Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Crackdown Sends Female Gym Rats to Sidelines

Religious leaders say sports are unfeminine

(Newser) - 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...

Lavish Wives Deserve a Slap: Saudi Judge

His comments are met with protest at domestic violence conference

(Newser) - 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...

Saudis May Outlaw Under-18 Marriages

(Newser) - 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...

Saudi Child Bride's Marriage Annulled

Wedding to middle-aged man sparked global controversy

(Newser) - 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...

Saudis to Crack Down After Man Weds 8-Year-Old

Child marriages will be 'regulated'; no evidence they'll be barred

(Newser) - 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...

Saudi Man Divorces Wife—by Phone Text

(Newser) - 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...

White House Denies Prez Bowed to Saudi King

President accused of royal breach of protocol at G20 summit

(Newser) - 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...

Turks, Saudis Foil Obama Assassination Attempt

(Newser) - 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,...

'Fugitive' Sudan Prez Defies World Court

Al-Bashir's Saudi trip seen as effort to undermine support for international justice

(Newser) - 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...

Saudi Court Blocks Marriage to 8-Year-Old Girl

Mother wins appeal against daughter's arranged marriage

(Newser) - 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...

Failed Intelligence Pick Blasts Israel Lobby

Freeman accuses; some deny, some take credit

(Newser) - 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...

Woman in Saudi Faces 40 Lashes for Mingling

(Newser) - 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...

Our Skivvies, Ourselves: Saudis Seek Female Sellers

Lingerie stores can employ women, but don't

(Newser) - 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,...

Yemen Releases 170 al-Qaeda Suspects

Prepares for sweep of al-Qaeda base

(Newser) - 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...

Critics Blast Obama's Zinni Flip-Flop

They call yanking of Iraq ambassador post sign of transition chaos

(Newser) - 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...

11 Freed From Gitmo Disappear Into Terror Network

Saudi Arabia admits former detainees may be with al-Qaeda

(Newser) - Eleven Saudi nationals who were released from detention at Guantanamo Bay have likely rejoined terrorist groups, the Saudi government said yesterday. The prisoners participated in a rehabilitation program after returning to Saudi Arabia, but all of them have fled the country—probably to Yemen or Iran. The situation underscores President...

Yemen Is New Haven for al-Qaeda
Yemen Is
New Haven
for al-Qaeda
Jan 30, 2009 4:11 PM CST

Yemen Is New Haven for al-Qaeda

Group's numbers likely to see boost from freed Gitmo inmates

(Newser) - As the US prepares to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Yemen presents a problem: Despite government efforts, the country is becoming a safe haven for al-Qaeda operatives, the Economist reports. Rebuffed by anti-terror initiatives in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, jihadists have flocked to Yemen, where rugged countryside, weak...

Israel, Palestine Need Outside Support for Lasting Fix

Neighbors must be involved: Friedman

(Newser) - The dominant theory holds that the two-state solution is the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the war in Gaza has pushed tensions past the point where an equitable sharing of geography is enough, argues New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He wants a "five-state solution—Palestine, Egypt, Jordan,...

Freed Detainee Becomes Al-Qaeda Chief

After Gitmo, suspected in bombing of US embassy in Yemen

(Newser) - As Barack Obama prepares to close Guantanamo Bay, the story of Said Ali al-Shihri provides a cautionary tale. Released from the prison camp in 2007, the Saudi has become the deputy leader of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch and is suspected of involvement in the bombing of the US embassy there...

Top Saudi Cleric Backs Marriage of 10-Year-Old Girls

They're not too young, declares grand mufti

(Newser) - The top Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has issued a statement supporting marriage for girls as young as 10, reports CNN. "Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her," he declared. The statement follows the refusal last month by a Saudi...

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