Saudi Arabia plans to block the messenger function on BlackBerry handsets from Friday while the United Arab Emirates has said it will definitely instigate a similar ban next month. Why has BlackBerry become the thorn in the side of the Gulf states?

Leonard Swidler, a Christian scholar at Temple University in Philadelphia, visited Saudi Arabia's ultra­conservative Al Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University earlier this summer, underscoring a shift toward greater openness in some official religious institutions.

A "groundbreaking" new exhibition of rare artifacts from Saudi Arabia's ancient past -- some which have never been shown abroad -- has opened in the Louvre, Paris. The world-famous museum is hosting Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia...

For the first time, the ancient past of Saudi Arabia is at the heart of an exhibition at Paris’ iconic Louvre museum, which is showing works that have never left their country before.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari has reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to become a knowledge-based economy. The minister said Saudi universities have established partnerships with leading institutions of higher learning in the world, including those in Japan, to develop a knowledge-based society. “We want greater cooperation with Japan in this respect,” he added.

Grandstanding is not the king’s style. Rather as crown prince and now as ruler, Abdullah has relied on quiet and patient diplomacy to advance the cause not just of the Palestinians but of a greater understanding between the Muslim and Christian worlds.

When I made the decision to move to Vienna, I was unprepared for the repercussions my attitude, behaviour and opinions would have in forming and influencing European perceptions of women from Saudi Arabia...

What we are witnessing is another step — perhaps crucial — in the shifting strategic balance of power in the Middle East: The cause of the Palestinians is gradually passing out of the hands of Mubarak and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.