Saudi Arabia

The war between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi military has created what the U.N. calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The activist's sister tells NPR her parents "saw a very weak, tired, exhausted Loujain" at her court appearance: "They said that her body was shaking, that she could barely hold the papers."

The Saudi government is accused of continuing to track down and threaten dissidents and other rivals who are living as far away as Canada and the United States.

The Wall Street Journal's Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck chart MBS' evolution from an unfocused, overweight kid with a taste for McDonald's to an increasingly brutish man with an eye on the throne.

Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a leading critic of the kingdom's crown prince, was killed in Istanbul in 2018. Twenty Saudis are standing trial in absentia in Khashoggi's death.

Officials announce on Monday that this year's pilgrimage to Mecca will be restricted in size and limited to Saudi residents. In a typical year, millions of Muslims would make the journey.

"Our religion teaches us that saving lives is an obligation. That is the consideration in this policy," Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi says.

Even with stringent lockdowns, the coronavirus has spread through migrant communities in some Middle Eastern countries where foreign workers live in cramped quarters.