Amer Hilabi / AFP - Getty Images
A Saudi youth sits next to his sport utility vehicle lifted with stones and bricks in the tourist area of al-Habla, Saudi Arabia on July 12, 2012. Young Saudi males gather in al-Habla for a summer camp to escape the Gulf heat and spend time mounting their cars with rocks for display.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP - Getty Images
Saudi police officers monitor screens connected to cameras, at the Command and Control Center in Mina, outisde the holy city of Mecca, on November 7, 2011, as millions of Muslim pilgrims take part in the annual hajj.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP - Getty Images
An aerial view shows Muslim pilgrims walking around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj pilgrimage rituals on November 7, 2011.
Hassan Ammar / AP
Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims move around the Kaaba, seen at center right, inside the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 31, 2011. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws 2.5 million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. The Hajj will officially begin on Nov. 5.
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia that all able-bodied Muslims, who can afford it, must do at least once in their lifetime. It is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and is the largest pilgrimage in the world.
The Hajj is an ancient ritual, but the Saudi government has had to use modern crowd-control techniques to prevent such things as trampling and architectural collapses that have caused hundreds of deaths during past pilgrimages.
Ammar Awad / Reuters
Pilgrims circle the Kaaba at the Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
See more religious observances from around the world in PhotoBlog
I guess that's what you would expect him to say. Full story.
Reuters
Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, newly appointed Crown Prince speaks at an intrerview at the Riyadh Governor's Palace, October 29.
Fahad Shadeed / Reuters
Saudi men turn out in large numbers to show support and allegiance to newly appointed Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at the Riyadh Governor's Palace, October 29.
This challenge to the Saudi driving ban reminds me of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s. Each day the women become bolder in their effort to defy the driving ban. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the women for their bravery.
Fahad Shadeed / Reuters
Female driver Azza Al Shmasani alights from her car after driving in defiance of the ban in Riyadh June 22. Saudi Arabia has no formal ban on women driving. But as citizens must use only Saudi-issued licences in the country, and as these are issued only to men, women drivers are anathema. An outcry at the segregation, which contributes to the general cloistering of Saudi women, has been fueled by social media interest in two would-be female motorists arrested in May.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP - Getty Images
A note is placed next to the shattered side-view mirror of a car belonging to Saudi Iman al-Nafjan's family which the family says was put as a warning after she drove in Riyadh on June 22 amid calls for nationwide action to break what amounts to a traditional driving ban, unique to the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Athar Hussain / Reuters
A policeman is reflected in a window of a car shattered by bullets, currently parked in a police station, in which a Saudi diplomat was travelling in when he came under attack by gunmen, in Karachi, Pakistan on May 16. Gunmen on motorcycles attacked the car belonging to the Saudi Arabian consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Monday killing a Saudi diplomat, police and the Saudi ambassador said.
KARACHI — Gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Saudi diplomat as he was driving in Pakistan's largest city on Monday, just days after two hand grenades were tossed at the Arab state's consulate building, police in Karachi said.
The motive for the attack was not clear, but it comes against a backdrop of tensions between Islam's Sunni and Shiite branches, both in the Middle East and in Pakistan. Continue reading.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP - Getty Images
A Saudi man cleans his windscreen during a sand and dust storm that engulfed the Saudi capital Riyadh on April 30.
While stopping to get gas is enough of a drag, I'm glad that I don't have to contend with sand storms.
Miranda Grubbs / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari is escorted to his initial court appearance at the Mahon Federal Building in Lubbock, Texas, Feb. 25, 2011. Aldawsari, a college student from Saudi Arabia, is accused of buying chemicals as part of a plan to blow up key U.S. targets, including the home of former President George W. Bush. Aldawsari was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
AP reports:
LUBBOCK, Texas — A college student from Saudi Arabia accused of buying chemicals online as part of a plan to blow up key U.S. targets, including the home of former President George W. Bush, appeared in federal court in Texas on Friday.
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari was arrested Wednesday and charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Rod Hobson, his attorney, declined to comment as he left the courtroom in Lubbock. In a statement, he said the "eyes of the world are on this case" and how Aldawsari is treated.
"This is not "Alice in Wonderland," where the Queen said 'First the punishment then the trial,'" Hobson's statement reads. "This is America, where everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, due process, effective representation of counsel and a fair trial."
Judge Nancy Koenig asked the 20-year-old — handcuffed and with his feet shackled — if he understood the charges against him, and ordered him to remain in custody until a March 11 detention hearing.
Four armed U.S. Marshal's officers flanked Aldawsari as he addressed the judge.
Koenig said Aldawsari faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
Msnbc.com story -- Prosecutors: Saudi man planned attack for years
Fahad Shadeed / Reuters
Rally organizers and participants of the Saudi Classic Cars Rally show disabled children a classic 1950s Chevrolet car before flagging off in Diriyah, an old city on the outskirts of Riyadh Feb. 6. The Rally, the first classic car race in Saudi Arabia, is held to mark the return of Saudi King Abdullah from medical treatment in the United States to Morocco for recuperation. Thirty classic cars manufactured between 1939 to 1969 are taking part in the Rally, and are expected to arrive in Almgooap Park, in Hail city Feb. 8 according to the press release.
It's no camel race, but these old Chevys are something to look at.
Hassan Ammar / AP
Muslim pilgrims take a rest after the noon prayer in Mina near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Nov. 14. Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage, draws 2.5 million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world.
Hajj, which starts today, is always a visually interesting event, so check back later for a link to a slideshow of more images. In the meantime, read the full story here.
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