Saudi Arabia

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Blogger to Be Lashed 50 Times in Round 2&mdash;of 20
Blogger's Wounds Delay
2nd Round of 50 Lashes
UPDATED
Jan 16, 2015 7:56 AM CST

Blogger's Wounds Delay 2nd Round of 50 Lashes

Raif Badawi sentenced to 1K in all, on top of 10 years in prison

(Newser) - A Saudi Arabian blogger and rights activist was set to receive his second set of 50 lashes today, but the flogging has been delayed. Raif Badawi, whose crime was creating a blog perceived as a slight to Islam, got his first 50 lashes last Friday, and Saudi Arabia planned to...

Saudis Building Anti-ISIS 'Great Wall'

600-mile barrier on Iraq border designed to keep militants out, Mecca safe

(Newser) - If ISIS wants to infiltrate Mecca and Medina (Muhammad's burial location), it may have to find another way in other than crossing the Iraqi border. Since September, Saudi Arabia has quietly been erecting a 600-mile east-west barrier between itself and its northern neighbor, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The...

Saudi Cleric: Snowmen Are Sinful

He forbids 'un-Islamic' fun after rare snowfall

(Newser) - After a fierce winter storm blanketed much of the Middle East—including northern Saudi Arabia—with snow last week, a prominent Saudi cleric issued a ruling banning people from making snowmen, calling them un-Islamic. Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid said "it is not permitted to make a statue out of...

Why Oil Prices Keep Hitting New Lows

US oil prices briefly dipped under $50 a barrel today

(Newser) - Wonder whether gas prices will hold at their incredible $2.20 national average? Based on today's news, filling up the tank won't get harder over the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. US oil prices dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly...

Politicians to Oppose 9/11 'Coverup'

Former Sen. Bob Graham leads charge to release 28 redacted pages

(Newser) - A group seeking to declassify data on 9/11 will speak out this week and highlight the possible involvement of Saudi officials in the terror attack, the New York Post reports. Leading the charge is Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator who co-chaired the panel that released the redacted congressional 9/11...

Saudis Send Women Drivers to Terror Court

Defendants spoke out online against driving ban

(Newser) - Two Saudi women detained for nearly a month for defying a ban on women driving were referred yesterday to a court established to try terrorism cases, several people close to the defendants say. The cases of Loujain al-Hathloul, 25, and Maysa al-Amoudi, 33, were sent to the anti-terrorism court in...

Saudi Oil Chief: Cheap Oil Isn't a Conspiracy

As neighbors worry Saudis are depressing prices

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's oil chief today dismissed allegations that his kingdom conspired to bring down oil prices in order to harm other countries and told a summit of Arab energy leaders that he was confident the market would stabilize. The kingdom, which is dependent on oil revenues, is able to...

Saudi Gunman Kills One American, Wounds Another

Motive appears to be workplace dispute at military contractor, not terrorism

(Newser) - A gunman in the capital of Saudi Arabia today killed one American and wounded another after opening fire at a gas station, reports the Guardian . The unidentified victims worked for a US defense contractor called Vinnell Arabia, and the shooting initially set off fears that it was a terror strike...

US Pounds ISIS Targets in Syria

Airstrikes aimed at degrading group's capabilities

(Newser) - The US and five Arab countries launched airstrikes late Monday on ISIS targets in Syria, the Pentagon says. Using a mix of manned aircraft—fighter jets and bombers—plus Tomahawk cruise missiles, the strikes were part of the expanded military campaign that President Obama authorized nearly two weeks ago in...

Saudi Fined for Driving Herself to Hospital

She says she won't sign pledge to never drive again

(Newser) - A Saudi woman who suffered a medical emergency when there was no man around is in trouble for driving herself to the hospital. Aliyah Al Farid, a member of the National Society for Human Rights, was pulled over by the country's religious police when she was behind the wheel...

Saudi Arabia 'Full Partner' in Fight Against ISIS

Kingdom to arm, train militant group's foes

(Newser) - Islamic state versus Islamic State: Saudi Arabia has agreed to help step up the fight against ISIS and will host a training camp for moderate Syrian rebels fighting the extremists as well as the Syrian regime, reports the New York Times . A senior Obama administration official says details are still...

Saudi Cops Beat Expat Who Went to Woman Cashier

He tried to pay at women-only desk

(Newser) - Going to the wrong cashier in Saudi Arabia can be a painful mistake. Video has surfaced of a British expatriate being beaten by religious police after mistakenly trying to pay at a women-only supermarket cash desk accompanied by his Saudi wife. Only women are allowed to pay female cashiers in...

Doctors Find Extra Tooth in Guy's Nose

Saudi man's extra tooth was giving him nosebleeds, report says

(Newser) - Doctors had strange news for a 22-year-old Saudi man who came in complaining of a nosebleed or two every month: He had a half-inch mass of bone in his nose, LiveScience reports. After consulting with dentists, the doctors decided he had a tooth in his nasal cavity and extracted it...

Unveiled Anchorwoman Riles Saudi Conservatives

Saudi TV spokesman says such a 'transgression' will not happen again

(Newser) - An unidentified journalist recently broke from Saudi tradition when she read the news on a Saudi TV channel called Al Ekhbariya without covering her face with a hijab, leading some conservative viewers to take to social media to condemn the station for the "transgression." Saudi radio and TV...

Saudi Men Need Permission to Marry Foreigners

Government cracks down, even for foreign women already in the country

(Newser) - Saudi men now need government consent to take foreign brides—and if their true love happens to be an expatriate from Myanmar, Chad, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, they're out of luck completely, reports Makkah Daily via the Al Arabiya Network . Police have informed Saudi men that they're banned from...

Ebola Killed 45 in 3 Days; Toll Nears 1K

Virus has now claimed 932, with 1.7K cases: WHO

(Newser) - The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 932, the World Health Organization says. Most of the new deaths are coming from Liberia and Sierra Leone. The outbreak emerged in March in Guinea and shows no sign of slowing down. Among the latest news:
  • Nigeria
...

Why Arab Leaders Are Silent on Gaza

They fear Hamas more than Israel, 'NYT' reports

(Newser) - As Palestinian bodies pile up in Gaza, where is the outrage from Arab leaders? Unlike during previous Israeli offensives, countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan have failed to condemn Israel and push for an end to the fighting, and fear of the political Islam that Hamas represents appears to...

Saudi Cop Rests Shoe on Holy Site, Sets Off Furor

Governor of Mecca orders investigation

(Newser) - A Saudi police officer is the scourge of many in the Arab world today after a photo of him resting his shoe against a holy site went viral, reports Gulf News . The officer was snapped leaning against the Kaaba, which the BBC describes as "a square building at the...

Saudi Blogger Gets 10 Years, 1K Lashes

Judge decides liberal Saudi's first sentence was too liberal

(Newser) - Founding an Internet forum to debate the role of religion in Saudi Arabian society has earned a blogger a decade in prison and 1,000 lashes. Raif Badawi, who was found guilty of cybercrime and "disobeying his father"—but not apostasy, which carries a death sentence —was...

Middle East Sees Spike in Cases of Lethal Virus

92 have died since 2012

(Newser) - A respiratory virus identified in 2012 has since claimed 92 lives—and recent days have seen cases soar. Last week, Saudi Arabia reported 15 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome within four days; this weekend, the United Arab Emirates announced that paramedics were the victims in six additional cases....

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