Saudi Arabia

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST: The largest known mass execution in the modern history of Saudi Arabia took place yesterday. Eighty one people were put to death.

You know, this mass execution comes when the West is now looking to Saudi oil to offset bans on Russian exports. This was meant as a message to anybody who would think about threatening Saudi security that this won't be tolerated. Stephen Kalin is a Middle East correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and is with us now from the Saudi capital city, Riyadh. Thank you so much for being with us. KALIN: From a Western perspective, it's really quite shocking, and it doesn't do the Saudis any favors in terms of their public image. Sometimes the activists who track these things are aware that, you know, a number of people - their execution date might be coming up. The largest known mass execution in the modern history of Saudi Arabia took place yesterday.

Tehran also condemned mass executions in Saudi Arabia that activists said included 41 Shi'ite Muslims. Meanwhile talks on an Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna have ...

Saudi authorities did not respond to a Reuters' request for comment. Activists said 41 were Shi'ite Muslims from the eastern Qatif region, which has historically been a flashpoint between the Sunni-dominated government and minority Shi'ites. It said no specific date had been scheduled for a new round of talks.

In 2014, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 1000 lashes, a 10-year travel ban to start on expiration of his prison sentence, a ban on using media outlets ...

While the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the release of blogger and human rights defender Raif Badawi, it calls on the Saudi authorities to lift the ten-year forced travel ban currently imposed on him, and immediately and unconditionally allow him to join his family in Canada. There is no doubt that he should not ever have been imprisoned, as civilised countries celebrate their creative talents and do not throw them into prisons. On 9 January 2015, he received 50 lashes in public. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) welcomes the release of blogger and human rights defender Raif Badawi, and calls on authorities to lift the ten-year forced travel ban currently imposed on him.

The report did not give a reason for Iran's suspension, but it comes after Saudi Arabia put to death 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to ties ...

The pause in diplomatic talks between the countries that have long competed for influence across the Middle East comes at a tense time for the region. Iran-backed militias also have attacked Saudi targets and launched drones against the kingdom from Iraq. Iran, the largest Shi’ite Muslim country in the world, and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, severed diplomatic ties in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Angry Iranians protesting the execution stormed two Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, fueling years of animosity between the nations.