Latest Saudi Arabia News

FILE - In this March 23, 2019 file photo, worshippers prepare to enter the Al Noor mosque following the previous week's mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. A comprehensive report released Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 into the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers were slaughtered sheds new light on how the gunman was able to elude detection by authorities as he planned out his attack. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

UN approves global conference on protecting religious sites

Jan. 21, 2021 7:37 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday condemning damage and destruction of religious sites and asking the secretary-general to convene a global conference to spearhead public support for safeguarding places of religious heritage. The resolution condemns the...

FILE - In this March 22, 2018, file photo, an honor guard member is covered by the flag of Saudi Arabia, in Washington. Saudi Arabia, for years one of the world's most prolific executioners, dramatically reduced the number of people put to death in 2020, following changes halting executions for non-violent drug-related crimes, according to the government’s tally and independent observers. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Dramatic drop in Saudi executions after laws changed in 2020

Jan. 18, 2021 3:07 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia, for years one of the world's most prolific executioners, dramatically reduced the number of people put to death last year, following changes halting executions for non-violent drug-related crimes, according to the government’s tally and independent...

FILE - In this April 24, 2019, file photo released by the U.S. Air Force, an F-35A Lightning II fighter jet prepares to taxi and take off from Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, on April 24, 2019. The United States called Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates

US calls Bahrain, UAE 'major security partners'

Jan. 16, 2021 1:18 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States called Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates “major security partners" early Saturday, a previously unheard of designation for the two countries home to major American military operations. A White House statement tied the designation to Bahrain...

A mortuary worker transports the body of a COVID-19 victim on a stretcher at the morgue of a hospital in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. After successfully bringing the daily death count down from over 900 in March to single digits by July, Spain has seen a steady uptick that brought deaths back to over 200 a day this month. With that relapse, the body collectors have returned to making the rounds of hospitals, homes and care facilities. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Global death toll from COVID-19 tops 2M amid vaccine rollout

Jan. 15, 2021 1:08 PM EST

The global death toll from COVID-19 topped 2 million Friday as vaccines developed at breakneck speed are being rolled out around the world in an all-out campaign to vanquish the threat. The milestone was reached just over a year after the coronavirus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The number of...

In this photo released Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, by the Imamedia a suicide drone approaches the target during a drill. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a drill Friday that saw

Iranian Guard drones in drill mirror those in Saudi attacks

Jan. 15, 2021 11:10 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard conducted a drill Friday that saw “suicide drones” crash into targets and explode, triangle-shaped aircraft that strongly resembled those used in a 2019 attack in Saudi Arabia that temporarily cut the kingdom's oil...

3x3 basketball player from Switzerland comes out as gay

Jan. 15, 2021 9:48 AM EST

ZURICH (AP) — A player on Switzerland’s 3x3 basketball team publicly came out as gay on Friday. Marco Lehmann announced his sexuality one month after playing at the 3x3 World Tour finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “This is for the future generations so they can live a free sporting life without...

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a severely malnourished boy rests on a hospital bed at the Aslam Health Center in Hajjah, Yemen. A leading aid organization on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 warned that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's move to designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” would deal another “devastating blow

US rejects UN plea to reverse Yemen rebel terror designation

Jan. 14, 2021 7:47 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. chief and top officials urged the United States on Thursday to reverse its decision to declare Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels a terrorist group to prevent massive famine and death in the conflict-torn Arab nation — but the Trump administration in its final days...

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a woman holds a malnourished boy at the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. A leading aid organization on Monday warned that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's move to designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” would deal another “devastating blow

Aid chief: US naming Yemen rebels terrorists a famine threat

Jan. 13, 2021 11:34 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief is urging the United States to reverse its decision to declare Yemen’s Houthi rebels a terrorist group, warning that the designation will likely lead to “a large-scale famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years.” Mark...

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2020 file photo, a Qatar Airways plane prepares to take off at San Francisco International Airport during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco. Egypt on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, opened its airspace to Qatari flights with a Qatar Airways jetliner is expected to land in Cairo later this week, airport officials said. The flight on Friday would be the first commercial one between the two countries since Egypt joined three other Gulf countries in boycotting Qatar in 2017. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Airport officials: Egypt reopens airspace to Qatar flights

Jan. 12, 2021 6:00 AM EST

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt on Tuesday reopened its airspace to Qatar flights after regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia reopened its airspace and border with the Gulf Arab state last week, Egyptian airport officials said. A Qatar Airways plane is due to land in Cairo on Friday, the officials said, speaking on...

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, a woman holds a malnourished boy at the Aslam Health Center, in Hajjah, Yemen. A leading aid organization on Monday warned that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's move to designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” would deal another “devastating blow

US terror designation for Yemen rebels raises famine fears

Jan. 11, 2021 9:26 PM EST

CAIRO (AP) — The Trump administration’s out-the-door decision to designate Yemen’s Iranian-backed rebels as a terror organization sparked confusion in aid agencies and warnings from the United Nations and senior Republicans on Monday that it could have a devastating humanitarian impact on a...

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