Saudi Arabia

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The Trouble With Veils: How to Play Sports

Activist urges Olympic ban of Saudis until nation allows women to compete

(Newser) - Head-to-toe Muslim veils like burkas and abayas make exercise difficult. But an even bigger obstacle is nations that see exercise for women as immodest and even illegal. Physical activity is forbidden in Saudi Arabia’s state-run girls’ schools, notes the New York Times . But debate over the issue has been...

Saudis Warned US 3 Weeks Before Mail Bomb Plot

Vague tip warned of plane attack, readied US for threat

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia tipped the United States about a terror plot some three weeks before the Yemen mail bombs exploded into the news, a vague warning that US officials are now crediting with having helped stop a potentially devastating attack. The October intel contained no mention of mail bombs, but warned...

Saudi Prince Guilty of Aide's Savage Murder

King's grandson beat, strangled, bit servant

(Newser) - A Saudi prince who beat, strangled, and bit his servant to death in a London hotel has been found guilty of murder. Prosecutors, who showed video of the prince kicking and punching the servant inside a hotel elevator, said the savage killing was linked to sex, CNN notes. The prince,...

Gay Saudi Diplomat Seeks Asylum in US

Says Saudis want to force him home, 'will kill me in broad daylight'

(Newser) - A Saudi Arabian diplomat is seeking political asylum after being outed as gay in his home country, the Daily Mail reports. Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in LA, said that his government had yanked his diplomatic passport and his job in order to force him...

Obama Proposes $60B Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

Boasts record-setting deal will create jobs

(Newser) - The Obama administration plans to offer Saudi Arabia $60 billion worth of advanced aircraft, in what would be the largest arms deal in US history. The deal may also be expanded by tens of billions more to include naval and missile-defense upgrades, the Wall Street Journal reports. The administration intends...

Saudi Judge Seeks to Sever Man's Spine

Paralyzed victim wants attacker to suffer the same fate

(Newser) - An eye for an eye—a spine for a spine? A judge in Saudi Arabia has been asking hospitals whether or not they can sever the spinal cord of a man convicted of paralyzing another man in an attack with a cleaver, the AP reports. At least one hospital has...

New Mecca Clock Challenges Greenwich Mean Time

Mecca-London battle over time itself

(Newser) - Greenwich Mean Time should make way for Mecca Mean Time, according to Saudis building a giant clock. The timepiece, which boasts four faces, each 151 feet high, will sit atop the 2,000-foot Royal Mecca Clock Tower in Islam's holiest city when completed. Islamic scholars hope the clock will eclipse...

Saudis: BlackBerry Service Can Continue

Deal apparently involves local servers that government could monitor

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator said today it would allow BlackBerry services to continue in the kingdom, citing "positive developments" with the device's Canadian manufacturer. The announcement staves off, at least for now, a potential ban of Research in Motion's BlackBerry Messenger service in the country—a step officials had...

US Slams Blackberry Ban
 US Slams Blackberry Ban
Aug 3, 2010 4:51 AM CDT

US Slams Blackberry Ban

UAE ban 'sets dangerous precedent'

(Newser) - The United Arab Emirates' plan to ban Blackberry service s is setting a dangerous precedent, warns the US State Department. The ban on Blackberry email, messenger, and browser services, which Saudi Arabia plans to follow, will choke off the free flow of information vital to modern economies, says spokesman PJ...

Saudis, UAE to Block BlackBerry Messages

Security concerns prompt crackdown

(Newser) - A telecommunications official says Saudi Arabia will block BlackBerry email, messaging, and Web access, joining neighboring United Arab Emirates in a move it says is prompted by security concerns because the devices operate beyond the government's ability to monitor their use. The move will take place later this month in...

Man Shackles Son 'Possessed' by Evil Female Genie

29-year-old has been constrained for 6 years

(Newser) - A Saudi man has chained his 29-year-old son in the family's basement home for more than six years, believing him to be possessed by "an evil female genie," reports the Daily Mail . The son, named "Turki," exhibited fits and convulsions and would speak in a woman's...

'Give Me the Freedom to Cover My Face'
 'Give Me the Freedom 
 to Cover My Face' 
LONDONER PLEADS:
Jul 19, 2010 2:02 AM CDT

'Give Me the Freedom to Cover My Face'

'Bans as oppressive as Islam demands'

(Newser) - A suffocating Islamic abaya at first triggered tears of "rage and shame" from Londoner Nesrine Malik, humiliated by the oppressively "cumbersome" and "sexist" garb she was ordered by her parents to wear in Saudi Arabia. But the face-covering clothing has since become a "comfort and delight,...

Story Murky, Iran Scientist Headed Home

But US officials say Shahram Amiri defected

(Newser) - The Iranian nuclear scientist who turned up in front of Iran's diplomatic mission in DC Monday night is headed back to Iran, but his story is no clearer. Shahram Amiri initially claimed he was kidnapped by CIA operatives in Saudi Arabia and held hostage in Tuscon for much of the...

Prince's Agitated Horses Delay Saudi Flight

Horses ultimately tranquilized for takeoff

(Newser) - Six Arabian horses owned by a Saudi Arabian prince became agitated in the cargo hold of a Saudi-bound plane today, delaying takeoff for more than an hour, officials at an Egyptian airport report. An EgyptAir pilot was forced to turn the plane with 189 passengers around on the runway because...

Saudis Open Skies for Israeli Hit on Iran

Riyadh will let Israel's planes fly over its territory, say sources

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is giving Israel a free pass through its airspace for a bombing run on Iranian nuclear sites, reports the Times of London, citing defense sources in the Gulf. The move puts four key sites within range of Israeli bombers, and the Saudis have tested lowering their air defenses...

Saudi Woman Slugs Virtue Cop
 Saudi Woman Slugs Virtue Cop 
in case you missed it
May 22, 2010 2:00 PM CDT

Saudi Woman Slugs Virtue Cop

Mystery woman sends religious officer to hospital

(Newser) - A Saudi woman stopped by a virtue cop pulled off every feminist's dream: As her male companion mysteriously collapsed, she proceeded to give the cop a thrashing—to the point where he was taken to the hospital with bruising. The unnamed woman was strolling through an amusement park with her...

Toddler Hostages Rescued After 11 Months

Saudi forces free German siblings held by rebels

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia special forces have rescued two young German girls who were held by Yemeni rebels for almost a year. Anna and Lydia Hentschel, aged 3 and 5, are being treated in a Saudi hospital. The fate of their Christian missionary parents and baby brother, who were seized along with...

Hey, BP: Supertankers Could Clean Up Spill

 Hey, BP: Supertankers 
 Could Clean Up Spill 
It worked for Saudis
May 15, 2010 1:15 PM CDT

Hey, BP: Supertankers Could Clean Up Spill

They suck up vast quantities of polluted water; oil is filtered out in port

(Newser) - A former Shell Oil president has some advice for BP: Use supertankers to suck up the oil fouling the Gulf of Mexico. He says the Saudis used it in a hush-hush cleanup project after a spill in the early '90s dumped hundreds of millions of gallons. The Saudis "figured...

Conjoined Palestinian Twins Inseparable, Likely to Die

Girls had made it out of Gaza to Saudi Arabia

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's health minister says conjoined Palestinian twins flown to Riyadh from the Gaza Strip cannot be separated and do not have long to live. The 2-week-old twin girls, joined at the chest, overcame immense obstacles to make it out of the Gaza Strip—including an Israeli blockade, rival Palestinian...

Talk-Show 'Sorcerer' Wins Saudi Reprieve

Lebanese man dodges beheading—for now

(Newser) - A TV talk-show host condemned to die by beheading for "sorcery" by a Saudi court has won a reprieve. Officials, however, gave no indication that his sentence would be commuted, or that he would be released. Ali Hussain Sibat offered predictions and advice on a call-in program in Beirut...

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