Amnesty International charges that Saudi Arabia is persecuting activists and government critics, especially targeting the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association.
Warplanes flying from the USS George HW Bush carried out the first US air-strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, with planes from five Arab countries also participating in the raids.
The Obama administration is preparing to carry out a campaign against ISIS that may take three years to complete, involving a coalition of some 40 countries.
Saudi Arabia carried out a sweep of suspected terrorists as ISIS threatened to take Mecca and destroy the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, calling it a bastion of idolatry.
Border Guard patrols along Saudi Arabia's rugged mountain frontier with Yemen report mounting interceptions of hashish, weapons and other contraband.
The capture of an ISIS commander by the Lebanese army prompted Syrian jihadist forces to seize a village in the Bekaa Valley, sparking gun battles that have left some 20 dead.
A special anti-terrorism court in Saudi Arabia sentenced three people to death for their roles in attacks on expatriate resident compounds in Riyadh in May 2003.
Attorney Waleed Abu al-Khair, chair of the Saudi Arabia Monitor of Human Rights, was taken into custody on vague charges of "inciting public opinion."
A Saudi Arabian court sentenced to death a member of a militant cell in connection with a 2004 suicide attack on a western company operating in Yanbu port.
In addition to the naval face-off over a global oil outlet, the Persian Gulf has seen escalating militarization by international forces in the guise of narcotics enforcement.
A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced political activist Omar al-Saeed to four years in prison and 300 lashes for urging the kingdom to become a constitutional monarchy.
