Contents: Russia dramatically escalates Syria war launching cruise missiles from Caspian Sea; Russian Orthodox Church declares a ‘Holy War’ in Syria; Russia’s ‘Holy War’ in Syria declaration sparks calls for jihad; IMF warns of significant danger of global financial crash
Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, who threw the country into civil war this year after a coup attempt against exiled president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, have written a letter to the United Nations accepting a seven-point peace plan led by Oman.
Contents: Yemen’s Houthis sign letter agreeing to peace plan; Generational frustration grows among West Bank Palestinians; Russia Ministry of Defense videos found to be deceptive; The sleazy world of loan sharking — legally
A sizable group of Saudi clerics has called for jihad against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, and by extension, Assad’s military allies Russia and Iran. The Islamist clerics praised the rebels Russia is currently bombing as “holy warriors of Syria” who are “defending the whole Islamic nation.”
Saudi Arabian cash reserves are in free-fall due to China’s economic crash driving oil prices down to an average of $45 a barrel and the Kingdom becoming the world’s third largest military spender.
The Saudi government allegedly beheaded the 28 people found responsible for the deadly stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in September.
The death toll from the tragedy that killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Hajj pilgrims last week outside of Mecca continues to rise this week, as official estimates from Islamic countries show that the real number of those who passed in the stampede is likely much larger than the 769 previously announced by Saudi Arabian authorities.
Contents: Saudi Arabia appears to have stalled in the Yemen war; Saudi Arabia under international pressure to end Yemen airstrikes
Turkey was surprisingly quiet during the first day of Russian bombing in Syria, but they were certain to denounce the action, because they have long criticized the regime of dictator Bashar Assad and have insisted his removal was crucial to resolving the Syrian crisis. The Turks are not terribly fond of the Russians either.
Yemen’s internationally recognized president accused Iran of wanting to destroy his country.
State press agencies in both Iran and Saudi Arabia have alleged new conspiracies about who is to blame for the Hajj stampede that killed hundreds of Muslim pilgrims last week.
Iran on Thursday nearly doubled its death toll from the hajj stampede to 464, giving up hope of finding missing pilgrims alive after a tragedy that has sparked a major row with Saudi Arabia. After Iran threatened a “fierce” response
DUBAI, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, a leading foe of President Bashar al-Assad, demanded his ally Russia end its raids on Syria, saying the strikes had caused civilian casualties while failing to target the hardline Islamic State militants Moscow
In his remarks before the U.N. General Assembly, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a large increase in aid money for Middle Eastern refugees, but notably declined to allow migrants to resettle in Japan.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go, siding with President Obama and opposing the official stance of Russia and Iran.
Ali Mohammed al-Nimir will be beheaded and crucified in Saudi Arabia soon, but he had to comfort his parents when they told him about his sentence.
Leaked diplomatic cables show Britain and Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s worst human rights violators, brokered a secret vote-trading deal to ensure both countries were elected to the the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UNHRC). Saudi foreign ministry files were passed
Contents: New York’s Obamacare Co-op collapses, the fourth so far this year; Copper’s crashing prices cause devastating economic ripples around the world; China’s ‘climate change’ promise may already be in trouble
Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei continues to call for Saudi Arabia to apologize for the deaths of over 750 people killed last week in a stampede during the Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Monday afternoon, discussing matters such as the Hajj pilgrimage disaster and the Iran nuclear deal.
The Russian government has announced that it will participate in “peace talks” with the Syrian government and a coalition of the “most influential outside players” in the Syrian Civil War, bringing America, Iran, and Saudi Arabia to the table.
Beverly Hills businesses are rolling out the red carpet for visiting Arab royals, despite concern over two recent incidents involving Saudi and Qatari royalty.
Contents: Death toll from Hajj stampede rises to 769, triggers fatalistic explanations; Iran rejects Fatalism, blames Saudi officials for ‘crime’; Muslims debate the role of the ‘Will of Allah’ in human life; Theological contradictions in omnipotence and omniscience vs free will
Iran on Saturday vowed to take international legal action against Saudi Arabia’s rulers over the crush of Muslim pilgrims at this year’s hajj
A stampede in Mecca on the last day of the hajj pilgrimage took the lives of over 100 Iranian citizens, as the total death toll from the incident has surged to over 700 people, and the leaders of the regime in Tehran are furious with Saudi officials for their alleged negligence.
Authorities in Beverly Hills arrested Saudi prince Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud on Wednesday after he allegedly tried to force a house worker to perform sex acts on him.
Ambassador Charles (Chas) W. Freeman, the former career US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, (US Foreign Service Retired), has outlined the Saudi Arabia position on the Oil Price Collapse. Ambassador Freeman served as President George H.W. Bush’s representative to Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992.
Dozens of people were killed outside of Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday when an Islamic State terrorist snuck into a Shiite mosque dressed in ultra-conservative Islamic women’s garb and carried out a suicide bombing.
(Reuters) – At least 717 pilgrims were killed on Thursday in a stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi authorities said, the worst disaster to strike the annual haj pilgrimage in 25 years. At least 805 others were
In Saudi Arabia, at least two million Muslims swarmed the Kaaba in the middle of Mecca’s Grand Mosque to begin their annual hajj pilgrimage.
(Reuters) The United States said on Tuesday it had transferred Abdul Shalabi, a longtime hunger striker at the Guantanamo Bay prison and described as a bodyguard for former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, to his home country of Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi Arabian government official has been secretly appointed to run a U.N. human rights advisory panel.
Contents: Russia and China show interest in the Arctic’s oil and gas reserves; Russia pours military weapons and personnel into Syria
Iran is already spending the enormous cash windfall Barack Obama is giving them on a heavy investment in terrorism, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Khaled Bahah—of the internationally recognized Yemeni government that fled to Saudi Arabia after the Iran-backed Houthis seized swathes of Yemen early this year—has returned to his homeland after months of exile.
Misfortune struck in Mecca during the annual Islamic pilgrimage again on Thursday, but this time there were no fatalities reported, and only two injuries. A hotel in the Saudi city caught fire, requiring the evacuation of over 1,000 people.
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr faces death by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia after a court dismissed his final appeal. Human rights groups are condemning the punishment, especially since he was only 17 when authorities arrested him in 2012 on charges of participating “in illegal protests and of firearm offenses.”
The oil-rich Gulf states are growing sensitive to the criticism that they aren’t taking in any Syrian refugees, and they’re responding by telling the Western world to accept more of them.
Majed Hassan Ashoor, First Secretary at the Saudi Arabia Embassy in India, escaped into the night only days after he was accused of using two Nepali maids as sex slaves. Activists descended upon the embassy when the news broke.
The Saudi Binladin Group is a huge company that has, until now, been the Saudi government’s “favorite contractor for important or sensitive work, including defense and security projects,” as Reuters puts it.
