Saudi Arabia's mass execution of 47 people on January 2 was a bloody emblem in the country's self-marketing as a leader in the global campaign against ISIS and other armed extremist groups. But it was also a stark example of what Saudi Arabia, and many other countries, are getting wrong in that effort.

Human rights groups have sharply condemned Saudi Arabia in the days since it executed 47 prisoners, including the reported beheading of an influential Shiite cleric. Such brutal executions, which in Saudi Arabia can include beheading, firing squad and even crucifixion, often follow dubious trials and arbitrary charges, according to Geoffrey Mock, the Middle East country specialist for Amnesty International USA.

Saudi courts are sentencing prominent reform advocates, activists, and writers to lengthy jail terms - and even death - on vague charges related to the peaceful exercise of free expression.

On December 3, officials at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport prevented Samar Badawi from leaving Saudi Arabia to advocate abroad for the release of her husband, Waleed Abu al-Khair. A lawyer and human rights activist, he is in prison, facing a 15-year term for peacefully criticizing Saudi authorities on Twitter and in television interviews.

When King Salman, Saudi Arabia's new monarch, issued a general amnesty for Saudi "public rights" prisoners on January 29, Saudi activists and observers felt the first glimmer of hope in some time that the kingdom's relentless persecution of peaceful dissidents and human rights activists may be nearing its end.

women in Saudi Arabia know how to drive. They can vote, at least in local elections. And every Saudi citizen, men and women, may be about to see the end of generous, oil-driven subsidies that explain a lack of income taxes and utility costs so low as to be practically free.

A construction conglomerate at the center of Saudi Arabia's petrodollar-fueled economic boom is teetering under billions of dollars of debt, bankers and financial advisers familiar with the matter said, showing the strain of cheap oil on the kingdom and its companies.

THERE is nothing Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, likes more than taking everyone by surprise. Except, perhaps, demonstrating that his country is an independent actor on the world stage that has to be taken seriously. Thus, the announcement from the Kremlin on March 14th that Russia was partially withdrawing its forces in Syria was vintage Putin.

A California pistachio producer has recalled some of its pistachios after the nuts were linked to a strain of Salmonella that made 11 people ill in nine U.S. states between December and February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The producer, Wonderful Pistachios, said the recall is voluntary.

A closely watched indicator of Dubai's economic health on Wednesday revealed the first contraction of its private sector economy since the recession of 2009, underlining the growing impact on the city-state of low oil prices and global economic

FOR the past half-century, the world economy has been held hostage by just one country: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vast petroleum reserves and untapped production allowed the kingdom to play an outsize role as swing producer, filling or draining the global system at will.

It's a secret of the vast U.S. Treasury market, a holdover from an age of oil shortages and mighty petrodollars: Just how much of America's debt does Saudi Arabia own? But now that question -- unanswered since the 1970s, under an unusual blackout by the U.S.

WHEN Hind Al-Otaibi went to the Riyadh Personal Status Court to have her father struck out as her , or guardian, the judges seemed sympathetic. Her father had raped and bruised her, Ms Otaibi, who was a teenager at the time, told the court.

Throughout the Middle East, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran compete for influence and supremacy via proxy wars in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Produced by Reem Makhoul, Mark Scheffler and Arielle Ray.

New billionaire Hussain Sajwani has transformed the desert skyline with luxury apartments and lavish mansions using outrageous marketing strategies (Free lamborghini, anyone?). He's weathered the 2008 crash and his business partner Donald Trump's politics--so what will he do if oil prices continue to plummet?

President Barack Obama asked the US Congress for $1.3 billion per year in military aid for Egypt and said he would lift holds on aircraft, missiles and tanks for Cairo in place since October 2013, the White House said in a statement.

President Hosni Mubarak has urged Egypt's Muslims and Christians to stand united against terrorism after a bombing outside a church in Alexandria. At least 21 people were killed and 70 hurt in the suspected suicide attack, which happened during a New Year's Eve service at the al-Qiddissin Church.

CAIRO-The Egyptian opposition's takeover of the area around the parliament this week began with a trick-the latest example of how, for more than two weeks, young activists have outwitted Egypt's feared security forces to spur an uprising many here had long thought impossible.

With terrorism dominating the news, hackers are trying to exploit people's fears by posing as Dubai law enforcement and spreading malware. Hacker attacks are a main issue and used to spread malware and terrorist messages.

Across the region, protesters took to the streets in fury threatening to re-ignite worsening sectarian tensions in Lebanon, Iraq and Bahrain. This video talks about the Middle Eastern crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran.