The big Gulf oil kingdoms refuse to take any Syrian refugees, even though they are much closer to the war zone than Europe, and passage to the Gulf would be far less hazardous than risking death in overcrowded boats on the Mediterranean.
Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is in self-exile in Saudi Arabia, backed out of United Nations-brokered talks this week with Iran-linked Houthi rebels, according to the leader’s office.
Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi banker who is now worth billions of dollars thanks to his success with Sharia-compliant financing, has donated $10 million to Yale University as part of a successful effort to build an Islamic Law Center at the Ivy League school.
Contents: Huge construction crane in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca Grand Mosque crashes, killing dozens; 1979 takeover of Grand Mosque led to al-Qaeda and 9/11
This week, Prime Minister David Cameron issued his much-anticipated climb-down by announcing that the UK will now be taking in as many as 20,000 refugees from Syria following weeks where our news broadcasts have predominantly followed the journey of migrants
A crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Friday, killing at least 60 people who were visiting on their annual pilgrimage. 154 are believed to have been injured.
Egypt and Qatar have deployed about 1,800 ground troops to Yemen this week, with other members of the 10-country coalition formed by Saudi Arabia in March to combat the Iran-linked Houthi rebels in Yemen expected to follow suit.
A scathing editorial in German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine has criticised Saudi Arabia and other Arab states for their inaction over the migrant crisis, and twisted priorities in Islamising Europe. In many cases, refugees and economic migrants have travelled thousands of miles
The Saudi government will not accept any migrants from Syria, but it will build 200 Saudi-run mosques in Germany to hinder any social integration of the Muslims into Germany’s liberal and low-conflict society.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Islamic State group is extending its reach in Saudi Arabia, expanding the scope of its attacks and drawing in new recruits with its radical ideology. Its determination to bring down the U.S.-allied royal family has raised concerns it could threaten the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage later this month.
Contents: Israel reopens its embassy in Cairo, Egypt after four years; Four more Arab countries join war in Yemen with ground troops
Iran-linked Houthis and their allies are willing to accept a United Nations Security Council resolution to end the brutal war in Yemen while Saudi Arabia appears unwilling to support a negotiated settlement in the near future, according to a leaked UN email.
National Geographic’s August issue, featuring a cover photo of Pope Francis in the Sistine Chapel, was “denied entry” into Saudi Arabia, according to a tweet from the Arabic edition editor-in-chief.
Qatar has deployed 1,000 soldiers into Yemen to help the Saudi-led coalition combat Iran-backed Houthi militants and those aligned with former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as part of a continuing quest to push out the opposition forces and reinstall the internationally-recognized government in Sanaa.
Contents: The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen suffers its deadliest day; In major escalation in Yemen war, Qatar is sending 1,000 troops; Britain’s RAF drones target and kill British nationals in Syria
The ongoing wars in the Levant area of the Middle East, particularly in Syria, have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands, and many have chosen to flee in desperation. However, none of these migrants from war-torn countries seem to be traveling south to the Gulf, and for good reason.
Following the viral spread of images depicting the bodies of drowned Syrians on a Turkish beach–including a three-year-old boy named Alan Kurdi–the Canadian left has sprung to attention to decry what they describe as the Conservative government’s inaction towards assisting migrants and war refugees.
As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees languish in camps or risk their lives to reach Europe, questions are being asked about why wealthy Gulf states have accepted so few. By the end of August, more than four million Syrians
Saudi Arabia is set to ink an agreement with U.S. government contractor Lockheed Martin for the defense giant to sell two warships to Riyadh.
A video of a man performing part of his pilgrimage to Mecca while riding a hoverboard has prompted a debate among Muslims regarding whether the device is permitted. At least one scholar has approved, as long as a disability prevents the man from completing the voyage on foot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man suspected in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured, a U.S. official said Wednesday. Ahmed al-Mughassil, described by the FBI in 2001 as
Saudi Arabia faces another surge in the MERS coronavirus infections as citizens ready for the Hajj pilgrimage.
Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, has a history of courting Muslim voters through flirtations with Islamic fundamentalism. This has included addressing a mosque with ties to Hamas and defending the niqab.
Osama bin Laden left behind over 1,500 cassette tapes after he fled Afghanistan in 2001. The tapes show the radical Islamist responsible for the murder of over 4,000 Americans admired non-violent Mahatma Gandhi and a Jewish singer.
LOS ANGELES, California — Over 200 Iranians convened in Downtown L.A’s Grand Park on Saturday to show their support for the Iran deal, presenting it as a peace agreement between Iran and the world. A photo shoot and “peace” rally took
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, paid a visit to Pakistan on Thursday before heading to New Delhi, India, on a string of trips to nations Iran is attempting to strengthen ties with following the successful completion of the nuclear accords.
With China’s economic crash driving U.S. oil prices down to $42 a barrel, Saudi Arabia is the oil-exporting nation suffering the worst economic decline.
The Russian government has failed to convince anyone to work Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), with the latest rejection coming from Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov his country will not ally themselves with Assad.
Contents: As Iran rises in the Mideast, Kurds benefit in Iraq and Syria; Saudi Arabia suffers deadliest terrorism attack in years; Puerto Rico default triggers selloff in municipal bond funds
At least 15 people, most of them members of the Saudi special forces, were killed Thursday in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque used by the force in Saudi Arabia’s Abha city, according to the country’s interior ministry.
Monsour Alshammari, a Saudi Arabian national allegedly related to royalty, pled guilty to raping a Utah woman in his apartment on Tuesday and faces deportation after serving the rest of his year-long sentence.
A United Arab Emirates military brigade has joined ground troops combating Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, in a move that senior Yemeni and American military officials believe could intensify a regional fight between Iran and Saudi-led Sunni Gulf countries, reports the New York Times (NYT).
Contents: Russia isolates itself further by vetoing MH17 investigation; US in major weapons sale to Saudis to compensate for Iran nuclear deal
Selim Suleiman al-Haram, a leader of the ISIS-affiliated militant group known as Sinai Province, was killed in a shootout, according to the Egyptian government.
According to South Korean sources for the Korea Times, Yemeni rebels have attacked Saudi Arabian targets with missiles purchased from North Korea.
Yemen’s internationally-recognized president has decreed that armed groups fighting against Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen merge with his national army units in an apparent effort to bring ground forces on his side together.
Recently thawed relations between the U.S. and Iran are pushing Saudi Arabia to turn away from their western ally and into the arms of Russia and China. The U.S.-led nuclear accords with Iran have proven to be a major catalyst for this.
Kuwaiti authorities have arrested five men who are allegedly connected to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
The Saudi King has added to his list of outlandish demands on locals as he takes a brief holiday on the French Riviera. His Royal Highness has reportedly demanded that no female police officers be stationed near the beach where he
Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces seized the strategic southern port of Aden in Yemen from Shiite Houthi rebels, unexpectedly turning the tide of Yemen’s war in favor of Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.
