· July, 2008

Stories about Saudi Arabia from July, 2008

Saudi Arabia: Is Divorce an Easy Word?

With divorce rates soaring to an all new high in Saudi Arabia, Saudi blogger 3abira Sabeel [Ar] asks: “Has divorce become such an easy word?” Amira Al Hussaini translates 3abira's post from Arabic, which discusses how different today's women are from their grandmothers and why young women and men find it easy to dissolve their unions.

31 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: On the move…or not

The journey, not the arrival matters? Two bloggers from Jeddah would disagree. They have both been having problems getting from one place to another: one in Jeddah itself and the other back to Saudi Arabia from Canada.

30 July 2008

Arabeyes: Head Over Heels for Muhannad

A strange phenomenon has gripped the Arab world and Arabs seem to agree on something. It is an infatuation with a Turkish soap opera, dubbed in Arabic, and its stunning star Muhanned (played by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ), whose romantic trysts are beamed on television screens across the region. The obsession of some people with the soap has also prompted the Grand Mufti of the Islamic world, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh, from Saudi Arabia, to issue a fatwa (religious edict) banning the drama, saying watching it is Haram (a sin).

29 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: What is the point of MBC Persia?

MBC is a Saudi-run satellite television company, known across the Arab world for its entertainment channels as well as Al Arabiya news channel. It has just launched a new channel called MBC Persia, on which films are subtitled in Farsi. Saudi blogger Mohammed Abdullah Al Shahri wonders whether this initiative is really what is needed.

27 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: Segregation on the blogroll?

It is well known that segregation of the sexes in Saudi Arabia exists in everyday life - but what about online? Can the names of male and female bloggers exist together on a blogroll? One Saudi blogger is amused at the thought.

21 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: Death on Roads

New traffic laws have been introduced in Saudi Arabia. Yet, according to Sabra: “A ‘weekend traffic rush’ resulted in three traffic accidents Wednesday night wherein NINE people have died and...

19 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: Legal Question

“I was disappointed to read that a committee from MOJ [Ministry of Justice] is working on the US$ 1.86 plan the King ordered to overhaul the judicial system in the...

18 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: The Black Garbage Bag

American Sabra is in Saudi Arabia … and has to do what the Saudi women do when it comes to covering up from head to toe when outside her house. See what she thinks of the black garb worn by women and how Saudi men react when they come face to face with flesh.

18 July 2008

Saudi Arabia: Pious Wife Beating

From Cairo, Tom Gara posts a video [Ar] featuring a Saudi clergyman preaching on how to discipline wives. He adds: “This clip of a Saudi cleric explaining how to properly...

14 July 2008