Topic: Riyadh

Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia: How much change can the Gulf expect?

Regime change may not come swiftly to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, where protesters have called for a 'Day of Rage' today, but a revolution of a different sort is taking place.

An upside of Arab revolts: Islamists talk democracy

Egypt opened the way for new dialogue between Islamists and secularists. That could foster Muslim democracies.

Libya unrest tests China's interests in the Middle East

Beijing's successful evacuation of tens of thousands of Chinese from Libya has highlighted China’s growing role in North Africa and the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah promises $36 billion in benefits

King Abdullah returned home today to a Saudi Arabia seemingly moored in the eye of the storm howling from Libya to Bahrain. But reformers are intensifying calls for political change.

In Saudi Arabia, reformers intensify calls for change

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is due to return tomorrow after three months away to a country where reformers inspired by Egypt are calling for greater transparency and equality.

How a broken social contract sparked Bahrain protests

The Bahrain protests go beyond the sectarian prism of Sunni versus Shiite. The ruling Al Khalifa family has been unable to provide Bahrainis the kind of interest-free loans and medical care that some of their neighbors have enjoyed.

Hariri rallies supporters against Hezbollah-backed government

On the sixth anniversary of Rafik Hariri's assassination, his son Saad formally announced his opposition to the new government now being formed, which could tilt Lebanon toward Iran and Syria.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a democratic partner, not Islamist threat

The West's fearful stereotypes of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood are based on myth and misunderstanding. Today's Muslim Brotherhood rejects violence and must be a full partner in the process of change – and it will be, if a minimally democratic state can be established in Egypt.

Opinion: US message to Arab world matters -- and Obama is sending the wrong one

The message the US projects abroad will resonate long after the final pass of the Super Bowl. The US must lend its full-throated support to the protesters of the Arab world. It matters – both for the future of the region, and the future of America. Sitting on the sidelines may cost us more than our regional standing; it may cost us our own ideals.

The change in regional mood after Tunisia

Iran resumes nuclear talks, but decries nuclear scientist's assassination

Iranian media emphasized Iran's tough opening gambit in Geneva, where it condemned the West for its silence over an Iranian nuclear scientist's assassination last week.

WikiLeaks: Five more of the strangest stories to emerge

The WikiLeaks cable dump has uncovered a lot of downright serious allegations: that the State Department pressured Germany into not criminally investigating the CIA's kidnapping of one of its innocent citizens, that the British government secretly allowed the US to keep cluster bombs on its soil in defiance of a treaty, that the US manipulated the Spanish criminal justice system in its investigation of the CIA's torture of its citizens, and so on. And it also uncovered some very weird stories. Earlier this week, we wrote about how Qaddadfi loves flamenco dancing, how King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia likes the idea of surgically implanting people with tracking chips, and how a 75-year-old US citizen fled Iran on horseback. The leaks keep coming. Here are five more of the oddest stories to come out of the leaked State Department cables.

WikiLeaks: What the world is saying

The latest WikiLeaks trove of 250,000 diplomatic cables, obtained in advance by five news outlets, has generated enough fodder in the US alone to occupy American readers. But people all over, from Germany to Lebanon to Australia, are also talking about the sometimes troubling, sometimes mundane cables that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is gradually releasing for public consumption.

In Iraq, Christians fear they could be wiped out – like Jews before them

The Oct. 31 attack on a Baghdad church – the worst in recent memory – has spurred a fresh exodus among Iraq's Christian community, already decimated by the war.

Five key members of Al Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP)

Less than two years ago, Yemeni and Saudi militants formed a new franchise called Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The January 2009 merger of existing operations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen was acknowledged by Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. Since then, AQAP has hatched a series of attacks against the West and is suspected of being behind the recent UPS and FedEx cargo bombing attempts. Though foiled, the incidents underscore the Al Qaeda offshoot's potential threat beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Here are five of its leaders and key members.

The Monitor's View: In Yemen bomb case, Saudi Arabia proves itself an antiterror partner of the US

Saudi Arabia is associated with Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 hijackers. But it provided key intelligence to thwart cargo bombs from Yemen. It has come a long way in the fight against Al Qaeda.

Why Bahrain's Shiite majority is restless despite election gains

Bahrain's Shiite majority now holds 18 of 40 seats in parliament. But Shiites are increasingly upset with the Sunni monarchy, which arrested 23 dissidents in the run-up to this week's election.

Why $60 billion in US arms to Saudi Arabia isn't causing an outcry

Israel doesn't oppose a US arms deal that would send advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia, which is increasingly seen as essential to containing Iran's nuclear ambitions.

In Saudi Arabia, a landmark welcome of a Christian scholar

Leonard Swidler, a Christian scholar at Temple University in Philadelphia, visited Saudi Arabia's ultra­conservative Al Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University earlier this summer, underscoring a shift toward greater openness in some official religious institutions.

Global heat wave hits US, reignites climate change debate

Worldwide, the first five months of 2010 were the warmest on record. With the US now getting its share of a heat wave, how will it affect the public perception of climate change?

Beware the Ides of March? A look at March 15 in history

Julius Caesar was forewarned about the "Ides of March." March 15 wasn't his best day.

Saudi award to Turkish prime minister signals deepening strategic ties

A Saudi award to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his 'service to Islam' underscores Saudi backing for Turkey's bid to take a more activist role as a Middle East power broker.