Archive: saudi arabia
22nd October 2018
Last November Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, travelled to Riyadh for an interview with the heir to the Saudi throne – an interview that has since proved memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Under a headline announcing "Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last", Friedman wrote that "the… Read more
7th August 2018
Saudi Arabia launched an extraordinary campaign against Canada yesterday. Besides expelling the Canadian ambassador, it announced a trade freeze and a suspension of flights to Toronto and said thousands of Saudis currently studying in Canada will be transferred to other countries.
In a more… Read more
3rd August 2018
Saudi Arabia blamed rebels for two reported airstrikes on the Yemeni city of Hodeidah yesterday. More than 20 people died when the strikes hit a fish market and the entrance to a hospital, according to witnesses and medical staff.
Colonel Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition that… Read more
12th July 2018
In a move that appears to license war crimes, the Saudi king has issued a pardon for "all military men" involved in the Yemen conflict.
An announcement by the government news agency on Tuesday said the pardon would apply to "military and disciplinary penalties, in regard of some rules and… Read more
13th June 2018
In Yemen, the long-expected military assault on the port city of Hodeidah began this morning. Hodeida is currently held by the Houthis who control much of northern Yemen. According to local reports it is being attacked from the south by the Amaliqa ("Giants") Brigades – a surviving section of… Read more
23rd May 2018
News from Saudi Arabia about the arrests of ten or more rights activists has been viewed with a mixture of shock and surprise in western media. Just a few years ago, though, no one would have been surprised: it was simply the way the Saudi regime behaved.
But that was before Mohammed bin Salman… Read more
26th March 2018
The Centre for War and Peace Studies was established in Rome last May "to support experts, academics, researchers, diplomats, governments, and civil society activists in their attempts to help countries in conflict, crisis and transition around the world".
It sounded like a worthy if over-… Read more
7th March 2018
The roadside signs show a bearded man in Arab head-dress with the words "He is bringing change to Saudi Arabia". Passing drivers, unless they are followers of Middle Eastern politics, may wonder who "he" is, but that doesn't really matter. The adverts seem to have been strategically placed so as… Read more
2nd March 2018
Donald Trump and Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious "professor" in the Trump-Russia affair, have almost certainly never met but one day last year their paths crossed in the unlikeliest of places: Saudi Arabia.
On 21 May the American president was in Riyadh for a summit attended by leaders of more than… Read more
2nd February 2018
Russia has so far kept a low profile in the Yemen conflict – in contrast to its role in Syria – but that is now changing. Over the last few months it has been stepping up political and diplomatic contacts and advertising itself as a potential mediator.
Given Russia's position in Syria, allied with… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
