Greater Middle East

US strikes AQAP training camp in Yemen

The US killed "dozens" of AQAP fighters in an air-strike on a training camp, but claims of denying the group "safe haven" ring hollow as its zones of control grow in Yemen.

Greater Middle East

Saudi executions for 2015 set 20-year record

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in 20 years—overwhelmingly for non-lethal offenses.

Greater Middle East

Yemen: use of cluster bombs may be war crime

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the use of cluster bombs by the Saudi-led coalition against residential neighborhoods in Yemen may amount to a war crime.

Iran

Iran, Saudi Arabia wage execution war

Violent protests in Iran against Saudi Arabia's execution of a dissident Shi'ite cleric come as the Islamic Republic is itself preparing a mass execution of Sunni political prisoners.

Greater Middle East

Health concerns for imprisoned Saudi blogger

Imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi—winner of the EU's Sakharov Prize—has suffered fainting spells and deteriorating health owing to his lengthy hunger strike.