech and most of them will return to their homes when the process is finished. Anyone against whom we have clear, accurate information -- based on Saudi laws -- that they have links with intelligence against Saudi Arabia or extremism or terrorists, they will face Saudi law. We have do to this. We cannot fight extremists having 500 or 700 extremists on the streets recruiting people against the movement against them. So of course it’s against Saudi law, against the interest of Saudi Arabia, against the interest of the whole world.

Bloomberg: I am interested when you say that you didn’t call yourself a reformer because in some of the big interviews you gave in 2016, you were asked are you the Margaret Thatcher of Saudi Arabia you said absolutely. Are you still the Margaret Thatcher?

MBS: Maybe they mean some person bringing something new to the country. I don’t care how the world views me as much as I care about what’s in the interest of the country and the Saudi people. Whatever serves the Saudi people and Saudi Arabia as a country, I will do it with full force, regardless of the impressions that it will create about me. If it’s good, thank you, that’s great. If it’s bad, I will try to clarify myself. If it works, good, if it doesn’t work I have to do what’s good for my country and for my people.

Bloomberg: In 2016, you told us that Aramco ownership will be transferred to the PIF. Is this still the plan?

MBS: No. Aramco’s ownership will continue to be in the hands of the Saudi government, but the money of the IPO will go to the PIF.

Bloomberg: How do you evaluate the PIF so far? Again in 2016 the strategy that you gave us was 50% investments domestically 50% investments globally, excluding Aramco.

MBS: That’s right.

Bloomberg: Where do we stand today with the PIF?

MBS: We are now above $300 billion, we’re getting close to $400 billion. Our target in 2020 is around $600 billion. I believe we will surpass that target in 2020.

Bloomberg: Is it now 50-50?

MBS: Now it’s more than 50 in Saudi Arabia and less than 50 outside Saudi Arabia that’s why we are investing in more places next year.

Bloomberg: One of the places you invested in was SoftBank. Will you be a part of the other $100 billion they’re seeking?

MBS: Of course. Definitely. We are the creators of SoftBank vision fund. We have 45 percent. Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank vision fund.

Bloomberg: How much of the new $100 billion?

MBS: Same amount mostly.

Bloomberg: Another $45 billion?

MBS: That’s right.

Bloomberg: So a total of $90 billion.

MBS: That’s right. That means we have a huge benefit from the first one. We would not put, as PIF, another $45 billion if we didn’t see huge income in the first year with the first $45 billion.

Bloomberg: How much?

MBS: Masa once announced the number in the last FII that we did more than 20 percent in the first five months, so you can imagine!

Bloomberg: You’re happy?

MBS: Of course!

Bloomberg: What’s happening with Bahrain?

MBS: You will hear an announcement tomorrow in Bahrain. We cannot walk away from GCC countries. There will be a collective announcement of support to Bahrain from Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia. It will be in different categories.

Bloomberg: The figure we heard is in the neighborhood of $10 billion for the financing gap over 5 years.

MBS: It will cover Bahrain’s needs over five years. We believe they’ve taken really serious reforms in the past year. We believe they’ve made huge progress. They have a super amazing team. I told the Bahraini king and the Bahraini Crown prince if you fire any of the people in Bahrain we will hire them next day.

Bloomberg: Yemen. How do you see the conflict evolving, when will it end?

MBS: We hope it will end as soon as possible. We don’t need that on our border. But of course we don’t need to have a new Hezbollah in the Arabian peninsula. This is a red line not only for Saudi Arabia but for the whole world. No one wants to have Hezbollah in a strait through which about 15 percent of the world trade goes through. We will continue to pressure them. We hope they’ll get ready as soon as possible to have negotiations and to have a deal.

Bloomberg: Has it put a significant strain on your relations with allies like the UK?

MBS: Mistakes happen in all wars. Any war mistakes will happen, painful things will happen. We will try to solve it as soon as possible.

Bloomberg: So they’ve voiced concern to you but you don’t believe it’s fundamentally risking the relationship with these allies?

MBS: It’s not a matter of risking the relationship. It’s a matter of national security. We hope they understand. We try to convince them. We believe they understand the dangers in that area but if it will create problems so be it. We can’t risk our national security for the sake of relations with other countries.

Bloomberg: On Masayoshi Son...

MBS: I believe we will have two huge announcements: one will happen in the next months -- I am not sure about the date -- and we have the finalized structure of the solar investment in Saudi Arabia. So we will have it somewhere around mid-2019. The whole agreement and the structure for the next 10 years. We will have 2GW, starting construction in Saudi Arabia in 2019, and in 2020-2021, we will have 4GW. But the other 196GW, the announcement of the timeline will be in 2019, but today we have almost 4GW from 2019 to 2021 already planned and approved.

Bloomberg: We didn’t get to ask about Neom?

MBS: His majesty spent his vacation this year in Neom, it is a signal that the king, for the first time in 40 years or more, is spending his vacation in his country Saudi Arabia. Under Neom, I believe there are more than 12 small cities or towns next to the sea and other six or seven, some of it in the valley, some in the mountains, towns, and one huge industrial zone, one huge port, three airports, one global big airport. So there are a lot of huge different projects in Neom. Neom is like a small country in a big country. So the first town in an area we call the Neom Riviera will be there in 2020. Most employees will move there. I am pushing to have it in 2019, I don’t know if I will succeed in that. After that, we will have from two to three new towns in Neom every year. Neom city will be completed in 2025. There are interesting partners in the Middle East and globally. Interesting names. I believe we will hear a lot of good stories, one of them we will hear about in February 2019. A new investor will create something new there. We are working on the final details. We are getting his final approval.

SEE VIDEO

https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/fixed-income

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6.  The Triumphal Arch of Palmyra in Washington D.C.

  • Washington, D.C. USA (map)

Th IDA's flagship exhibit, the replica Triumphal Arch of Palmyra, will be displayed in Washington D.C. from September 26 - 30 2018.

http://digitalarchaeology.org.uk/events/2018/9/26/the-triumphal-arch-of-palmyra-in-washington-dc

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7.    At “World Government Summit,” Top Globalists Drop The Mask

Alex Newman

2-17-27

Meeting this week at the annual “World Government Summit” in the United Arab Emirates, under the shadow of a replica monument from the false god Baal's temple, top globalists and establishment leaders from around the planet offered a series of stunning revelations about their agenda. From the socialist new UN secretary-general and the embattled boss of the International Monetary Fund to national government leaders and tax-funded crony capitalists, over a hundred prominent speakers lectured thousands of attendees on the supposed necessity of globalism, multiculturalism, statism, Big Government, social engineering, “sustainability,” and more. One speaker, tax-funded billionaire Elon Musk, even claimed humans must merge with machines and governments must give everyone an income.

Despite the array of high-profile speakers, the controversial gathering itself, organized by the Islamic rulers of the UAE and their partners, received very little attention from the U.S. media. Ironically, some major U.S. media organs such as the leftist CNN, dubbed “fake news” by U.S. President Donald Trump, were listed among the World Government Summit's partners. Sky News was also on the list. Other listed partners included the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the World Economic Summit, and other key globalist organizations. Many of the leaders of those outfits actually spoke openly at the summit promoting globalism, Big Government, statism, and other ideas at odds with traditional American liberties, Judeo-Christian values, and the U.S. Constitution.

 

The overarching agenda of the summit was on display clearly for all to see. Globalist bigwig Klaus Schwab, for example, the founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum in Davos, told attendees that governments should promote his vision of globalism and a global regulatory regime to deal with real and imagined problems. “We have to unite our national and global efforts to overcome the challenges of nuclear energy and climate change that threaten humanity, we need to promote national identity and global citizenship,” he declared. “The role of governments in shaping the future of their citizens has never been as important as it is today.” Whether governments should be shaping the future of their citizens in the first place was never discussed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (shown above), a Socialist Party politician and bureaucrat, similarly promoted statism and globalism in his keynote speech. Specifically, he argued that national independence was a relic of the past, while lamenting the fact that people no longer trust their rulers and the globalist organizations they established. “In a world in which everything is global, in which the problems are global — from climate change to the movement of people — there is no way countries can do it by themselves,” said Guterres, who helped spread socialism and engineer the tsunami of Islamic immigration into the West before taking his current post. “We need global responses, and global responses need multilateral institutions able to play their role.”

Without explicitly saying it, the new UN boss also promoted the globalist effort to further empower Third World regimes in “global governance,” at the expense of the U.S. government and other traditional power-brokers. “There is a need also for deep reforms in global institutions,” he said, using the same “multi-polar” world order rhetoric that has become commonplace among dictators and even Western globalists. “Reforms that have to do with power relations, namely in the case of the Security Council, or the way votes are distributed in international financial institutions.” Of course, making the “global governance” regime more accountable to oppressive Third World regimes such as Communist China and its allies has been a key effort of the totalitarian Socialist International that Guterres led prior to taking his current job. The SI has previously called for “world government” and global tyranny.    

Globalism and its new apparent cheerleader in chief, mass-murdering Communist Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, were hot topics, too, according to reports about the summit. “Many of the conversations that took place during the Summit revealed the days of multilateralism are not over,” explained Noa Gafni Slaney in a blog post about the confab for the far-left Huffington Post, with the term “multilateralism” being synonymous with globalism. “Xi Jinping’s speech at Davos was frequently mentioned as an example of a commitment to globalization and global citizenship.”

Indeed, as globalism continues to march forward despite growing global resistance, the mask is increasingly coming off and the links to brutal totalitarianism are becoming clear. And one of the leading characters behind the process, Chinese tyrant Xi, has offered a great deal of insight into where this will all be going if humanity does not resist. Just last month, Xi emerged as the new king of globalism following his bizarre keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Globalism certainly creates some problems that we all need to solve together,” the dictator told fawning Western globalists. “But what should really scare us is any [leader] not willing to live up to the challenge.”

But long before that revealing speech, Xi and the murderous Communist Chinese Party he leads have for years been openly promoting what they and their Western allies — George Soros, Henry Kissinger, and David Rockefeller among them — refer to as the “New World Order.” If official statements and declarations by Beijing and its totalitarian-minded allies are an accurate indicator, the new order they are working to impose on humanity involves a newly empowered UN ruling over humanity. The UN General Assembly will serve as what the Chinese dictatorship and other totalitarian regimes called an “emblem of global sovereignty” in a recent declaration about their “New World Order.”

Numerous other personalities tied to governments and international institutions spoke at the World Government Summit as well. Bizarrely, perhaps, considering the location and her background with the mass-murdering Bulgarian Communist Party that ruthlessly persecuted Muslims, scandal-plagued UNESCO chief Irina Bokova spoke at the confab as well. A number of current and former communist operatives, including Chinese Communists, also spoke at the summit. So did UN Development Programme boss Helen Clark of New Zealand. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, whose government enforces an incredibly strict immigration policy, touted a world that was becoming “more culturally diverse.” He called on governments to “use this diversity as a pillar to enable economic growth based on innovation,” whatever that means.        

Outside of government and tax-funded globalist international organizations, a number of allegedly “private sector” representatives also attended the World Government Summit. They pushed the same globalist agenda, but with some additional — and potentially terrifying — new twists. Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, for example, a self-styled entrepreneur who has been criticized for relying so heavily on government subsidies to fund his various schemes, pushed forward a number of important establishment talking points. Among other elements, he advocated the transformation of human beings into cyborgs, as well as a globalist scheme to have governments radically increase people's dependence on government by providing a “universal basic income” to everyone on the planet.

According to Musk, big changes are coming in the economy, and so, many people will be unemployed in the future. As such, government must rescue them by providing for everyone a “universal basic income,” basically a technocrat's dream pushed for years by establishment globalists. “I don't think we're going to have a choice,” explained the tax-subsidized businessman involved in electric cars and space exploration. “I think it's going to be necessary. There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better.... I think universal basic income will be necessary, but the much harder challenge is: How will people then have meaning?”

Perhaps the new waves of unemployed can find meaning to their lives by merging their brains with computers, literally, Musk suggested. “I do think there is a path to having some sort of merger of biological intelligence and machine intelligence,” Musk was quoted as saying. “It's mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output. Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control problem and the usefulness problem.” Those who refuse may become irrelevant.

Another speaker at the summit whose work is funded by taxpayers and is closely tied to government was National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner, the man behind the controversial “Blue Zones Project.” As The New American reported in 2015, the scheme pushes government-backed social engineering under the guise of promoting healthy living and longer lives. According to a news report published in Emirati media, Buettner told attendees about his research into longevity around the world, offering tips for how to live a longer life based on his studies of populations with long lives. In the United States, his “Blue Zones Project” continues expanding into communities and school districts, stirring controversy along the way.

Perhaps most bizarrely, the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai was held under the shadow of a “replica of a Roman arch that once stood in front of the pagan Temple of Ba’al,” reported Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz with Breaking Israel News. The New York Post described the structure as “the Arch of the Temple of Bel.” Ba'al, of course, is the false god mentioned in numerous instances throughout the Bible. According to multiple reports, the original arch stood for 2,000 years at the Temple of Ba'al, sometimes spelled Bel or Baal, in Palmyra within present day Syria, a city known in the Bible as Tadmor.

Originally built as a temple to the idol Ba'al, who reportedly demanded child sacrifices and other horrors that outraged the God of the Bible, the ancient structure was used for various purposes throughout history until it was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. At that point, a replica was made by the Institute for Digital Archaeology, which plans to help erect 1,000 such arches around the world. The first replica was displayed prominently at the World Government Summit this week, sparking much speculation by religious scholars about its potential significance.

Despite the growing public revolt against globalism and statism across the West — most recently seen in Brexit and Trump's election — the globalist establishment clearly has no plans to let up or even slow down, as evidenced by the speeches offered at the World Government Summit this week by top peddlers of global governance. If liberty and self-government are to survive and thrive, then, the agenda for technocratic planetary rule must be exposed and halted as quickly as possible. But with globalists increasingly dropping the mask when it comes to their true intentions, the time to do that has never been better.

Photo of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at World Government Summit: AP Images 

Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for The New American, is normally based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU. He can be reached at anewman@thenewamerican.com.

https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/25404-at-world-government-summit-top-globalists-drop-the-mask

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8.  MELANIA

 

https://benjaminfulford.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/melania1.jpg