Saudi Arabia
28/05/2013 / SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi official whips migrant worker with belt
A video filmed in Saudi Arabia has thrown the authorities’ treatment of migrant workers back into the spotlight. The footage shows an official in the coastal city of Jeddah chasing Africans out of a passport office and beating one of them with a belt, shouting: "Out!" Read more...
Contributors
23/05/2013 / SAUDI ARABIA
Bodies of decapitated convicts displayed in Saudi public square
Five Yemeni nationals convicted of murder and of belonging to a criminal organisation were decapitated and hung by the shoulders from cranes Tuesday in the city of Jizan, in southwestern Saudi Arabia. According to our Observer, this macabre scene is intended to terrorize criminals and illegal immigrants. Read more...
Contributors
25/02/2013 / SAUDI ARABIA
Roving monkey hordes ambushing Saudi villages
In southwest Saudi Arabia, baboons have no qualms about entering inhabited areas to loot trashcans and pantries. Such monkey business is causing panic among the local residents, who are resorting to unusual means to get rid of the baboons. Read more...
Contributors
14/12/2012 / WORLD
Five years of the Observers: Thank you everybody!
Five years! Exactly five years ago today, the Observers was launched for the very first time. We would like to celebrate this with you as we reflect on the path we’ve travelled together, and look forward to some of our new projects. Read more...
Contributors
29/11/2012 / SAUDI ARABIA
The Bin Laden conglomerate “wants to turn Mecca into Las Vegas”
The mosque at Mecca, which is the largest in the world, is currently under renovation. According to the Saudi authorities, the mosque needs to be expanded to accommodate larger numbers of Muslim pilgrims. However, the destruction of ancient parts of the mosque by the Bin Laden family company is stirring up resentment in Saudi Arabia. Read more…
Contributors
09/11/2012 / SAUDI ARABIA
'The people will not forget those killed': Saudi Shiites march for their dead
On Thursday night hundreds of people took to the streets of Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia, to mark the deaths of at least 14 people in connection with protests against the government over the past year. They denounced the authorities’ failure to investigate these deaths, as well as its continuing crackdown on activists belonging to the Shiite Muslim minority. Read more ...
Contributors
01/11/2012 / SAUDI ARABIA
16/10/2012 / OUR OBSERVERS BALANCE THEIR BOOKS
Unemployed Saudi struggles on €400 a month
Mohammad Alsaeddi does not fit the popular image of a rich Saudi. As a 37-year-old living in Qatif, in eastern Saudi Arabia, he has been unemployed since 2010 and receives no help from the state. He sells birds at the markets and depends on help from his family in order to support himself. Read more...
Contributors
01/10/2012 / NIGERIA - SAUDI ARABIA
Nigerian women stopped from reaching Mecca: ‘We’re not living in the Prophet’s times!’
Saudi Arabia has begun expelling over a thousand Nigerian women who had come on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca because they were not accompanied by male guardians. Our Observer, a Nigerian blogger, denounces this as an outdated vision of Islam. Read more...
Contributors
15/06/2012 / SAUDI ARABIA
Images of a “zoo of horrors” in Riyadh
One of our Observers living in Riyadh recently visited a zoo there. She knew this zoo had a bad reputation, but what she saw was worse than anything she could imagine. Read more…
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