saudi arabia lives a bizarre double life. fabulously rich, drenched in oil, it is at the same time handcuffed by extremist islam. the saudis are deeply conflicted, but then so are we. because their story is intertwined with ours. the closest ally of this strange desert kingdom has been america, the world's most open democracy where freedom of religion is enshrined in the constitution. why? a "new york times" columnist put it susinccinctly. >> out back that's where you'd find the medievalism, the hatred of other religions. >> it is my view, fareed, that on 9/11 we got hit with the distilled essence of everything that was going on out back. >> osama bin laden and 15 of the 9/11 hijackers, all saudis. more isis soldiers come from saudi than from anywhere else in the middle east. for years america has been desperate for a new day in saudi arabia. >> to the stage, ladies and gentlemen, his royal highness. >> enter 33-year-old crown prince mohammed bin salman. he is unlike any saudi ruler the world has seen before. mbs, effectively

there's only one other force as powerful as oil in saudi arabia. religion. practice the most extreme form of islam in the world. >> article 1 says the sayings of the prophet are the constitution of this country. >> sharia is the only law. women are rendered virtually invisible. black ghosts. >> domination. men have dominated women. there's this sense that any mixing between men and women is fraught with the potential for evil to happen. >> women have the status of children. by law their husbands or fathers are their guardians. some clerics give men a free hand to beat women. mohammad al arifyi counsels young men on the right way to hit their wives. "lightly with the hand," he says, "and not in the face." if beating does not keep a wife in line, men can download a wife-tracking app on their phones. created by the saudi government, the app will send out a text alert if a wife heads for the airport or the border. >> testosterone is a dangerous drug. it's this view of women as both children and as chaotic sexual beings. >> the app is called absher, arabic for "y

cascade platinum. >>> the king of saudi arabia is 83 years old. he saudi king is always quite old. >> everybody who governed that country was aged and uncharismatic. >> you see succession followed a pattern. by some estimates, the modern founder of the kingdom had 45 sons. when one died, the next oldest brother took his place. nearly two years ago, siking salman took up this ritual and installed his 31-year-old son. >> saudi arabia has a new heir to the throne. >> a royal shake-up in the house. >> mbs was an obscure young royal known almost no one outside saudi arabia. now he is poised to succeed his ailing father and rule the kingdom for a half century if his health and the monarchy hold out. >> this is somebody with a great deal of ambition and who has the complete support and faith of his father. >> when mbs rocketed to power, he began to shake things up almost right away. the old saudi system seemed ancient with senior royals running ministries like earls and dukes. he replaced people loyal to him and amassing power personally. we have talked a

there's only one other force as powerful as oil in saudi arabia. religion. ractice the most extreme form of islam in the world. >> article 1 says the sayingings of the prophet are the constitution of this country. >> sharia is the only law. women are rendered virtually invisible. black ghosts. >> domination. men have dominated women. there's this sense that any mixing between men and women is fraught with the potential for evil to happen. >> women have the status of children. by law their husbands or fathers are their guardians. some clerics give men a free hand to beat women. mohammad al arifyi counsels young men on the right way to hit their wives. "lightly with the hand," he says, "and not in the face." if beating does not keep a wife in line, men can download a wife-tracking app on their phones. created by the saudi government, the app will send out a text alert if a wife heads for the airport or the border. >> testosterone is a dangerous drug. it's this view of women as both children and as chaotic sexual beings. >> the app is called absher, arabic for "

saudi arabia posted bail and he disappeared. we had the saudi consulate post bail for fled oregon before facing trial in 20 oh 12 on multiple sex crime charges including . we have a saudi national minister who has faced charges in 2016 for striking a homeless man with his vehicle who disappeared. we have a saudi consulate posting a $500,000 security deposit for a student in oregon and saudi national who was arrested in 2015 on 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse before fleeing the country. we have the saudi consulate posting $500,000 bond for another university student and a saudi national who was arrested in 2014 on a charge of . we have these crimes being committed by saudi nationals and then the saudi government posting bail and taking them out of the country, is this acceptable? >> it is certainly not t acceptable for any government to assist their citizens that have violated our laws. >> are you as disturbed as i am that essentially that at this moment the saudi nationals in the united states have a get out of jail free

about says we're nation ship with saudi arabia. that's right and he's pretty much made the same comment every month since she was murdered in at the u.s. at the saudi consulate excuse me in istanbul back on october second in fact just last month after the state department missed a deadline to tell congress what more it was going to do to try to hold saudi arabia accountable for episode she was murdered mr graham had this to say while saudi arabia is a strategic ally the behavior of the crown prince in multiple ways has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him in my view beyond toxic so lindsey graham has been very very critical of the saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon he's also been very critical of the administration's failure to tell congress what it's going to do under the terms of the global back netsky act the administration should have given a report to congress a month ago saying what more it's going to do to investigate and then hold accountable those saudis responsible for. murder and we should note felicity

as far as saudi arabia is concerned, we have a shared security interests of saudi arabia in combating sunni extremism and iranian influence in the region and we should not lose sight of that. at the same time, i think all of us have serious concern over events following the saudi kingdom and the saudi gcc rift with qatar has made difficult u.s. effort in the gulf arab unity against iran. we look forward, mr. abizaid, general abizaid on how you work with officials to advance u.s. object is on a wide range of issues including saudi's will to yemen conflict, the gcc crisis with qatar and reported human rights. in addition to that, we welcome mr. tueller regarding the iraq post. he remains ongoing tensions between bag dad and the kurds as we all know, particularly in the north, preparing this relationship needs to be a priority for the united states. the kurds have been a good friend of ours become a good allies and it's important to relationship in iraq be repaired or this comes at a time when the iraqi parliament is preparing to did a revolution that would significantly affect the u.s.

has with saudi arabia. you write -- explain what you mean. >> well, this is well-known i think that the saudi royal tempt downorder to -- tamp down internal resistance to its rule, has played to clericsservative muslim by investing enormous sums in exporting ultraconservative islam in other parts of the world. and in a fact, underwriting organizations that end up conducting terrorist attacks not only against the united states, but against other countries and other regimes. now, there is some evidence that in recent years they have backed off from this tendency, but nonetheless, if we try to understand the origins of a radical islamism in some parts of the muslim world, we have to recognize the important role that saudi arabia has played in creating this problem. and further, we have to recognize that the u.s. efforts to respond to that problem by invading countries and bombing countries and overthrowing regimes has not dampened the problem down, but has actually worsened it. so in that sense, the u.s.-saudi

saudi arabia releases three female rights activists off to months in detention. and the u.n. calls on the saudi government to publicly open the secret trials of suspects in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. doha everyone on to maria and this is the world news from algiers at least nineteen people have been killed in a fire in an office tower in the bangladeshi capital dhaka. also an oil tanker migrants in a rescue at sea the pursuit of a better life turned into a hijacking in the mediterranean and the u.k. government hints it wants a vote on break this on friday but hasn't said quite what that would be about. so we're starting with breaking news on two fronts concerning saudi arabia first the saudi government has announced it has released three women jailed for their human rights campaign these were activists arrested before the ban on women driving in the kingdom was lifted last june they are still awaiting a final ruling on the case eight other women are also facing charges some of them told a hearing on wednesday that they had been sexually harristown flanked by gua

murder of saudi journalist john markoff shogi and high profile cases of young women who fled to saudi arabia seeking asylum abroad while the saudi government is accused of using the court system to silence his critics the freedom of these activists and several others who's on the line katia lopez with a yawn al-jazeera. southern iftikhar has an incentive still here in rights lawyer and a senior fellow at georgetown university he welcomes the temporary releases but says the international community needs to keep pressure on saudi arabia not a permanent relief temporarily or as released they've been going to court appointed public defender you know their own attorneys so they're going to have to have your report yet again this is a very tiny symbolic very large human rights group. you know you know doesn't record when it comes to human rights actually you know if. you're not shocked and so again releasing a lemon you know this is you know somebody else that. keening electrocuting waterboarding forced to break their wrath or not and so this is something that we will get to more releases but i do

and saudi arabia the u.s. government voice its displeasure too but in recent weeks it's been clear from e.u. governments that they weren't going to greenlight this new list and now we've heard it in the last couple of hours this official rejection by the e.u. justice and home affairs ministers of this proposed new list that means that the old one stays in place until the new one can be agreed to just in the last couple of hours the e.u. commission has said that she wants you governments to show they're serious to back up what she's called big words in the past after a financial scandals and after terrorist attacks in europe she's basically saying bluntly to these governments it's not good enough just saying we will get serious with countries like saudi arabia but under pressure not to take that step of putting them on a blacklist which let's let's not forget doesn't involve sanctions or anything like that it simply means that there's more scrutiny of financial institutions and banks here in the e.u. if they're

one of the most colorful presidential cause or a row of saudi arabia. in february nine hundred forty five the americans and the saudis meet on board the u.s.s. quincy to discuss the oil. have a new back to security miter cicle socrates there was a bilateral security pact which is what the saudis called. the americans loserville we have an ocean of oil and will assure that you have a secure supply news of it in return we ask you to ensure our security coups it sure you know to security. in denver so where's it alone why but understanding each other brings together all of. the friendship would soon proved to be a rocky one in nine hundred sixty the oil exports of the middle east joined with venezuela to form a cartel that would defend their interests and. stabilize prices. from that point on the organization of petroleum exporting countries opec would be a powerful force. in some random madeleine get. killed because. worried about its own oil supply the united states halted its exports. of the carefree years when a tank of fuel costs next to nothing had en

alone in its concerns last september spain cancel the sale of four hundred laser guided bombs to saudi arabia but unlike germany spain reinstated its deal a week later fearing the saudis my counselor two billion dollar order for spanish built corvettes. germany's embargo has even bigger implications. the typhoon eurofighter the saudi air force has more than fifty already and uses them in yemen the cockpit from fuselage spine fin and part of the refuse a large a made by b.a. systems in the u.k. the right wing and left leading wing edge made by spain allana and italy make the left wing and part of the refusal but the central fuselage is manufactured by germany and germany's export ban means britain can't deliver on a thirteen billion dollars deal to sell the next forty eight typhoon aircraft to saudi arabia. airbus's chief executive vented his frustration at the recent munich security conference going on just you know but after that you come to the conclusion to the germans are of the opinion the only day of responsible arms export policies and others don't. analysts warn that the dispute is da

and high profile cases of young woman who fled to saudi arabia seeking asylum abroad while the saudi government is accused of using the court system to silence its critics the freedom of these activists and several others who's on the line katia lopez will yun al-jazeera. un investigators says saudi arabia holding hearings in secret for suspects accused of being involved in the murder of genesis is a violation of international law the special report to our own extrajudicial executions likeness kalama is called on riyadh to try the eleven suspects in public and release their names she's denounced the kingdom for what she says is a lack of transparency well shereen touch rose says the u.n. representative for amnesty international and she says that saudi arabia is trying to treat the trial as an internal matter. this is a trial that they are you know that's taking place in saudi arabia they say they've invited various representatives from france from the u.k. from russia from china from the u.s. to observe this trial and they are following international standards here is the un special

bit rabid in his support for saudi arabia and gun sales if we truly care about saudi lives you'd want to stop or run back to these from launching missiles into riyadh amazing how you can twist and turn reality on its head rather than protecting you many civilians from saudi arabia he's protecting saudi arabia from starving many civilians really and speaking of protecting saudi lives there is at least one life that washington didn't seem so concerned about mr hersh shoji was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of saudi arabia riyadh has brushed off ickes ations that the rule family had anything to do with it saying it was rude to operation and that seems washington was all too happy to support this explanation you know we've. been. really really. us oil company. the banks the military corporations the trump government and usually notice the chunk of ministrations in washington democrat and republican serve the interests of those big banks and corporations and so many net relationship and all that it means for profit power em

while germany kane's for less than two percent some of the top top arms exports to saudi arabia but the ban will affect saudi defense deals with other e.u. countries key among them is a thirteen billion dollar deal for your fighter typhoon german manufacturers were expected to supply almost a third of the components for the fighter jets france has been critical of the german response french ambassador to berlin and mary day could only or warns the move could jeopardize european defense cooperation. meanwhile the united states has secretly authorized several companies to sell nuclear power technology to saudi arabia u.s. energy secretary rick perry reportedly approved sixty miles on wednesday can the whole morning from washington. it's been a cozy relationship from the start donald trump selected saudi arabia as the location for his first foreign trip the u.s. president made clear the kingdom is a priority that's why u.s. lawmakers are now asking questions about reports the trumpet ministration recently granted secret approvals to at least one u.s. company to sell nuclear power technolog

support for riyadh's endless war in yemen saudi arabia's bloody war in yemen world's worst humanitarian disaster the horrific wall in yemen saudi led quagmire we are helping saudi arabia drop bombs on churches and weddings we all want this conflict to end if you truly care about your many lives you'd support the saudi led effort to prevent yemen from turning into a puppet state of the corrupt british islamic republic of iran as opposed to becoming a puppet of the free and fair saudi arabia but what do we know the saudis have waged a four year war against who with the rebels who they call terrorists that has turned yemen into a humanitarian catastrophe worse even than syria four and five yemeni civilians twenty four out of twenty eight million need aid to survive three in five or twenty million either on the brink or already starving that is the pump a zero has a solution the united states has given more than two billion dollars to help the many people since the start of the conflict. and saudi arabia has given over five hundred million dollars in two thousand and eighteen alone and as p

calls on saudi arabia to make public the trials held over the murder of saudi journalist. relics of a former era in ukraine while the issue of corruption won't go away in the run up to sunday's presidential election. to be with you. live. a musical maestro leads tributes national service to remember the victims of the new zealand mosque attacks. well we begin in saudi arabia where three female activists have been granted temporary release after spending ten months in prison they've been freeze after the second hearing of their trial which is still continuing and reports the others will be released on sunday where women say they've been sexually harassed given electric shocks and fooled by prison guards saudi arabia's government denies the women have been mistreated. well several reports named the female bloggers as a man on the john as these are abusive and academic or on the heart of they've been charged in parts with contacting international media and human rights groups they were among the more than eleven female activists arrested last may including rights campaigner.

kingdom to release detained female activists who allegedly tortured and detention it comes to saudi arabia arabia's public prosecutor was reported to be preparing the trials of the women the document calls on solving to cooperate with the un that probe into the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi was killed in the saudi consulates last october iceland has led the initiative uniting thirty six countries and what's seen as the first ever said shit at the un rights forum. let's go now to our correspondent in the baba he is joining us live from brussels the first time the body has rebuked saudi arabia but then how significant is that. well it clearly is significant because up to now since two thousand and six when the human rights council was actually set up there hasn't been such a move officially by the human rights council as a body there have been of course reports and there have been questions to saudi delegates about the human rights record in the kingdom but this is really a big move it's not just a statement by some of the members of the human rights council but as you were saying it'

a row of saudi arabia. in february nine hundred forty five the americans and the saudis meet on board the u.s.s. quincy to discuss oil. have you a doctor security miter a sickle socrates or there was a bilateral security pact which is what the saudis called. dogs who lay said to the americans loserville we have an ocean of oil and will assure that you have a secure supply. why news of it in return we ask you to ensure our security. security. wasn't done for so as it alone my understanding each other problem brings east and west together far better. the friendship would soon proved to be a rocky one in nine hundred sixty the oil exports of the middle east joined with venezuela to form a cartel that would defend their interests and stabilize prices. from that point on the organization of petroleum exporting countries opec would be a powerful force. look up i mean it's office on. some longer madeleine israel i. think be. worried about its own oil supply the united states hopes that its exports. the carefree yea

and high profile cases of young woman who fled to saudi arabia seeking asylum abroad while the saudi government is accused of using the court system to silence its critics the freedom of these activists and several others who's on the line katia lopez with a yawn al-jazeera. but u.s. investigators says saudi arabia secret hearings to suspects accused of involvement in the murder of journalist. are a violation of international law the special report to do dish will executions i can it's kalama is calling on riyadh to try the eleven suspects in public and release their names she has denounced the kingdom for what she says is a lack of transparency shereen thai dress is a un representative for amnesty international and she says saudi arabia is trying to treat the trial as an internal matter. this is a trial that they are you know that's taking place in saudi arabia they say they've invited various representatives from france from the u.k. from russia from china from the u.s. to observe this trial and they are following international standards here is the un special rapporteur coming out

in saudi arabia they increased by fifty percent. and the saudi economy is now in the hands of crown prince mohammed bin cell man who wants to modernize the kingdom to be in dollars vision twenty thirty project seeks to prepare the country first future without oil. because that was so nothing with saudi arabia is far too dependent on oil that is dangerous and the demand. for the money and the dollar but that the authorities have started to change their strategy which depended on oil revenue enough in order to diversify our economy. but without it unfortunately the reforms are not being accepted the manderson me know what it wants to turn their backs on the energy sector but that's for ten years the kingdom has been trying to prompt a shift in people's mentality which must happen for this new direction to succeed but most of the population has not reached that point yet from the shedding. when i'm out i mean yeah. i. can come sit in a wash in it and think you know it didn't work but. you could cut it could be an hour from now but the e

expire this month while germany accounts for less than two percent of total arms exports to saudi arabia but the band will affect saudi defense deals with the e.u. countries among them is a thirteen billion dollar deal for the eurofighter typhoon german manufacturers were expected to supply nearly a third of the parts for the fighter jet france has criticized germany's response the french ambassador to belin. earlier warned the decision could jeopardize defense cooperation in europe. chinese telecommunications giant while ways has reported a boost in profits and sales shrugging off accusations its complicit in government spying the company's twenty eight hundred profits rose by almost twenty five percent while sales crossed one hundred billion dollars that's despite a u.s. campaign to blacklist the tech giant over security concerns denies its technology can be used by the chinese government for spying well al-jazeera is adrian brown joins us now from beijing adrian given all that for always been through these results a surprise. well yes and no i mean in many ways the stars are while awa

human rights chief has called on saudi arabia to release female activists allegedly tortured and detention rights groups have named ten saudi women held for their campaigning and fear that they could face harsh sentences. apparently. the tension and. torture of several women human rights defenders saudi arabia the persecution of peaceful activists will clearly contradict this piece of the country's new reforms so we urge that these women be released. democratic senator chris murphy is accusing the trump of ministration of protecting saudi arabia by not complying with human rights law he tweeted to take the reins of american foreign policy before it's too late we need to reset the relationship with saudi arabia we have to stop. pulling us out of nato we must end the war and yemen time is running short let's go to our correspondent patty culhane she's joining us live from washington d.c. senator murphy also talking on t.v. this morning patty you know adding his voice to the number of senators who weren't happy following the white house briefing on. what else has been has he been saying . wel

alone in its concerns last september spain council the sale of four hundred laser guided bombs to saudi arabia but unlike germany spain reinstated its deal a week later fearing the saudis my counsel a two billion dollar order for spanish built corvettes. germany's embargo has even bigger implications. the typhoon eurofighter the saudi air force has more than fifty already and uses them in yemen the cockpit from fuselage spine fin and part of the refuse a large a made by b.a. systems in the u.k. the right wing and left leading wing edge made by spain allana and italy make the left wing and part of the refusal but the central fuselage is manufactured by germany and germany's export ban means britain can't deliver on a thirteen billion dollars deal to sell the next forty eight typhoon aircraft to saudi arabia airbus is chief executive vented his frustration at the recent munich security conference i want us. to come to the conclusion that the germans are of the opinion the only day the responsible arms export policies and others don't. analysts warn that the dispute is damaging strategic alliance

murder of saudi journalist john markoff shogi and high profile cases of young women who fled to saudi arabia seeking asylum abroad while the saudi government is accused of using the court system to silence his critics the freedom of these activists and several others who's on the line katia lopez will yun al-jazeera. well a u.n. investigator is calling on riyadh to publicly open the trial of eleven suspects accused of involvement in the murder of journalists. the special rapporteur on extra do just to execution zone yes kalmadi says the closed door hearings are falling short of international standards she also urged the kingdom to release the names of the defendants and to addresses the u.n. representative amnesty international she says saudi arabia is trying its best to treat the trial as an internal matter. this is a trial that they are you know that's taking place in saudi arabia they've invited various representatives from france from the u.k. from russia from china from the u.s. to observe this trial and they are following international standards here is the un special rapporteur coming

saudi arabia's human rights record comes under attack by six countries as a u.n. forum. hello i know this is al jazeera live from also coming up explosions at a ceremony in afghanistan's capital. chinese tech giant huawei series the u.s. government banning its products. are made. of china technology company. around the world of now beginning a major legal media of. an opposition party is dissolved in thailand just weeks before elections for choosing the king as its candidate for prime minister. thirty six countries including all twenty eight european union member states have signed a statement criticizing saudi arabia's human rights record the document was signed to the un human rights council on thursday and calls on the kingdom to release detained activists as well as to cooperate with the un led investigation into the matter of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi well al-jazeera is no day in baba joins us live now from brussels the team countries are backing this rebuke of saudi arabia at the u.n. . that's right the joint statement is due to be read out by in fact icelan

on extrajudicial executions i have says the closed door hearings that have been taking place in saudi arabiafall short of international standards she also called on the saudis to release the names of the defendants at least one thousand people have died in a large fire in a twenty two story building in validations capital dhaka the navy and their force were drafted in to help firefighters tackle the blaze more than one hundred people were rescued using ladders and helicopters some managed to jump from the roof to a neighboring building. at least eighteen people have been killed in somalia after a car bomb exploded in the capital mogadishu it went off outside a crowded restaurant in the what very district the al shabaab armed group which is linked to al qaeda is claiming responsibility has been fighting the government for more than a decade. the explosion happened in between restaurants some people were having lunch at the restaurant all the victims were civilians there was no government official or soldiers with the explosion happened eighteen bodies and twelve injured people being carried f

that they have no information about the names of the suspects who is being who are being tried in saudi arabia and even the decision by the saudi authorities for a life sentence for the suspects created a lot of noise and turkey because turkey said if you if you get a life sentence if you give death sentence to those suspects we're not going to be able to hear about the facts and realities of this murder and it isn't the case is not going to be. it's not going to come come to light and last night speaking live at a t.v. interview turkey's president repeated the turkish narrative he said that we are followers. of murder case and when it gets internationalize we will not avoid ourselves from following it in the international courts but first for turkey the initial u.n. report by agnes color marked as important and they are waiting for this report and saw that this murder can can be international investigated by many parties and saudi arabia really has a transparent and fair. about the suspects of this murder case ok thank you. gerry's new prime minister's been addressing the public for the first