Showing posts with label Jeddah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeddah. Show all posts
Monday, July 04, 2016
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saudi Media Flaunt American Who Converted to Islam: ‘I Have Joined the Religion of Truth’
Last week, Breitbart Jerusalem reported on the video, in which a group of Saudis surround the American employee while they exclaim the “Shahadatain,” an Islamic pillar of faith, meaning, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is the prophet of Allah.”
After the American employee himself declares the “Shahadatain,” his Saudi colleagues shout, “Allahu Akbar,” meaning Allah is great, and they are seen hugging and kissing theAmerican over his conversion to Islam. It was not immediately clear when the video was taken.
On Friday, the Saudi Sabq news website published an extensive interview with the American, for the first time revealing his name to be Rick Harrison.
Harrison claimed that in America he was subject to propaganda against Islam. “Yet all those claims fell apart when I saw how my colleagues at the Jeddah airport treated me.” » | Ali Waked | Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saturday, December 05, 2015
Saudi Arabia - Jeddah Street Life
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Saudi King's Ex-wife Speaks Out
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The ban will affect 238 restaurants and cafes reported to face an 80 percent drop in their revenue. These cafes would make a daily revenue of 7 to 10 thousand riyals from shisha alone.
The ban has only recently been enforced, with Riyadh and other cities having implemented this years ago. Shisha lovers now have to drive to cafes outside the city to smoke as the decision also applies to residential areas.
Abdul Aziz Al-Nahari, spokesman for the Jeddah mayoralty, said this is an application of the ministry of interior’s decision to protect public health and that such measures have been applied internationally.
Arab News met with café owners who denounced the decision as ‘shocking’. » | Ibrahim Naffee | Jeddah | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
David Woelke, an English language teacher at King Abdul Aziz University in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah, converted to Islam amidst applause and chanting by the audience at an Islamic conference in the city.
“I used to go to church quite often in my country and noticed there is a big difference between the two religions….I have found that the media in the west is presenting Islam in a deformed way,” said Woelke, who changed his first name to Dawood, according to Saudi newspapers. » | AH/IINA | Sunday, April 01, 2012 | 10 Jumada Al-Awwal
Monday, March 26, 2012
EMIRATES 24|7: An Indian tailor in Saudi Arabia finally summed up his courage and touched the hand of an Arab female customer who[m] he likes. The man now needs to sum up more courage as he faces seven months in jail and 160 lashes.
The woman was enquiring about her dress at the tailoring workshop in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah when the Indian man came to her.
She told police that he touched her hand and invited her to his house, adding that he also offered her money and said he wanted to marry her. » | Staff | Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, February 05, 2012
The supply ship Kharg and destroyer Shaid Qandi docked on Saturday in the Red Sea port in line with orders from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran’s news agency, Fars.
“This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia,” Fars quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying.
The commander added that the mission would last between 70 and 80 days, but did not specify its route. » | Sunday, February 05, 2012
Friday, March 11, 2011
THE WASHINGTON POST: JIDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - It is 9 p.m. on a Monday, and the Jasur bookstore cafe in Jiddah's chic Hamra district is hopping. Upstairs, Saudi men and women pack a poetry reading, while downstairs a book club discusses Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller, "Blink." Nearby, a team of young comic writers is hashing out the latest in a series of YouTube episodes that satirize Saudi politics and society."Don't get me wrong," Hasan Eid, the editor of a poetry anthology, reads from a new collection. "I love my country to death. But what I see every day makes me sigh under my breath."
With some Saudi men in jeans, others in traditional thobes, and women in black abayas, the emergence of the trendy literary scene is nothing short of groundbreaking in this conservative kingdom, where the mixing of sexes is largely prohibited and movie theaters are banned.
A growing frustration with Saudi political and social behaviors has been visible throughout the kingdom in recent weeks, as measured in budding protests, bolder blog posts and petitions asking King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to loosen up his rule.
But the discontent is particularly palpable among the young and educated in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia's historically most progressive city, which has long been at odds with the more religiously conservative capital, Riyadh. The new cafe has become a hub for young intellectuals to share ideas as the Middle East undergoes the most sweeping period of change in their lifetimes.
Inspired by their counterparts in Tunisia, Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, Jiddah's 20-somethings are ablaze on Facebook, blogs and Twitter, tweeting away on iPhones and BlackBerrys about government corruption and the need for political reform, while organizing social gatherings such as those at the bookstore that have long been taboo. >>> Janine Zacaria, Washington Post Foreign Service | Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
FIGARO – BLOG _ GEORGES MALBRUNOT: L’ex raïs tunisien a quitté le Palais de l’ex roi Faysal à Djeddah, où il avait été hébergé à son arrivée en Arabie saoudite, le 15 janvier dernier. «Mais depuis personne ne sait où il est », nous affirme un habitant de la cité portuaire saoudienne sur la Mer rouge. «Il y a beaucoup de rumeurs, mais c’est un sujet qui est tabou ici à Djeddah», ajoute-t-il. Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire >>> Georges Malbrunot | Lundi 28 Février 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Related >>>
Thursday, February 17, 2011
LE POINT: L'ex-président tunisien est réfugié en Arabie saoudite après avoir fui son pays à la mi-janvier.
L'ex-président tunisien Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali a été victime d'une attaque cérébrale, selon des sources militaires et gouvernementales tunisiennes interrogées par Le Point.fr. L'information avait été révélée sur le blog de Nicolas Beau, journaliste spécialiste de la Tunisie et auteur, avec Catherine Graciet, d'une biographie de l'épouse de Ben Ali, Leïla Trabelsi. >>> Par Aziz Zemouri | Jeudi 17 Février 2011
Le blog tunisien de Nicolas Beau : Un blog dédié à la Tunisie et au monde arabe, ainsi qu'aux filouteries des bandits qui nous gouvernent. >>>
NEWS.COM.AU: DEPOSED Tunisian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali suffered a stroke a month after fleeing the country and was in a "worrying" condition in a Saudi hospital, French media have reported.
Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 in the wake of a popular uprising against his decades-long rule, suffered a stroke earlier this week, Le Monde reported, citing the blog of French journalist Nicolas Beau, a veteran reporter specialisng in Tunisia.
Ben Ali was rushed to the hospital in Jeddah reserved for Saudi princes and was admitted under a false identity, the newspaper reported. >>> NewsCore | Thursday, February 17, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a coma: Former Tunisian leader in hospital in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke two days ago, according to French agencies >>> Angelique Chrisafis | Thursday, February 17, 2011
LE FIGARO: Ben Ali serait dans le coma, selon un proche de sa famille : D'autres sources non-officielles évoquaient déjà son hospitalisation en Arabie saoudite après une attaque cérébrale. L'opposant Marzouki craint une manipulation. >>> Par Tristan Vey | Jeudi 17 Février 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tunisia's deposed dictator's final moments before fleeing his country's "jasmine revolution" were yesterday revealed as being spent enduring a flurry of insults from his fearsome wife.Leila Ben Ali's words of "encouragement" to her husband, Zine al-Abidine as he refused to board the plane to spirit him out of Tunisia and to Saudi Arabia were reported as: "Get on imbecile. All my life I've had to put up with your screw ups."
An unnamed senior air force official recounted the 74-year old ex-president's feeble attempt to disobey Lady Macbeth of Carthage, as his wife has been dubbed, in the French weekly, Nouvel Observateur.
As revolt rumbled in the capital, Mr Ben Ali, who was ousted after 23 years of iron rule on January 14, stood on the tarmac in Tunis airport with a small briefcase wringing his hands, and saying: "Leave me, I don't want to go, I want to die here for my country."
At Leila's side was Ali Seriati, Mr Ben Ali's feared and hated political police chief, who pushed him onto the steps, shouting: "For ----'s sake, get on!"
None of the soldiers present from the army that had helped topple Mr Ben Ali budged as the fallen leader slowly climbed the steps.
With him were his wife, their son Mohammed, their daughter Halima, her fiancé, their butler and two Philippine maids. >>> Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, May 31, 2010
SAUDI GAZETTE: JEDDAH – Truant schoolgirls in meetings with un-related males, large screens set up to show “scandalous films”, stages for music performances with light and lazer [sic] displays: Offenses too grave to be ignored by the authorities and too glaring to be continued on the sly for long.
It did not take much time for the Jeddah authorities to realize that a number of coffee shops were, in fact, places for dating and other offenses.
Officials from the Police, Passports Department, Civil Defense, the Labor Office, the Mayor’s Office and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice raided suspect sites over recent days.
In one instance a 14-year-old girl was found in the company of two males in their twenties after reportedly sneaking out of her house without the knowledge of her family. In another, two sisters were found with six young men.
In a secluded corner of one coffee house a young man was found in the company of a woman with a computer screen before them displaying a pornographic website. The man confessed to officials that he hacked sites with the woman’s help and pirated material. >>> Ibrahim Alawi | Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
THE COPENHAGEN POST ONLINE: Justice minister calls it unacceptable that proposed lawsuit against Danish newspapers could be heard in British court system
Because EU member states generally recognise the authority of each other's legal systems, Denmark may be forced to pay damages through the British courts if plaintiffs win their lawsuit over the printing of the Mohammed cartoons.
Saudi lawyer Faisal Yamani has taken the case to court in London – claiming to have done so on behalf of some 95,000 descendants of the prophet Mohammed – saying the drawings amount to defamation against them and the Islamic faith.
In August last year, Yamani requested that 11 Danish newspapers remove all the relevant images from their websites and issue apologies along with promises that the images would never be printed again.
Politiken was the only newspaper to agree to the demand, having acquiesced last month.
But justice minister Lars Barfoed has now asked the European Commission to step in to stop the case from being heard in the UK. Barfoed said that while he respected the legal cooperation among EU member states, the proposed lawsuit amounts to a restriction on the freedom of expression.
‘It’s fundamentally reasonable that judgments in the EU can often be exercised across borders,’ Barfoed told Berlingske Tidende newspaper. ‘But it would be taking it to the extreme if a UK court could rule against the Danish media and then require compensation and court costs to be paid.’ >>> RC News | Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Related:
THE TELEGRAPH: Defamation Case Over Prophet Mohammed Cartoons 'To Be Held' in Britain >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi Arabian lawyer has threatened to use British courts to overturn a Danish free speech ruling by bringing a defamation case over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that depicted Islam's founder as a terrorist.
Faisal Yamani, a Jeddah based lawyer, is planning to take a case to London's libel courts on behalf of over 90,000 descendants of Mohammed who have claimed that the drawings have defamed them and the Islamic faith.
Cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed were published in Danish newspapers in 2006 triggering violent protests across the Muslim world and riots which claimed the lives of over 50 people.
According to Danish press reports, the case can be heard in the [sic] Britain because the images, including a caricature of Mohammed with a bomb shaped turban, have been freely accessible via the internet.
Danish politicians and publishers are furious that European Union rules reward "libel tourism" by enforcing British defamation rulings across Europe.
Ebbe Dal, managing director of Danske Dagblades Forening, the Danish national newspaper association, is concerned that Britain's tough libel laws could be used to restrict free speech in liberal countries such as Denmark.
"The Danish courts have decided that the case is not actionable and that we are allowed to print the drawings in Danish newspapers and websites," he said.
"It would be very odd if a civilised country like Britain could go against that. If this succeeded we would have to pay a lot of money to Saudi Arabians misusing the British courts to make it difficult for freedom of speech." >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RYAD | La course se poursuit dans le Golfe. Alors qu'une tour de 828 mètres vient d'être inaugurée à Dubai, l'Arabie pourrait bien dépasser largement l'émirat...
Le prince milliardaire saoudien Al-Walid ben Talal a annoncé lundi que son groupe, Kingdom Holdings, préparait des investissements dans l’hôtellerie et l’immobilier, y compris une tour d’un kilomètre de haut dans la ville portuaire saoudienne de Jeddah.
Si cette tour voit le jour, elle battra en hauteur la tour Khalifa de Dubaï, haute de 828 m, et qui a été inaugurée le 4 janvier.
Le prince, l’une des plus grosses fortunes du monde, a indiqué avoir transféré 180 millions de ses actions dans Citigroup au Kingdom Holdings, soit 597 millions de dollars, pour financer les nouveaux investissements. >>> AFP | Lundi 11 Janvier 2010
Saturday, November 21, 2009
WELT ONLINE: In diesen Tagen beginnt der Hadsch. Für Millionen Muslime ist die Pilgerreise der religiöse Höhepunkt ihres Lebens. Diesmal ist einiges anders, denn in Mekka herrscht Angst vor der Schweinegrippe. Saudi-Arabien bemüht sich um die Eindämmung des Problems mit Atemmasken, Thermo-Kameras – und Gebeten.
Ausgerechnet Schweinegrippe! Ausgerechnet jetzt! Das Schwein gilt im Islam ohnehin als unrein und wird gemieden, der Verzehr seines Fleisches ist Muslimen verboten. Unverständnis von Marokko bis Malaysia: Wie kann man sich denn da anstecken? Dass die Weltgrippe nichts mit Essgewohnheiten und auch nur entfernt überhaupt mit dem Schwein zu tun hat, kann die Muslime kaum beruhigen. Und das schlimmste ist: Der Hadsch steht bevor, die islamische Wallfahrt nach Mekka mit fast drei Millionen Pilgern aus rund 160 Staaten.
Was kommende Woche in Mekka geschieht, ist das exakte Gegenteil von dem, was die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) zur Eindämmung des H1N1-Virus empfiehlt: Hunderttausende Menschen in großer Enge und Hitze, die zusammen beten, essen und dieselben rituellen Gegenstände berühren. Der Pilgerort droht zum riesigen Inkubator zu werden. >>> Von Dietrich Alexander | Freitag, 20. November 2009
BBC: Four pilgrims have died of swine flu as they take part in this year's annual Mecca pilgrimage, Saudi officials say.
Three of the victims, a woman from Morocco and men from Sudan and India, were in their seventies.The fourth was a 17-year-old girl from Nigeria.
The Health Ministry said none of the four foreign victims had been vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
The latest figures from the World Health Organization show the virus has so far killed 6,750 people worldwide.
Up to three million Muslims from around the world take part in the holy pilgrimage every year, but health officials have expressed fears that it could provide a breeding ground for the virus. Egyptian fears >>> | Saturday, November 21, 2009
BBC: Video: Swine flu 'is not yet pandemic' >>> | Sunday, November 01, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
LE FIGARO: REPORTAGE - Voulu par le roi Abdallah, cet établissement dispose de moyens impressionnants. Autre révolution : entre ses murs, les règles très strictes du wahhabisme sont adoucies.
Surgie du désert en moins de deux ans, la King Abdallah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) est le dernier joyau de la couronne saoudienne. Les 400 chercheurs venus du monde entier, qui ont démarré les cours en anglais en septembre, pourraient tout à fait s'imaginer sur les campus de Stanford ou Berkeley aux États-Unis. Ils disposent du troisième plus puissant ordinateur au monde et leurs bourses atteignent jusqu'à 100 000 euros par an.
«Monter avec des crédits illimités un centre de catalyse comme celui que je dirige ici, je n'ai jamais vu cela», s'enthousiasme Jean-Marie Basset, venu de l'École de chimie et de physique de Lyon. Il fait partie de la dizaine de Français, polytechniciens pour la plupart, parmi les 73 nationalités présentes sur cette «université mondiale du savoir», dotée de 10 milliards de dollars de budget. Non loin de sa villa, où le chercheur lyonnais vit désormais avec son épouse, s'étendent un golf de neuf trous et une splendide marina pour les amateurs de voile. De quoi faire oublier à tous ces doctorants qu'ils vont phosphorer dans le berceau du wahhabisme, cette doctrine particulièrement rigoriste de l'islam, qui interdit, par exemple, à la femme de conduire une voiture. Mais pas dans cette miniville étudiante de 36 km² face à la mer Rouge, à 80 km au nord de Djedda. L'établissement - qui accueille également 15 % de Saoudiens - jouit d'une véritable extraterritorialité «au pays des deux mosquées saintes» de Médine et La Mecque. Les étudiantes n'y sont pas astreintes au port de l'abaya noire, obligatoire partout ailleurs pour se dérober au regard des hommes. L'opposition des oulémas >>> Georges Malbrunot, envoyé spécial du Figaro à Riyad | Mercredi 18 Novembre 2009
Vidéo: KAUST >>>
THE NEW YORK TIMES: A Saudi Gamble to See if Seeds of Change Will Grow >>> Michael Slackman | Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: A senior Saudi prince who heads the country’s anti-terrorism campaign has survived a suicide attack on his office in Jeddah.
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Interior Minister in charge of security, escaped with only minor injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up as the prince was about to join a gathering of well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
It was the first known assassination attempt against a member of the royal family since Saudi Arabia began its crackdown on al-Qaeda affiliated militants eight years ago after the September 11 terror attacks in the US.
According to a local news agency, the militant who attacked Prince Mohammed had previously expressed his intention to give himself up to the official. >>> Times Online | Friday, August 28, 2009
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Prince Muhammad bin Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs, escaped an assassination attempt on Thursday night when a wanted terrorist blew himself up inside the prince's house here.
The minister escaped with minor injuries in the suicide bombing that was staged by the terrorist posing as a well-wisher. The body of the terrorist, the only death in the incident, was shattered into bits and pieces.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah visited Prince Muhammad at the hospital soon after the incident to inquire about his health and safety. The king thanked God for saving the minister's life, and commended his services to the country.
The king asked Prince Muhammad why was the terrorist allowed in without proper checks, to which the prince replied, “It was a mistake.”
According to a statement issued by the Royal Court, the suicide bombing took place at 11.30 p.m. while Prince Muhammad was receiving well-wishers who came to greet him on the occasion of Ramadan at his house in Jeddah.
"Among them there was a wanted terrorist, who had previously expressed his desire to surrender himself to the prince," the statement said.
Prince Muhammad said the criminal act would only strengthen his resolve to do more to reinforce the country's security and stability.
"The wanted criminal exploded himself during security inspection," the royal court said, adding that the prince escaped the assassination attempt with minor injuries. The bomb had been fixed to his body and that was triggered when the terrorist received a call from outside, according to Al-Arabiya news channel.
"Nobody else suffered any injuries," the royal court said. The prince later left the hospital after undergoing necessary tests and treatment. >>> Arab News | Friday, August 28, 2009
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