Stories from and

Second Shia Mosque Attacked by ISIS in Saudi Arabia

  31 May 2015

On Global Voices Checkdesk, a collaboration project between Meedan Checkdesk, an online news verification tool, and Global Voices Online, Joey Ayoub charts the initial reactions on the bombing of a second Shia mosque in Dammam, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, for the second Friday in a row. Three...

Did Saudi Arabia Bomb Yemen's Ancient Marib Dam?

  31 May 2015

Unconfirmed reports say that Saudi coalition forces, which have been bombing Yemen for more than two months have targeted the Marib Dam, one of the engineering wonders of the ancient world. On Twitter, Hussain Albukhaiti claims: Unconfirmed reports: #Saudi Jets has Just targeted the historic #Marib Dam NW #Yemen http://t.co/rZYWUF2Qe6...

Parenting 101: How to Raise Children the Arab Way

  29 April 2015

Satirist Karl Sharro dishes out some parenting advice on Twitter to his 51K followers, on how to bring up children, after reading news today that Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has announced a major cabinet reshuffle. The Saudi king has appointed his nephew, Minister of Interior Mohammed...

Who Benefits from Trafficking Women from Madagascar to the Middle East?

  22 April 2014

Aaron Ross reports on his investigation in the heart of the ongoing human trafficking of young women from Madagascar to Middle Eastern countries: For some enterprising businessmen, the collapse heralded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So-called placement agencies sprang up in Antananarivo and other cities across Madagascar, promising the good life in...

Saudi Arabia: 2014 A Promising Year for Women

  27 March 2014

Saudi Arabian blogger Hala Al-Dosari shares on her blog an interesting piece from an annual publication by the Wislon’s Center on women in the MENA Region. The publication suggests that 2014 might be a potentially promising year for women status in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia Controls Babies Names

  12 March 2014

You are not allowed to name your newborn daughter Eman, or Sandy, or Yara. And if it is a boy, names like Abdelnasser, Amir or Abdulmoeen are a no go. But that's only in Saudi Arabia. On Twitter, Iyad El Baghdadi shares this list of baby names banned in the...

Pakistan, Stay Out of Syria's Civil War

  25 February 2014

A day after a tiny news items titled, “Saudi Arabia ‘seeking Pakistani arms for Syrian rebels” appeared in Pakistani newspapers, political blogger Ahsan Butt posts a provocative piece warning Pakistan's foreign policymakers against tiptoeing into Syria's affairs. In “This is not our war (Syria Edition)” on the Five Rupees Blog, Ahsan...

Human Rights Video: 2013 Year in Review

  3 February 2014

A video by WITNESS on the Human Rights Channel of YouTube wrapped up some of the most significant protests and human rights abuses of 2013. Dozens of clips shot by citizens worldwide are edited together to show efforts to withstand injustice and oppression, from Sudan to Saudi Arabia, Cambodia to...

Lebanese Blogger Spoofs Study on Middle Eastern Women's Clothing

  18 January 2014

The question “How Should Middle Eastern Women Dress in Public” posed by the University of Michigan is attracting hilarious spoofs online. The content is so rich that an additional post to our first one was necessary. When Washington Post Max Fisher shared the original image on Twitter, he wasn't expecting...

Saudi Airlines Still has Manual Levers for Plane Seats

  11 December 2013

Saudi Muna AbuSulayman complains about the use of manual levers in Saudi Airlines aircraft seats: How old are theses @saudi_airlines planes!!!! 3rd time this week I was seated on them . Manuel levers??? Seriously! pic.twitter.com/8lotaiWRke — Muna AbuSulayman (@MunaAbuSulayman) December 11, 2013

Saudi Women to Continue to Challenge Driving Ban

  9 November 2013

Now that the Saudi government's position on the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia is clear, activists intend to continue to challenge the ban and “focus their effort on changing the government’s position instead of spending time trying to convince observers that society is not against lifting the ban.”...

21km of Jeddah's 655km coastline accessible to public

  9 November 2013

Do you live near the sea but feel it's unreachable? That is the case for people living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ahmed Al Omran tweets: Total length of coastline within Jeddah Governorate is 655km. Only 21km of that is properly accessible to public http://t.co/64gTbTSEV3 — Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) November...

Saudi Releases Writer Tariq Al Mubarak

  7 November 2013

Saudi writer Tariq Al Mubarak, detained for supporting women in their right to drive in the absolute monarchy, has been released. Tamador Al Yami tweets: After 8 days in detention, Tariq Almubarak supporter of #Women2Drive #oct26driving is Free now. #FreeTariqAlmubarak — تماضر اليامي Tamador (@TamadorAlyami) November 3, 2013

Abuse of Workers and Our Daughter From Nepal

  4 November 2013

Indian blogger Kiran Kumar Karlapu tells a real life story of the plights of a Nepali girl, who was pushed back by her employer from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was left stranded in Mumbai airport with not enough money to buy ticket to go back to home and some fellow...

“Driving is Dangerous for Saudi Women”

  1 November 2013

On Blue Abaya, Layal writes a satirical piece on Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving. http://www.blueabaya.com/2013/10/26th-october-the-day-the-world-almost-came-to-an-end.html She notes: A new road sign was designed to spread awareness and remind any forgetful females that driving was not allowed. Clerics tweeted about the adverse affects of women driving cars which no doubt...

VIDEO: “No Woman, No Drive” Stuns Saudi Arabia

  26 October 2013

Today, October 26, was the day Saudi activists chose to protest against the driving ban on women in the Kingdom. As social networks were buzzing under increasing number of reports of women driving across the country, a brilliant a capella remake of Bob Marley's “No Woman, No Cry” spread at...

Saudi Clerics Protest Women Driving

  22 October 2013

‘A group of more than 100 conservative Saudi clerics gathered Tuesday at the Royal Court in Riyadh to protest against what they called “the conspiracy of women driving.”’ writes Ahmed Al Omran at Riyadh Bureau. Saudi women are planning to defy a ban on women driving in the absolute monarchy...

Saudi Women Driving – “A Western Demand”

  8 October 2013

Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran shares this tweet by a female member of the Saudi ruling family, ridiculing the call to lift the ban on women driving: London-based Saudi princess ridicules the calls to lift the ban on women driving, calls it a Western demand pic.twitter.com/XYqfyi4kIs — Ahmed Al Omran...

Why Contribute to GV in Arabic ?

  30 July 2013

Ahlam Safi from Saudi Arabia explains [ar] what motivated her to translate for Global Voices in Arabic and what she has gained from her contribution. She blogs: وفرّ لي موقع الاصوات العالمية فرصة نادرة لاكتساب خبرة في الترجمة ما كنت لأجدها في أي مكان آخر، وتعرفت عن طريقه على مجموعة من...