Categories : News

Opinion | Can the Saudi Crown Prince Transform the Kingdom?

In 1979, Saudi Arabia’s own indigenous radical Islam unleashed its full potential when a group of so-called Unitarians seized the Mecca mosque and took hostages in protest against the government’s corruption, relations with the West, Westernization and other grievances. The House of Saud realized the volatility of the state religion.

House of Saud on fire; Alkhalifa revoke nationality of more natives VOB.ORG

The House of Al Saud is on fire. Scores of its members are tasting the humiliation that their predecessors had inflicted on the rest of the population. The new dictator has been supported by the President Trump and Israelis to seek revenge on those Saudi senior and rich figures who lost favour in Washington and Tel Aviv.

Sign Petition to Free Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab

Nabeel Rajab is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and one of the world’s most celebrated human rights defenders. For decades he has worked to document and remedy human rights violations in his home country of Bahrain and in the wider Middle East, raising awareness for critical problems from the abuse of migrant workers to restrictions on free speech.

NYU faculty ends ties with UAE over sectarianism claims

New York University’s journalism department has voted to end its relationship with its campus in the United Arab Emirates following allegations two professors were denied visas because of their religious affiliation.

Bleak GCC economic prospects, War on Bahrainis escalated by regime VOB.ORG

As the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar intensifies, bleak economic prospects have been predicted for the region. The International Monetary Fund warned in its Regional Economic Outlook released yesterday that if the crisis drags on, it will negatively impact mid-term growth prospects for the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Just as we recently saw in Las Vegas, such killers don’t represent any faith

By way of this statement, the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California joins with all Americans in calling for swift action to rid us of the evil of such wanton killings. Just as we recently saw in Las Vegas, these killers don’t represent any faith.

See also statement from Imam al-Khoei Foundation New York

Saudi women gain access to stadiums: More questions than answers

Saudi Arabia’s decision to allow women to attend sporting events in three of the country’s stadiums raises as many questions as it provide answers that go to the core of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reforms and the kingdom’s sports policy.

Dozens feared dead in attacks in Afghanistan

Dozens of people have been killed in two separate attacks at Shia mosques in Afghanistan. In one attack, an armed man opened fire on worshippers in a Shia mosque in Kabul, police said on Friday. A man “entered the mosque in Police District 13 of Kabul city…

See also BBC, The Independant

‘One by one, the girls died’

Members of Iraq’s Shia Turkmen community have been the targets of brutal persecution by so-called Islamic State (IS). One woman, who asked not to be named, told BBC Turkish’s Mahmut Hamsici about her ordeal at the hands of militants from the Sunni jihadist group.

WARNING: This story makes for very unpleasnt reading!

Gunmen target Hazara Shia Muslims in Quetta city

Islamabad, Pakistan – Unidentified gunmen have killed five people in an attack targeting the minority Hazara Shia Muslim community in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, police say. Two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a van bound for a nearby vegetable market, killing the driver and four others early on Monday morning, Quetta police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema told reporters.