Saudi Arabia

Misogyny bullying and brutal violence; what is there to worry about in the Middle East?  

| Readers 1140

My eldest daughter, a primary school teacher, returns to Qatar this weekend as do hundreds of young people from these shores supporting the education systems across the Middle East.  With developments over the summer I felt anxious as we said our farewells; she was sanguine as young people are.  Having left the Emirate in June just after the borders and airspace were closed, and sanctions imposed by a coalition cobbled together by Saudi Arabia, no fresh chicken or milk were …

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Raif Badawi: Saudi blogger’s flogging ‘to resume’

| Readers 391

Saudi Arabia is to resume the flogging of Raif Badawi, the blogger whose first 50 lashes caused an international outcry, his wife has been told. Ensaf Haidar, who is now living in exile in Canada with the couple’s children, said the same “informed source” who tipped her off to the flogging of her husband in January had now told her the punishment was about to resume. Mrs Haidar, in a statement on the Raif Badawi Foundation website, said: I was informed …

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One year on, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi remains behind bars

| Readers 276

Today marks a year since Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail. Raif Badawi received the sentence, along with a fine of 1 million riyals, from Jeddah’s criminal court on 7 May 2014 for setting up an online forum for public debate. He is an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience and a global campaign has been initiated to call for his release, gathering the support of over a million people worldwide. On 9 January …

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Great Big Politics Pub Quiz tonight!

| Readers 282

As everyone knows, Thursday night is politics night. But instead of sitting in for a marathon session of The View, The Issue and Question Time, why not test your political knowledge by getting down to The Black Box tonight for the Great Big Politics Pub Quiz? Sure, you’re probably on strike tomorrow anyway… Or else you’ll have to stay at home because there’s no public transport for you. Or buses or teachers for your kids’ school. Even if you’re at work tomorrow, …

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50 days since 50 lashes – blogging is still not a crime

| Readers 389

Whatever we may disagree about here on the pages of Slugger, we can all agree that blogging is not a crime. Yet, Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi is still in jail and still due to be lashed another 950 times. On the upside, it’s now been 50 days since he was flogged very publicly 50 times by Saudi officials. In the week leading up to his flogging on 9 January, Raif’s name appeared more and more frequently in news headlines and statements …

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News: blogger not flogged

| Readers 333

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi was not flogged yesterday. This is good news, of course. And it’s the fifth Friday running that the flogging has not been carried out, which is even better. The first fifty lashes were administered in a public square in Jeddah after Friday prayers on January 9th. Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years imprisonment. The sentence stems from his creation of the website Saudi Arabian Liberals, a blog not unlike Slugger. He was subsequently charged for …

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The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)

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Bookcover of The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday by Neil MacFarquhar

With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer who supervised an Esso refinery and a water desalination plant. His family lived on the Libyan coast in Marsa Brega alongside a community of other …

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