NEWS ABOUT: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia stories: 144 news briefs
He's mad that media mogul reintroduced movie theaters
BBC Jun 30, 09 5:44 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
A conservative Saudi prince has exposed a rift in the royal family with an unprecedented attack on his liberal brother, the BBC reports. Prince Khaled called for the assets of Prince Whaled—owner of a huge media empire that includes a big stake in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.—to be frozen. The prince said he had been forced to speak out by his brother's spreading of un-Islamic vices, especially the recent reintroduction of movie theaters to the kingdom.
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Women push for
the right to work in
underwear shops
Associated Press Jun 24, 09 6:24 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Two dozen Saudi women are pushing change in Saudi Arabia, one underwear at a time. The graduates of the first lingerie class in the kingdom—where women can't sell such products—learned essentials such as how to measure bra sizes during the 10-day class. An Australian woman taught the course, and Victoria's Secret employees donated the bras, the AP reports.
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'Goodness gracious,' says prez of
golden top honor
Daily Telegraph (UK) Jun 4, 09 6:00 AM CDT
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President Obama was given Saudi Arabia's weightiest honor by King Abdullah yesterday, the Daily Telegraph reports. "Goodness gracious. That's something there," Obama exclaimed as he was presented with the thick gold chain and medallion of the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit. The president put the necklace aside "for safekeeping" after a few photos.
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New York Times Jun 3, 09 8:28 AM CDT
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Open arms and a full red carpet rollout greeted President Obama on his arrival in Saudi Arabia this morning, but the pleasantries will likely end when the policy talk starts, the New York Times reports. Obama wants the Arab nations to offer a peaceful gesture toward Israel, but Saudi officials and experts say King Abdullah wants some gesture from Israel first.
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CNN May 30, 09 6:40 PM CDT
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Saudi Arabian authorities decapitated and publicly displayed a convicted killer last night, drawing fire from Amnesty International, CNN reports. A state press agency said Ahmed Al-Shamlani Al-Anzi was sentenced for murdering an 11-year-old boy and his father. The Saudis likely sewed Al-Anzi's head back on before his display, or "crucifixion," which is intended to deter future crimes, an Amnesty researcher said.
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Religious leaders say sports are unfeminine
GlobalPost May 14, 09 3:51 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Though obesity and diabetes are on the rise in Saudi Arabia, officials there are cracking down on women-only sports clubs because they lack licenses—which no government body will actually issue. Leaders say their opposition is based on Islam, but, Caryle Murphy writes for GlobalPost, it stems as much from views about women long extinct in other societies. “Depriving women of this is yet another way of marginalizing them,” says one activist.
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His comments are met with protest at domestic violence conference
CNN May 11, 09 6:00 AM CDT
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A Saudi judge says women who spend lavishly on items like designer abayas (black gowns) deserve to be slapped by their husbands, Arab News reports. His comments at a domestic violence conference invoked loud protests from women in the audience. The judge also lamented that "nobody puts even a fraction of blame" on women for the nation’s rising domestic abuse problem.
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Reuters May 2, 09 11:35 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The days of 8-year-olds getting married in Saudi Arabia may be numbered. Spurred by international hostility toward the marriage of a girl that age to a 50-year-old man, the nation is considering a ban on marriage for those under 18, Reuters reports. Such a restriction is “among the options that are available,” the Saudi justice minister said. “A girl below 18 is often not fit to take the family responsibility especially if she quickly gives birth.” Meanwhile, the 8-year-old girl in the celebrated case has been allowed to divorce.
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Wedding to middle-aged man sparked global controversy
BBC Apr 30, 09 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The marriage of an eight-year-old Saudi girl to a man in his 50s that drew worldwide attention has been annulled in an out-of-court settlement, the BBC reports. A judge had twice denied the girl—reportedly married off by her father to pay a debt—a divorce. The case has led Saudi officials to say they’d start regulating young girls’ "arbitrary" marriages.
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Child marriages will be 'regulated'; no evidence they'll be barred
BBC Apr 15, 09 8:54 AM CDT
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Amid an uproar over an adult man’s marriage to an 8-year-old girl, Saudi Arabia will begin regulating child marriage, the BBC reports. The country’s justice minister wants to end the “arbitrary” process, he said, though he didn’t say such matches would be banned. A court upheld the marriage provided the husband—whose age has been reported as 47 and 60—doesn’t have sex with the girl until after she reaches puberty.
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Daily Telegraph (UK) Apr 9, 09 5:55 PM CDT
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This was probably inevitable: The world's first known divorce via phone text is on the books. A Saudi man informed his wife of the split by text, then called two relatives to let them know, the Telegraph reports. This apparently jibes with the practice under Sharia law that allows a man to divorce simply by saying, "I divorce you," three times. A court checked with the two relatives and approved the split.
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President accused of royal breach of protocol at G20 summit
Politico Apr 9, 09 4:37 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
The White House denies President Obama broke centuries of protocol by bowing to a foreign monarch at the G20 talks, Politico reports. A video from the summit showing the president dipping as he greeted Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has infuriated right-wingers who believe the movement was a bow. The deep dip won praise for the president in parts of the Arab world.
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CBS News Apr 6, 09 3:08 PM CDT
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Turkish police have arrested a Syrian man who planned to try to assassinate President Obama, CBS News reports today. The Turks moved on the man, who appears to have been impersonating an Al-Jazeera correspondent, based on information from Saudi intelligence services. The plot was to be carried out in Istanbul, with the help of three accomplices.
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Al-Bashir's Saudi trip seen as effort to undermine support for international justice
Times (UK) Apr 2, 09 4:29 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Sudan's president thumbed his nose at the International Criminal Court with a high-profile pilgrimage to Mecca yesterday, reports the Times of London. A ruling last month requires the court's 108 members to arrest Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity in Darfur if he enters their nations. Many see his trips to non-members like Saudi Arabia as an effort to undercut the court's authority and turn Arab and African nations against it.
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Mother wins appeal against daughter's arranged marriage
CNN Mar 25, 09 4:08 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
A Saudi Arabian appeals court has thrown out a ruling upholding an 8-year-old girl's marriage to a 47-year-old man, reports CNN. The marriage—arranged by the girl's father to settle a debt—still stands for now under Saudi law. But the ruling sustains a legal challenge to the marriage by the girl's mother, and the case must be reviewed again by the lower court.
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Freeman accuses; some deny, some take credit
Politico Mar 11, 09 8:15 AM CDT
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Charles Freeman, the Obama choice to chair the National Intelligence Council who was forced to withdraw his name, thinks he knows what did him in. Though critics point to a number of factors—his stance on human rights, his financial ties to Saudi Arabia and China—Freeman is convinced that the Israel lobby blocked him, reports Politico. “There is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired,” he wrote in a departing statement.
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CNN Mar 9, 09 6:30 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
A 75-year-old Syrian woman faces 40 lashes and 4 months in prison for mingling with two men in Saudi Arabia, CNN reports. Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi will also be deported for allowing the men to enter her home last year. The men, sentenced to lashings as well, told police that Sawadi had breastfed one of them, which made their visit religiously correct. But a judge found no evidence of breastfeeding.
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Lingerie stores can employ women, but don't
BBC Feb 25, 09 10:56 AM CST
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Saudi women aren’t allowed to be alone in a room with an unrelated man, but they have to buy their undergarments from men, a situation some are calling unacceptable. In theory, women are permitted to work in shops selling women’s products, but the traditional society has, somewhat ironically, ensured that only men take those jobs, the BBC reports.
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Prepares for sweep of al-Qaeda base
Associated Press Feb 9, 09 6:20 AM CST
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Yemen has freed 170 men suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda, reports AP. The men were released to tribal chiefs after signing pledges to renounce terrorism. Yemeni military spokesmen say troops are poised to sweep through the al-Qaeda stronghold of Marib. Though such releases have often raised US hackles, Yemeni officials expect most of the 100 remaining Yemenis at Guantanamo will be sent home now that President Obama has ordered the prison shut.
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They call yanking of
Iraq ambassador post sign of transition chaos
Politico Feb 6, 09 10:45 AM CST
(Newser Summary) -
Remember those fat times, back in December, when competence and seamless coordination were back in town? Oh well. Joining the parade of minor appointment-related slip-ups is the apparent bait-and-switch pulled on retired Gen. Anthony Zinni, reports Politico. Zinni was told he had the job of Iraq ambassador—then the rug got pulled out; critics say this is typical of the Obama administration’s chaotic foreign policy transition.
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