Arabic press review: Alwaleed bin Talal takes praise where he can buy it

This charming man

The reputed richest man in Saudi Arabia has been slammed by activists after the posting of a video in which he allegedly pays for praise from a poet, according to the Arabi21 website.

It is not clear if the video was taken before or after Alwaleed bin Talal was arrested last year in a corruption investigation. It also does not show money being handed over.

The billionaire, with an estimated $18.8bn fortune, spent three months in the gilden prison of the Ritz Carlton hotel, Riyadh, before being released late last month.

The video shows Talal sitting while a girl recites a poem praising him, before being given money. The girl then salutes the prince and leaves.

Many photos and videos of Talal have been posted in which he appears to financially reward poets for praise, according to Arabi21.

No friends in Palestine

A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee has stated that the US's peace envoy to the Middle East has tried and failed to break a freeze on relations with Palestinian leaders, according to al-Quds al-Arabi.

Ahmed Majdalani said Jason Greenblatt had invited three Palestinian businessmen from the West Bank and three other businessmen from the Gaza Strip to meet him. His requests were refused.

The PA has refused to communicate with US officials since Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Majdalani told the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi that some Palestinians could be among the 2,000 people invited to the annual White House breakfast on 10 February. The PA did not object to their presence, he said.

No Louvre lost

An anti-UAE campaign group has claimed the Emiratis are smuggling Iraqi artefacts into the newly opened Louvre Abu Dhabi museum, and urged the Louvre in Paris to investigate, according to the Qatari newspaper, al-Sharq.

The International Campaign to Boycott UAE said the artefacts had been stolen from Iraqi museums in the aftermath of the US invasion in 2003.

The campaign claimed the artefacts included the Bassetki statue, a marble face of a Sumerian woman, artefacts that date back to the era of King Naram-Sin of Akkad and a small statue of the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III.

Slimming effect

Price rises have led to a significant reduction in the amount of food being bought in Jordan, including staples such as bread, according to al-Ghad newspaper.

Stallholders estimate that sales are down between 35 percent and 50 percent since the recent government decisions to increase the general sales tax rate to 10 per cent, in addition to the increase in bread prices after the cancellation of government subsidies.

The policy has increased the price of 164 goods and services and comes as part of the government's efforts to increase revenues and raise the equivalent of $700m a year in increased taxes.

* Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.