May 21, 2013
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
Saudi Arabia, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area and the second-largest in the Arab world. It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, Yemen in the south, the Red Sea to the west and Persian Gulf to the east. Its population is estimated to consist of 16 million citizens and an additional 9 million registered foreign expatriates and 2 million illegal immigrants.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as Al Saud. The Saudi Arabian government has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, and it describes itself as being Islamic. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and the kingdom is sometimes called "the Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram, and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, the two holiest places in Islam.
(via Freebase)
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![Rights groups list Saudi Arabia among world's worst human rights abusers [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-2759000/2759148/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=d979ef37b43946bdeeb9f2af473750d5)
![Thousands of Arab fighters enter Yemen to counter Houthis [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-2721000/2721682/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=3e8eb42ec2b123eabb9ad4e0477663d7)
![Saudi women continue struggle for equal rights [New TV, Lebanon]](/images/image_cache/base-2610000/2610045/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=531d8aedaeb0692f98a885168c795ca0)
![Syrian unrest tops talks between Clinton and Saudi king [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-2577000/2577991/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=03a3b32a361d91764f0b9d829b815ac0)
![Senior Saudi diplomat kidnapped in Yemen [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-2419000/2419443/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=7a1ddb4b401bd7e90ee7afc8660a9f92)
![Saudi protests in solidarity with Abha students spread to Riyadh [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-2020000/2020173/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=01678ef5cbf81ffc17447123f0ef5e8d)
![Bahraini activists mark first anniversary of Saudi-backed raid on Pearl Roundabout [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-1974000/1974774/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=27cd0ba2b2b1c82968eb784b764e39cd "An anti-government protester prepares to throw a Molotov cocktail at riot police during clashes in the village of Eker, south of Bahraini capital Manama, March 16, 2012: REUTERS/Stringer")
![Fresh protests erupt in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-1855000/1855032/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e73f68f0049d6d3f1e1ef92db2c80186)
![Saudi student dissent in Abha spreads around the Kingdom [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-1810000/1810237/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=fcb04ee93d66b5981472580636e38a7b)
