Death of Saudi’s King Abdullah raises concerns about policy changes; Saudi Arabia trapped in a corner over Syria policy; More on the political realignment of the Mideast following the Gaza war
Salman bin Abdulaziz (estimated age of 79), became King of Saudi Arabia on Friday. He succeeds his half-brother, King Abdullah, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 91. As the new King, the former Crown Prince was chosen by Abdullah out of a potential pool of an estimated 4,000 Saudi Princes who were eligible to replaced the deceased King.
Yemen government resigns, creating power vacuum for AQAP to fill; Southern Yemen leaders call for secession from North Yemen; Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah dies
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has died aged 90 after suffering with pneumonia for the last few weeks. The king ruled Saudi Arabia since 2005 and has been credited with bringing in moderate reforms to the conservative Muslim country. He
The resignation of United States-backed Yemen President Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was deemed a strategic “win for Iran” and al-Qaeda, according to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) in an interview on CNN Thursday. The war-torn nation’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah also resigned.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram terrorists spread into Cameroon; Major escalation in fighting in Yemen; Israel on alert after Iran confirms its general was killed by Israel
The continuing flare-ups on Saudi Arabia’s northern border with Iraq has led some to believe that the Islamic State is set on an eventual push towards the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia officials arrested the man who filmed the brutal video of a woman beheaded in public in Mecca. The swordsman murdered Myanmur woman Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim as she screamed her innocence.
A Saudi Arabia-funded institute for interreligious dialogue in Vienna has ignited controversy among politicians and citizen groups alike. Austrian politicians have publicly asked how Saudi Arabia can have a dialogue center in Vienna and simultaneously persecute free speech activists in their own country.
Saudi Arabian authorities publicly beheaded a woman in the holy city of Mecca after a court convicted her of sexually abusing and murdering her stepdaughter. The kingdom has executed nine people only two weeks into the new year.
The flogging of liberal blogger Raif Badawi has been postponed on medical grounds, according to latest reports. He had been due to receive the second instalment of 50 lashings in front of a mosque in Jeddeh this afternoon. His punishment,
Saudi Arabia postponed a second round of 50 lashes for blogger and activist Raif Badawi Friday, according to his family.
A Saudi religious authority, Mohamed Saleh Al Minjed, issued a fatwa (religious edict) that making snowmen or snow animals is not compliant with the teachings of Islam. Supporters of the fatwa said that even if the snow creations are created out of good fun, they must be rejected, because it is what people in corrupted Western cultures do. Al Minjed said only figures without a “soul,” such as structures, food, or vehicles, can be recreated with snow.
For sheer brutality, it pales in comparison to the massacre of journalists and cartoonists Wednesday at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, but Saudi Arabia’s flogging of a liberal blogger Friday further shows how rooted the concept of violence is in response to any insult of Islam.
Russia is on a long-term holiday that started two weeks ago and ends on Monday, January 12. At that time, the banks and the stock exchange will reopen, and it’s feared that both the ruble and the Moscow stock exchange will fall sharply.
Saudi ground forces supported by air power launched a “major security operation” against Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, IS) jihadists inside Saudi Arabia, according to a member of the Iraqi Parliament.
The mayor of a town in Nottinghamshire has been told to resign after he spent most of the past six months working in Saudi Arabia. The Liberal Democrat Mayor of Stapleford, Kevin Thomas, has attended only 15 events since he
Turkish imam Ahmet Muhsin Tüzer has found an innovative way to reach out to the believers in his and other congregations: forming a rock band, FiRock, to sing the praises of Allah. While Tüzer has played gigs all over the world, one Muslim country has denied him entry– Saudi Arabia, which he calls especially “painful” because of Saudi Arabia’s official status as a Muslim state.
The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has reportedly budgeted $2 billion dollars for its upcoming 2015 jihad, according to Arabic media. Additionally, the budget expects to collect a $250 million dollar surplus throughout the year.
Reports have surfaced that Saudia, Saudi Arabia’s national airlines, will begin segregating men and women on flights after male passengers complained of having other males sitting next to their female relatives. Saudi officials have since denied the report, however.
(Reuters) – Falling world oil prices will hurt countries across the Middle East unless Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, takes action to reverse the slump, Iran’s deputy foreign minister told Reuters.
No one can seriously doubt that the world has become a much more dangerous place in 2014, and so now is a good time to review the most three most important dangers to watch out for in 2015
Two women from the United Arab Emirates are on trial after falling foul of the repressive rules which women in Saudi Arabia are governed by. Lujain al-Hathlool, 25, and Maysa al-Amoudi, 33, have been detained for nearly a month after
Saudi Arabia Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh announced there is “nothing wrong” with girls under the age of 15 getting married
Despite tumbling oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has insisted the country will not slash production in order to keep prices up. Brent crude oil – whose per barrel price is used as a world bench mark – dropped by another
Sheikh Ahmad al-Ghamidi caused quite a stir in Saudi Arabia, a nation with a history of oppressing women, when he declared on television that Islam does not mandate that women wear the niqab, or veil, and suggested females should use beauty products. He
