Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

Masked gunmen in Saudi Arabia killed five Shi’ite worshippers during a major religious commemoration, Saudi police said on Tuesday, in an unparalleled attack highlighting sectarian tension in the largely Sunni kingdom. According to the police, six people were detained in Eastern Province of the shooting, which happened late on Monday night as Shi’ites were preparing for their Ashura, one of …

Houthi rebels reportedly stormed the Yemeni Interior Ministry headquarters In Sana’a on Wednesday, expelling employees from their offices. According to sources, the militants arrived in cars to premises broke in many offices, including the office of Mohamed al-Sherafi, the Undersecretary for Financial Affairs. The incident came on the heels of the Yemeni government failing to meet the deadline on the …

A Saudi prison, in the city of Beraydah, has decorated the prison cell of an inmate this week in celebration of the convict’s wedding ceremony. According to prison official Saleh al-korzaii, the prison management had “used suitable decor to set the appropriate atmosphere for the event” to celebrate the 30-something inmate’s wedding. Korzaij also said that there is precedent for …

Prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and anti-government protester Nimr al-Nimr was condemned to death by a Saudi court on Wednesday on charges of sedition. He has been on trial since March 2013. According to his family, Nimr, who was one of the leaders in the protests against Sunni authorities in 2011 and Shiite protests in neighbor Bahrain, was convicted of seeking …

By Natalie Shooter – REORIENT In the midst of a nascent film industry, a handful of female filmmakers have emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, pioneering film in the region and using it as a tool to fight for change. Saudi Arabia and Yemen both present volatile environments for any director; in the former, cinemas are illegal, and in both, authorisation …

Syrian media on Tuesday accused Arab governments of giving the United States prior consent for military action against extremists. The remarks come ahead of discussions between US Secretary of State John Kerry and US allies in the region to be held on Thursday – they will likely talk about joint action to cope with the threat posed by the Islamic …

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for condemning the alleged abduction of three Israeli teenagers, but slammed the unity pact between Fatah and the Hamas. The three teens had disappeared from a popular hitchhiking spot in West Bank on June 12th, and Israel has rounded up several hundreds of Palestinians as a part of …

Iraq on Wednesday asked the United States to direct air strikes at Sunni extremists who are now in control of important cities and large portions of the country, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. Speaking in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zebari urged the Kingdom, which in the past has openly criticized the “sectarian” policies targeting Arab Sunnis of the …

On Thursday, New-York based Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia to release two citizens held in the kingdom without trial for two years for their religious beliefs. 33-year-old Sultan al-Anzi and 35-year-old Saud al-Anzi had converted to the Ahmadiyya Muslim religious group, an offshoot if Islam which is banned in the uber-conservative Sunni kingdom. The two were arrested and jailed …

The World Economic Forum has released its latest report, The Global Competitiveness Index, an annual report which ranks countries according to how well they are able use resources available to them in an effective and productive way.. The Global Competitiveness Index also measures how the institutions, policies, and factors in a country affect economic prosperity in current and medium-term levels. …