Saudi Arabia

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Coming to Saudi Arabia: Women-Only City

Expected to open up more job opportunities for females

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is ready to provide more work opportunities for women, thus allowing them more financial independence—but it's not about to give up its rules about gender segregation, meaning that the job opportunities are coming in the form of a women-only industrial city. Saudi Arabia plans to build...

Saudi Woman Makes History in 82 Seconds

Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani exits with head held high

(Newser) - There was never any chance that Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani was going to win her judo match at the Olympics. In a competition of all black belts, Shahrkhani has only achieved blue. But the crowd gave her a roaring ovation anyway after Melissa Mojica of Puerto Rico dispatched her...

Embargo Bleeds Iran of $133M a Day

As Obama takes that political capital to the bank

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's country is missing out on some $133 million a day as much of the globe shuns its oil, and Barack Obama is making bank on it. As Bloomberg reports, the US-led embargo on Tehran's oil has proven devastatingly effective since it began July 1, dropping the...

Saudi Will Wear Hijab in Olympic Competition
Saudi Will Wear Hijab
in Judo Competition
Olympics

Saudi Will Wear Hijab in Judo Competition

Olympics gives go-ahead after judo teen's dad insists

(Newser) - Saudi officials have won the go-ahead from the International Olympic Committee for a female athlete to wear a hijab in the judo competition. Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani, 16, had signed an agreement with Saudi officials that she would only compete if she could wear "correct and approved" clothing...

Saudi Woman May Withdraw From Games Over Hijab Ban
Saudi Woman May Withdraw From Games Over Hijab Ban
olympics

Saudi Woman May Withdraw From Games Over Hijab Ban

Shaherkani will withdraw from judo match if not allowed to wear headscarf

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia made history by sending two female athletes to the Olympics this year—but that number could drop to one if a judoka is not allowed to wear a hijab during her judo bouts. The International Judo Federation president said last week that Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani will...

Saudi Woman Competing at Olympics Without Hijab

Decision will likely be controversial

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is sending women to the Olympics for the first time—and at least one of them, a judo competitor, won’t be wearing a traditional Islamic headscarf while competing. Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani "will fight according to the principle and spirit of judo, so without a...

Saudis Add Females in Big Olympics for Women

It's sending 2 female athletes to London Games

(Newser) - London 2012 is shaping up to be the year of the woman. Three big Olympic firsts are set to happen when the Games kick off in a few weeks:
  • Saudi Arabia will indeed send female athletes to the Olympics, announced the IOC today, putting an end to its males-only history.
...

If Iran Shuts Strait of Hormuz, Saudis Have Plan B

It reopens old pipeline that cuts across country

(Newser) - Iran is making noises about shutting the crucial Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for sanctions, and Saudi Arabia is getting ready just in case. If it can't ship its crude through the Gulf, it plans to use an old pipeline that cuts across the country to the Red Sea,...

Cops: Mumbai Planner Had New Attack in the Works

Abu Jindal was arrested in India this week

(Newser) - Police in India say the arrest of the man suspected of being the brains between the 2008 Mumbai attacks may have have prevented another attack of even greater scope. Abu Jindal, aka Sayed Zabiuddin, had been recruiting participants for two years while living in Saudi Arabia, authorities tell Reuters . Jindal...

India Captures Mumbai Planner

Abu Jindal was allegedly the gunmen's 'handler'

(Newser) - Indian police say they've arrested one of the masterminds behind 2008's dramatic Mumbai terrorist attack. Delhi police tell the BBC that Abu Jindal, aka Sayed Zabiuddin, was the "handler" of the 10 gunmen, and that his voice can be heard on recordings of conversations between the gunmen...

Saudis Allowing Women to Compete in Olympics

Women will wear 'sport hijabs' covering hair, but not face

(Newser) - Whoah. Saudi Arabia has decided to allow female athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time in history. The move ends speculation that the country might have faced banishment from the London Olympics for gender discrimination. The only female competitor currently up to Olympic standards is show jumper...

Syria Shoots Down Turkish Fighter Jet

Downed plane further frays poor Syria-Turkey relations

(Newser) - Syria confirmed this morning that it did shoot down a Turkish F-4 fighter jet yesterday, saying it was flying low and well inside Syrian airspace, reports the BBC . Turkey has not said yet whether it considers the incident provocative, and much could depend on whether the plane's crew survived....

Saudi Arabia Names Salman New Crown Prince

He will become deputy prime minister

(Newser) - As expected , Saudi Arabia today named Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz the new crown prince following the death of Crown Prince Nayef, who was buried yesterday. Salman, now next in line to the throne, will remain defense minister and will also become deputy prime minister. Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz will...

Saudi Crown Prince Dead
 Saudi Crown Prince Dead 

Saudi Crown Prince Dead

Nation's succession plan shaken up again

(Newser) - The Saudi royal family says Crown Prince Nayef has died in a US hospital. The statement from King Abdullah says the prince died today and will be buried tomorrow after prayers in Mecca, but it gave no more details. Nayef, in his 70s, was the hard-line interior minister who spearheaded...

Saudi King Fires Adviser After Remarks on Women

They're getting too much freedom, he said

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has dismissed an ultraconservative adviser after he publicly criticized reforms aimed at easing restrictions on women. Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obeikan had told a local radio station that officials were working to Westernize and secularize the country's laws by "legalizing taboos." The "situation...

Bomb-Plot Busting Double-Agent Is British

CIA not happy about this leak

(Newser) - Another tantalizing—and potentially damaging—tidbit has leaked about the double-agent who foiled an al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula underwear bomb plot. The agent is of Saudi descent but lived for years in Britain, where he spent some time with jihadist sympathizers and acquired a British passport, sources tell CNN...

Pakistan Boots Out bin Ladens
 Pakistan Boots Out bin Ladens 

Pakistan Boots Out bin Ladens

Plane laden with bin Ladens heads for Saudi Arabia

(Newser) - With the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden just days away, Pakistan has gotten rid of the remaining members of his family. Three widows and two adult daughters were taken from the house in Islamabad where they had served a 45-day sentence for being in the country...

Pakistan Will Boot bin Laden Widows Next Week

Pakistan to deport all of them to their home countries

(Newser) - Pakistan will deport the imprisoned members of Osama bin Laden's family next week, once they've finished serving their 45-day sentences for illegally living there, their lawyer announced today. All three of bin Laden's widows and his two daughters, aged 17 and 21, will board a plane to...

US World's No. 5 Executioner: Amnesty

Executions surge in Middle East

(Newser) - Fewer countries than ever are executing people, but those countries are doing so with gusto, according to a new report from Amnesty International. Just 20 nations still use the death penalty. The US executed 43 people last year, making it 5th globally, and the only Western democracy on the list,...

3 Nations to Send First Female Athletes to Olympics

Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Qatar expected to have women compete in London

(Newser) - This summer's Olympics in London may be the first in which every nation will send at least one female athlete, reports the New York Times . That's because three Muslim holdouts—Saudi Arabia, Brunei, and Qatar—are expected to grudgingly make the concession. Don't expect full teams: Saudi...

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