MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- "Hundreds of people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday." --
At least they got to see 'the big stone.'
And speaking of 'self-inflicted injury.'
-- "After years of open hostility and proxy conflicts across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties, they announced on Friday, in a significant pivot for the two regional rivals that was facilitated by China. The renewed Iran-Saudi ties resulting from Chinese mediation is described as 'a lose, lose, lose for American interests.'" --I GUESS PARDONING A MURDERER JUST WASN'T ENOUGH...
-- "The move to grant immunity to bin Salman by Biden was harshly criticized by those seeking to hold bin Salman accountable for the murder." --
-- "Saudi Arabia has updated the list of domestic labour jobs available to women, with 13 new professions added... driver, personal care worker, home tailor, home manager, private tutor and home farmer. Other roles added to the permitted list for female domestic workers in KSA were listed in local media as home coffee maker, private speech and hearing specialist and support worker." --
-- "Saudi Arabia's Education Minister has apologised for the production of a school textbook in which the Star Wars character Yoda is seen superimposed on a photograph of the late King Faisal." --
-- "US intelligence authorities determined bin Salman approved the killing of the well-known journalist and author, who wrote critically of the Saudi leader’s authoritarian rule in the Arab nation. The move to grant immunity to bin Salman by Biden was harshly criticized by those seeking to hold bin Salman accountable for the murder." --
-- "The Sunday Times, a UK based publication, reported that Charles, 73, personally took money from Bakr bin Laden, and brother Shafiq. Bakr serves as the head of the Saudi family and both men are half-brothers to the mastermind behind al Qaeda. The money was deposited into the fund and sources told Charles to return the money, but he declined to do so, the outlet reported." --
-- "Mohammed Khalifa, 39, who grew up in Toronto and left Canada in 2013 for Syria, killed two Syrian soldiers on the group’s behalf before his capture by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement on his sentence." --MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH
-- "A 59-year-old janitor, Aboneh Kassa Gebre, of Toronto, is accused of sexually assaulting two employees at a business in the Annex. Investigators are concerned about the possibility of other alleged victims." --
-- "Yes, it’s a fist bump rather than a handshake. BUT Biden still fist-bumped the man who ordered the murder — and bone-saw dismemberment — of a U.S. journalist, after refusing to say if he would directly confront MBS on Jamal Khashoggi’s murder." --
-- "According to reports, President Biden will be traveling to Saudi Arabia this month, despite repeated promises to hold the country accountable for human rights violations." --'GREAT UNITER' DOES A 180 ON GUN CONTROL
-- "On July 9, 1985, during debate over the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA), Senate Judiciary Committee member Joe Biden (D-DE) sided with the NRA and argued criminals can get guns 'with or without gun control.'" --
-- "Family members of victims have long sought U.S. government documents, including secret law enforcement and intelligence reports, related to whether Saudi Arabia aided or financed any of the 19 people associated with al Qaeda, the group given safe haven by the Taliban in Afghanistan at the time." --
-- "Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia." --
-- "Nearly 2,000 people who were directly affected by 9/11 are calling on President Biden to not participate in any 20th anniversary ceremonies unless he declassifies government documents they believe will implicate Saudi Arabia in the terrorist attacks." --
-- "Saudi Arabia has officially allowed single, divorced or widowed women to live independently in a house without permission from father or any other male guardian, the Makkah newspaper reported." --
Britain's Health Protection Agency said the latest person to contract the virus was a relative of two other cases announced earlier this week.Globalisation, huh?
The first member of the family, who was confirmed on Monday as having the virus, had recently travelled to the Middle East and Pakistan. The two relatives had no recent travel history.
A total of 12 cases have been reported to the WHO, with five of them fatal -- three in Saudi Arabia and two in Jordan.
Ah infidel, you scoff... but behold... there is indisputable proof..."In the report, Professor Kamal Subhi exemplified the point by describing what he experienced while sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state."Oh... my... gawd... it's just like the universally acknowledged & respected Chicken Little Theorem... substituting panties for sky, of course.
"'All the women were looking at me," he wrote. "One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive,' he concluded."
"Hmm... I love to get in my car and go for a drive, but it has never been THAT exciting. What am I doing wrong? ;)"**********
You've gotta love this. "A report given to a high-level advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said Saturday."You check out the first article from Fars News, you'll see that "encourage premarital sex"... doesn't quite cover it.
-- OTTAWA -- Three University of Ottawa resident doctors are accusing the university and faculty members of racism, intimidation and discrimination.Why, I wouldn't blame them if they all packed up their bags tommorrow and enrolled at some world-famous Saudi medical... wait...
Waleed Al-Ghaithy, Khalid Aba-Alkhail and Manal Al-Saigh -- all from Saudi Arabia -- have filed complaints with the Ontario human rights tribunal.
"Racism and intimidation at the University of Ottawa? How can that be, isn't that where those fine liberals Errol Mendes and Amir Attaran work?"**********
Saudi police opened fire Thursday to disperse a protest in the mainly Shiite east, leaving at least one man injured, as the government struggled to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.I sincerely hope the protesters will be taking this up with the "Riyahd Human Rights Commission."
The Interior Ministry has banned demonstrations, saying they contradict Islamic laws and society's values and adding that some people have tried to go around the law to "achieve illegitimate aims."
