Archive: saudi arabia
25th October 2010
Saudi Arabia's supreme court has confirmed the death sentence on Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan maid who was convicted of murdering a four-month-old child, Arab News reports.
Ms Nafeek was 17 at the time of the child's death and, as Amnesty International points out, Saudi Arabia is a state party to… Read more
20th October 2010
I have been looking around Saudi news websites for some mention of the court case in London yesterday where His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud was convicted of murderinghis "manservant", but I can't see anything in Arab News, the Saudi Gazette or al-Arabiya. If it has been… Read more
17th October 2010
The Yemeni authorities say they have arrested Saleh al-Raimi, who was wanted for financing al-Qaeda activities in Yemen. Raimi, a 33-year-old Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia, was captured at Sana'a airport on Friday when he arrived from the kingdom,according to the interior ministry.
Meanwhile, the… Read more
12th October 2010
A charity in the Saudi city of Jeddah is tackling the problem of child beggars ... by having them deported.
The Al-Bir Welfare Society, which runs the kingdom's first welfare centre for child beggars, has organised the deportation of 6,000 children during its first seven years of operation, Arab… Read more
10th October 2010
Last August, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decreethat restricted the issuing of fatwas to government-approved religious scholars. An announcement at the time said this was intended to put a stop to fatwas on "strange" or "obsolete" topics.
Since then, a satellite channel and… Read more
9th October 2010
Amid continuing debate about under-age marriage in Saudi Arabia, Arab News reports the story of a marriage official (mazoun) with a 12-year-old wife:
"When my mother insisted I consummate my marriage, I had to summon up the courage for two weeks before I was able to have sex with her," he said.… Read more
5th October 2010
A report from Human Rights Watch last week noted some modest but positive developments in Saudi Arabia during the five years of rule by King Abdullah.
"Today, Saudis are freer than they were five years ago," it said. "Saudi women are less subject to rigid sex segregation in public places,… Read more
3rd October 2010
There are many in Saudi Arabia who still hanker after the days when the government could control almost everything that people said or heard.
Last month came the announcement that bloggers would have to register with the authorities – which in the face of uproar from the blogosphere was … Read more
7th September 2010
Following the king's edict last month, Saudi Arabia is continuing its campaign against fatwas from unauthorised clerics. Asharq Alawsat reports that the kingdom's telecom regulator has shut down three websites for violating the royal decree:
Saad al-Shihri, an official at the Saudi Communications… Read more
2nd September 2010
It's good to see the endemic ill-treatment of domestic workers in the Middle East finally getting some attention from the mainstream international media. Under the headline "Little better than slavery", this week's Economist says:
Huge numbers of migrant domestic workers, mostly from Asia and… 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
