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CHICAGO: A lawsuit filed in the Philadelphia courts against Airbnb Inc. by the parents of murdered ������Ƶ student Alwaleed Algheraibi, 25, has been moved to the US federal courts, the family’s attorney confirmed on Thursday.

The case was recently removed at the request of Airbnb from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas (Pennsylvania State Court) to Federal Court in Philadelphia, also known as the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Attorney Steve Harvey explained that the defendant has a right to be in federal court based on the citizenship of the parties – Algheraibi was a Saudi citizen, while his killer, Nicole Marie Rodgers, is African American.

The state lawsuit was filed on May 16, 2025, in the Philadelphia local courts by the victim’s father and mother, Abdullah and Eiman Algheraibi, who live in Riyadh. Airbnb is based in San Francisco, California.

The lawsuit alleges that a decision by Airbnb in October 2020 to change its policies to allow individuals younger than 21 to rent properties, created the circumstances in which the murder took place.

Rodgers was only 19 years of age when she rented the property, even though the property owner complained to Airbnb at the time that she did not want to rent to someone under the age of 21.

Had the policy not changed, Harvey argues in the lawsuit, Algheraibi would still be alive because the property owner would not have rented it to Rodgers.

“The parents of Alwaleed Algheraibi are suing Airbnb because they believe Airbnb should be held responsible for sending an Airbnb customer, 19-year-old Nicole Rodgers, to the house in Philadelphia where she brutally murdered their son for no apparent reason,” Harvey told Arab News.

“If it had not been for the Airbnb policy of forcing its hosts to accept guests under the age of 21, Alwaleed would be alive today. It was unreasonable for Airbnb to force the host to accept Rodgers.

“Airbnb knew or should have known that forcing hosts to accept guests as young as 18 could lead to problems, even serious problems like crime, violent crime, and even murder, not in every case or even in most cases but in some cases. This policy led to the death of an innocent young man.”

According to the lawsuit, the property owner previously had one of her properties damaged by an 18-year-old Airbnb guest. In response, the owner told Airbnb that she did not want to host anyone under age 21, Harvey said.

“She was told that based on the discrimination policy of the platform that if she were to ask guests their age or choose not to host them based on age then they could flag her (the owner) for discrimination and remove her from the platform,” the lawsuit states.

The property in question, a house, is located at 347 W. Hansberry Street in Philadelphia. Guests could stay in one of several individual rooms in the home and share common areas such as a bathroom.

Algheraibi “was not staying in the property through Airbnb, but instead was staying through an arrangement with the property manager, Gardith Edouard, a longtime Airbnb ‘host,’” the lawsuit states.

The killer, Rodgers, was staying in the property through an Airbnb booking on the third floor, while Algheraibi’s room was on the first floor.

Harvey said Algheraibi was in the US to get a degree in computer engineering from Chestnut Hill College, and was finishing his studies when he was murdered by Rodgers.

“Alwaleed was engaged to be married, and was looking forward to returning home to be with his fiance and his family. His family was expecting Alwaleed to come home in the coming months, but instead never saw him alive again.

“They suffer deep, even indescribable, anguish at the loss of their son in such a brutal, senseless, and avoidable, killing,” Harvey said.

“The evidence suggests that the killer lured Alwaleed to her third floor of the house on the pretense that she needed his help moving something out of her room. It’s a tragic irony that this young man died because he had the kindness to lend a hand to a stranger.”

Rodgers was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison for the murder.

Airbnb did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Airbnb is one of the world’s largest property renters, with more than 8 million active listings worldwide, according to its website.

HONG KONG: China signed a convention on Friday setting up a global mediation body in Hong Kong, which aims to be comparable to organizations such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Beijing has taken a more proactive approach in international affairs in recent years, expanding its influence in global bodies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization — especially as the United States has taken the opposite direction under President Donald Trump.
The move is also being seen as an attempt to shore up Hong Kong’s reputation as a leading place to conduct business, after Beijing’s imposition of a wide-ranging national security law in 2020 shook confidence in the impartiality of the city’s legal system.
Initiated by Beijing, the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation Convention (IOMed) was co-signed by 31 other “like-minded” countries ranging from Serbia and Pakistan to Papua New Guinea and Venezuela.
“The birth of IOMed will help transcend the zero-sum mentality of ‘win or lose’, promote the amicable resolution of international disputes, and build more harmonious international relations,” said China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, who presided over the signing.
Hong Kong’s government said IOMed will be the first intergovernmental body dedicated to mediation, while Wang said it would “fill a gap in the field.”
Mediation is when a neutral third party intervenes into a dispute to help two sides negotiate a jointly acceptable resolution to a conflict, as opposed to, for example, political bargaining or litigation.
The body will mediate disputes between countries, between countries and individuals from another country, and between private international entities.
IOMed “is on a par with” the United Nations’ ICJ and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, said the Hong Kong government.
One of the latter’s more well-known rulings was in favor of the Philippines against China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing refused to take part in the proceedings and has ignored the judgment.
Paul Lam, Hong Kong’s secretary for justice, wrote in an article that IOMed’s establishment came as “hostile external forces are attempting to de-internationalize and de-functionalize” Hong Kong.
IOMed will start operating by the end of this year or early 2026.