'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, a state department spokesperson told CNN, the latest step toward rapprochement between the U.S. government and the de facto leader of a key U.S. ally.
The two men “affirmed their shared commitment to advance stability, security, and prosperity across the Middle East and beyond” during the meeting, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Tuesday.
Miller said that commitment includes “a comprehensive political agreement to achieve peace, prosperity, and security in Yemen,” adding that Blinken “emphasized that our bilateral relationship is strengthened by progress on human rights.”
Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years following the torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for which a US intelligence report held the Crown Prince responsible. But in the wake of fluctuating oil prices over the past year – Saudi Arabia this week said it will slash oil output starting in July as part of an effort by producers to shore up crude prices – the Biden administration has sought to reengage with the kingdom.
During the meeting, Blinken and bin Salman “discussed deepening economic cooperation, especially in the clean energy and technology fields,” Miller said in the statement.
Blinken also thanked the Crown Prince “for Saudi Arabia’s support evacuating hundreds of U.S. citizens from Sudan, and for the Kingdom’s ongoing partnership in diplomatic negotiations to stop the fighting there,” the statement said.
A State Department’s travel summary said Blinken would “meet with Saudi officials to discuss US-Saudi strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues including economic and security cooperation,” and participate in meetings of the US-Gulf Cooperation Council and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday afternoon, and will travel to Riyadh on Wednesday for further meetings.
Speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC on Monday, Blinken also said that normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be a topic of conversation during his trip.
The production cut announced by Saudi Arabia over the weekend was its biggest in years and will depress its output to 9 million barrels per day. It came after a meeting in Vienna of the alliance known as OPEC+, which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other smaller producers.
Asked to comment on the decision to slash production ahead of Blinken’s visit, deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel noted that gasoline prices have generally fallen in the US from heights reached a year ago.
“We believe that supply should meet demand, and we’ll continue to work with all producers and consumers to ensure that energy markets support economic growth and lower prices for American families,” Patel said at a briefing. “That’s what we’re focusing on.”
On the campaign trail, then-candidate Joe Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” on the world stage and “make them pay the price” for Khashoggi’s murder. But he reneged on that vow by visiting the country last year and giving the crown prince a fist bump, providing a photo opportunity for the Saudi government and outraging human rights groups.
At the time, the president defended his actions by saying his Saudi trip was critical to US security.
“As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world,” Biden wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.
“To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes,” he wrote.
Months after Biden’s visit, the US determined that bin Salman should be granted immunity in a case brought against him by Khashoggi’s fiancée.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.