Saudi arabia News

Op-Ed: Obama's sickening Saudi homage is object lesson in U.S. hypocrisy

Riyadh - By paying effusive homage to the late Saudi King Abdullah and by honoring the kingdom's new fundamentalist dictator with his presence, President Barack Obama has given the world an object lesson in American hypocrisy.

Op-Ed: Activists wonder if four confined women are still alive

Riyadh - While President Obama travels to Saudi Arabia to mourn the passing of a King Abdullah, four of the king's imprisoned daughters have disappeared off social media, and activists are concerned the women have passed on.

Op-Ed: Saudis and Iran ride rocky road to improved relations

Iran and Saudi Arabia are competitors for influence in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia also represents Sunni influence in the area while Iran is a prime supporter of Shia groups.

Jailed Saudi blogger's wife pleads for international pressure

The wife of Saudi blogger, Raif Badawi, who has convicted of “insulting Islam” called on world leaders to pressure the Saudi government into releasing him in the wake of the government postponing his second set of 50 lashes due to medical reasons.

Op-Ed: Saudi's market share challenged by U.S. shale producers

Vienna - The last two days of this week after OPEC decided not to cut current production levels, oil prices plunged by 10 percent just within the span of the last two days of the week.

Op-Ed: New Saudi legislation classifies atheists as terrorists

Riyad - Human Rights Watch reports that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has introduced new legislation to deal with terrorism that includes as terrorists not just members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Islamic State but atheists.

Op-Ed: Islamic State — The 'wrong' kind of brutality

San Francisco - As the United States and five Arab nations — none of them democracies, most of them repressive dictatorships — begin bombing Islamic State targets in Syria, President Barack Obama has begun boasting on the "broad coalition" he's enlisted in the fight.

28 pages of 9/11 report about foreign involvement still secret

Washington - In 2002 a report was issued that gave details of support for the hijackers behind the 2001 attacks. Twelve years later the pages dealing with the support still remain classified in spite of many promises to have them released.

Saudis offers to train Syrian opposition; needs Congressional OK

Washington - President Barack Obama addressed the nation from the State Floor of the White House on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Obama said the U.S. will destroy ISIL militants and ordered airstrikes in Iraq and, for the first time, in Syria.

As ISIS shocks world, beheadings spike in US ally Saudi Arabia

Denounced by the Obama administration as especially brutal for its practice of beheading prisoners and enemies, the Sunni insurgent group ISIS can make no claim to be the sole practitioner of the barbaric policy.

Four brothers beheaded for smuggling marijuana into Saudi Arabia

Riyad - Two sets of brothers were beheaded using swords in the city of Jajran in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Monday August 18th after being convicted of smuggling marijuana into the country according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.

Op-Ed: Shoring up the Persian Gulf

What the latest $11 billion armed deal between the United States and the Persian Gulf sheikhdom of Qatar implies about United States policy in the Persian Gulf region.

Two confirmed dead in Saudi government building suicide bombing

A suicide bombing inside a southern Saudi Arabian government building has left at least two confirmed dead, both of whom are believed to Al Qaeda linked militants.

Geopolitics, oil and power in the Persian Gulf: Then and Now Special

Understanding history is crucial for understanding the present. Especially whereby our understanding of the Iran situation is concerned. To understand how this situation came about it is crucial to understand the history which shaped it.

How Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(ISIS) is funded

Baghdad - The International Business Times has described ISIS as the "world's best-resourced terror organization." Some funds come from donors but they also smuggle antiquities, and sell oil, and collect taxes in areas they control.

Iraq's cabinet blames Saudi Arabia for ISIS crisis

The Iraqi cabinet has accused the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of funding the crimes that Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have committed in Iraq in the last few days.

Gulf states advise ally Egypt to invest aid in infrastructure

The United Arab Emirates is giving Egypt billions worth of aid which it says it should use to invest in its infrastructure in order to bring the economy out of the dire straits it has been in for years now.

Saudi Arabia and UAE ready to give Egypt's Sisi $20 billion aid

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are prepared to give Cairo $20 billion in aid after their ally in Cairo, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is inaugurated as the new president of Egypt.

Saudi Arabia arrests professors over Muslim Brotherhood links

Saudi Arabia has arrested nine university professors who are alleged to have connections with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in that kingdom.

Op-Ed: Kissing camels in defiance of MERS warnings: How stupid is that?

Saudi Arabia is in the middle of an MERS outbreak that has infected over 519 people to date and claimed 157 lives. So what in the world is going on with the pictures and videos being posted on the web showing people kissing and hugging their camels?

Saudi blogger sentenced to 10 years and 1,000 lashes

Jeddah - Saudi rights activist and blogger Raif Badawi has been sentenced in a Saudi court to a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes for "insulting Islam".

First U.S. case of deadly MERS virus confirmed - CDC

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is working to educate and not alarm the public amid the first confirmed case of MERS in the United States.

Op-Ed: Saudi Arabia lectures on human rights; world laughs

Riyad - At a UN meeting last week, Saudi Arabia lectured Norway on the nation’s human rights record for failing to prevent criticism of Islam. In Saudi Arabia, a blogger was sentenced to 15 years in prison and four princesses starve for women’s rights.

Saudi Princess Sahar calls for uprising against father's regime

Riyad - The daughter of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has called for an insurrection against the ruling regime. Princess Sahar and three of her sisters are currently confined in the king’s palace.

2 more in Saudi Arabia die of MERS, cousin to SARS, more fall ill

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS, has taken two more lives in Saudi Arabia. The country's health ministry also report 13 more known cases. MERS is related to the SARS, which appeared in about 37 countries a decade ago.

Qatar claims that dispute with fellow GCC alliance states is over

Qatar has claimed that the dispute it and three of its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member states were locked in is now over.

A thirst for fresh water in Saudi Arabia

Man has always assumed the water we drink, bathe in and use for our recreation is one of our unending natural resources. Where water has been available, cultures have flourished. But our global "footprint" is now affecting our critical watersheds.

GCC states reach first-step deal to end Qatar dispute

The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council has agreed upon the terms of a security pact which they hope will bring about an end with the dispute around the policies of GCC-member state Qatar.

Gulf ministers meet in order to quell Qatar dispute

Foreign Ministers of Arab states on the west side of the Persian Gulf are meeting in order to discuss the tensions between three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states with their fellow member Qatar.

Syrian rebels appear to have U.S anti-tank missiles

Syrian rebels seemed to have received at least 20 American TOW anti-tank missiles. The rebels who seem to have gotten their hands on such weaponry are said to be "moderates."