Saudi Arabia

Safety Concerns for Activists, Ex-Crown Prince, Clerichu

Saudi Arabia must stop Executing Children: Human Rights Watch

By Bill Van Esveld | – ( Human Rights Watch) – On August 26, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced the judiciary would review three death sentences in accordance with a recent decree to halt capital punishment for child offenders. Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoun, and Abdullah al-Zaher were sentenced to death for allegedly committing crimes […]

India

Pakistan’s ‘Brotherly’ Ties With Saudi Arabia Hit ‘Rock Bottom’

Frud Bezhan

By Frud Bezhan | – ( RFE/RL) – But the long-standing economic, political, and military ties between the South Asian state and the oil-rich Middle East kingdom have been based less on common values and more on transactions, experts say. Riyadh has provided huge financial support in the form of cheap oil and loans to […]

Donald Trump

Despite Saudi Atrocities in Yemen, Trump and Boris Johnson are Addicted to Arms Sales to Riyadh

Sandy Milne

Tokyo (Special to Informed Comment) – “There is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL [International Human Rights Law].” So says the Honorable Elizabeth Truss MP – the UK’s top exports expert, and wolf in […]

Bahrain

Qatar’s Victory over Saudi, UAE Blockade Shows UN Court can be Weapon of the Weak

Middle East Monitor

By Daud Abdullah | – A press release issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 14 July described its judgement against Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE as “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Since June 2017, the four countries have imposed a land, air and sea blockade against the State […]

Bahrain

Gulf Arab Women were Finally making Progress, but will the Covid-19 Crash and Austerity set them Back?

The Conversation

By Humaira Hansrod | – Citizens of Saudi Arabia are having to get used to something that has long been an unpleasant fact of life in most parts of the world. On July 1, the kingdom tripled the VAT levied on consumer goods and services from 5% to 15%. There were reports of frantic stockpiling […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia was hoping to replace Failing Oil with Tourism: Then Covid-19 Hit

The Conversation

By Seán McLoughlin | – Saudi Arabia has finally clarified that due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic only very limited numbers of local pilgrims will be allowed to perform Hajj in 2020. During the past decade, the kingdom has typically welcomed between 1.9 to 3.2 million pilgrims per year from across the Muslim world, generating […]

Donald Trump

Millions of Yemeni Children on Brink of Starvation amid Saudi War, Covid-19 Aid Cutbacks: UNICEF

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The war on Yemen begun in 2015 by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been a failure militarily and a vast drain on resources that, in the age of Covid-19, neither country can any longer afford. Not only has the war been Saudi Arabia’s Vietnam, it has inflicted […]

History

Covid-19 makes Saudis Largely Cancel Pilgrimage (Hajj), But Plagues and Sectarianism have Intervened Before

The Conversation

By Ken Chitwood | – Saudi Arabia has effectively canceled the hajj for most of the world’s Muslims, saying the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca will be “very limited” this year due to the coronavirus. Only pilgrims residing in Saudi Arabia may attend the event, which begins in late July. Earlier this year, Saudi authorities had […]