Saudi university student in US killed in suspected homicide

Hussain Saeed Alnahdi was studying business at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

A Saudi Arabian student has died in the United States after being assaulted in what police are currently investigating as a homicide.

Hussain Saeed Alnahdi was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He was leaving a pizza restaurant in downtown Menomonie, Wisconsin at 2 a.m. on Sunday when he was assaulted by a tall white man, who fled the scene following the attack.

Alnahdi was unconscious and bleeding from his mouth and nose when police found him. The authorities transported him to Mayo Clinic Health System in Menomonie. He was then transported by helicopter to Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire before dying from his injuries.

Bob Meyer, the UW-Stout chancellor, shared the university's condolences via an official Facebook page and urged any students with information to immediately speak with authorities.

"It is with much sadness that I inform the campus that Hussain Saeed Alnahdi, 24, a junior majoring in business administration, passed away this afternoon from injuries suffered early Sunday morning during an assault in downtown Menomonie," Meyer said in the post.

"Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to Hussain's family in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia, and his friends at UW-Stout."

"I want to make a personal appeal to anyone on campus or in the community who might have information that would help authorities locate the individual involved in the attack to come forward," he wrote.

The attack comes as hate crimes against Muslims are reportedly on the rise in the U.S. Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric has featured prominently in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign season, with Republican nominee Donald Trump calling for a ban on all Muslims entering the country.

Saudi Arabia has been sending students to study in the U.S. for decades, with around 125,000 Saudis currently studying abroad in the country. Currently, the U.S. has the highest number of Saudi students of any other country in the world, according to a report by Arab News.

No plans for personal income taxes, UAE finance official

The UAE recently announced the establishment of a federal tax authority.

The United Arab Emirates currently has no plans to implement personal income taxes, a senior finance official told Al Bayan newspaper this week.

The government does not intend to institute any new taxes on individuals and is not conducting studies to impose new fees for any services, according to Younis al-Khouri, under-secretary at the finance ministry. 

In February, the GCC countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar – announced the implementation of a 5 percent value added tax (VAT) starting in January of 2018. Just last week, the UAE announced the creation of a Federal Tax Authority.

These measures have been taken with the guidance of Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who has also encouraged the GCC to implement income taxes. But, for the time being, this doesn't appear to be on the table.

Oil revenues have plummeted globally and budget deficits in the Gulf have widened as a result. The GCC is counteracting this by raising revenue (the taxes) and cutting expenditures by slashing energy subsidies. 

“We need to think about major reforms to make the budget less dependent on the oil price, and to build an economy that is vibrant but also taking advantage of the lower oil prices,” UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in January.

Last month, Saudi Arabia's deputy economy minister said that bankruptcy for the kingdom is only three to four years away if serious economic reforms are not followed through.

Recently, Saudi Arabia announced 20 percent pay cuts for all ministers and 15 percent pay cuts for Shura Council members. They also switching to the Gregorian Calendar in effort to save 11 days of payments to public sector employees. Bonuses and other perks were also targeted.