Christof Heyns, the United Nations Special Raporteur of Extrajudicial Summary and Arbitrary Executions, recently spoke out against the rise in executions in Saudi Arabia. “It is certainly very disturbing that there is such a fast pace of executions at the moment,” Heyns told AFP. “If it continues at this pace we will have double the number of executions, or more than double the number of executions, that we had last year.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the nation had already begun sending “humanitarian aid” relief packages to refugees fleeing the war-torn nation of Yemen, and that it was preparing to continue sending food and medicine to the region. It marks the first Turkish presence in a war in which Iran and Saudi Arabia are both backing opposite sides of a civil war.
Contents: ISIS stokes sectarian Sunni-Shia clashes across the Mideast and Asia; Iraq’s government changes name of military operation to recapture Ramadi; Sunni Arabs are being forced to choose between ISIS and Shias
Reuters reports that Sunni militia units have driven Iran-backed Shiite Houthi insurgents from the southern Yemeni city of Dalea, dealing the Houthis their “first significant setback” in two months of hot civil war.
CNN reports that Houthi insurgents in Yemen claim to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet near the capital city of Sanaa. The Saudis have refused to comment on the report, while the Yemeni government has flatly denied it.
After a year in which the oil price plummeted and the industry adjusted to a period of global oversupply, an analyst has claimed that the world is running short of oil.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set up camps in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, to care for the thousands of Yemenis fleeing the civil war. The agency needs more help, but now Iranian state media claim Djibouti turned away humanitarian aid.
ISIS jihadis are complaining in online forums that the best suicide missions in Iraq and Syria are being handed to those with the right “connections” through their Saudi Arabian friends and families. The Express reports that preacher Kamil Abu Sultan
Contents: ISIS claims responsibility for major terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia; As ISIS grows, Saudis face conflict between stability and reforms
The endless sectarian bloodshed between militant Islamists continues, with a deadly suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia that killed over a dozen people. According to the BBC, the Sunni fanatics of the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the attack, with a Twitter message that included an image of the bomber.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gave a genial interview to Der Spiegel this week, with the German magazine describing him as “relaxed and cheerful” throughout. In his relaxed and cheerful way, Zarif continued Iran’s practice of making the Obama administration look foolish, rewriting the so-called “nuclear deal” on the fly and scoffing at the administration’s talking points.
Contents: Iranian, American, Saudi military head for confrontation off Yemen; In repeat of Mosul disaster, Iraqi army abandoned US weapons in Ramadi; Report: Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons from Pakistan
A showdown at sea between the U.S. and Iran is brewing off the coast of Yemen.
Fighter jets belonging to a Saudi-led coalition launched strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen on Tuesday, just one day after a five-day truce between the two parties expired.
Saudi Arabia has advertised for eight executioners to deal with a soaring number of capital punishment charges. The advert, which appeared on a civil service jobs portal yesterday, listed the job as “executing a judgment of death”. The successful applicants
On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service listed on its website eight new job openings for the position of executioner. The job responsibilities will likely include beheadings and amputations–two of the most prominent punishments for violations, including drug smuggling, arms dealing, murder, and rape.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies were reportedly targeted by Saudi-led airstrikes after a five-day humanitarian cease-fire expired on Sunday night.
After becoming increasingly fearful of a nuclear-armed Iran, reports have stated that Saudi Arabia intends on purchasing nuclear weapons from Pakistan, following a week where some of the Kingdom’s high-ranking officials attended a Gulf summit organized by U.S. President Barack Obama.
In an interview with Voice of America News’ Cal Perry, former deputy CIA director Michael Morell gave a rare “intelligence guy” opinion on President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism policy and said we need to “be all in with Saudi Arabia.” He
A court denied parole to Saudi national Homaidan al-Turki, 45, after he refused to attend a sex offender course. He is currently serving an eight years-to-life sentence after a court convicted him of keeping his maid as a sex slave.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Charging toward an Iran nuclear agreement, President Barack Obama is assuring Arab allies that they are safe from the threat of an empowered Tehran as he seeks to shore up some of America’s most critical security partnerships.
Iran attempts to seize Singapore-flagged ship in Persian Gulf; Obama concludes bizarre meeting with GCC at Camp David; The Truman Doctrine and the Carter Doctrine
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The five-day cease-fire in Yemen, which appeared to be holding up despite some violations, has facilitated the delivery of some humanitarian assistance for the residents of the war-ravaged nation, a U.S. State Department spokesman said on Thursday.
Iran has deployed a “humanitarian aid” ship carrying 2,500 tons of unknown supplies to Yemen, setting up a situation where Tehran is attempting to openly defy a U.S. order not to dock its ships in the country’s ports.
Huffington Post Media Group Global Editorial Director and MSNBC analyst Howard Fineman stated that the Obama administration didn’t fully realize or appreciate the amount of distrust towards Iran by Gulf Arab countries like Saudi Arabia on Thursday’s broadcast of “The
