Late Saudi King Abdullah was hailed as "a strong advocate for women" - so why are four of his daughters reportedly under house arrest?

The Governor-General will represent New Zealand at the funeral of the Saudi King Abdullah.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 90, bringing to an end the rule of the world's oldest monarch.

The international outcry over restrictions on freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia escalated as an array of Nobel prizewinners published an open letter calling on the country's academics to condemn the public flogging of the blogger Raif Badawi.

The oil price decline of 2014 upended the geopolitical chessboard. Worth watching in 2015 will be who can recover and dominate play - Opec, Vladimir Putin or US shale drillers.

The site in Mecca where the Prophet Mohamed is said to have been born is about to be "buried under marble".

Saudi Arabia will need to keep cutting oil output to sustain prices above $100 a barrel as global oil demand weakens, analysts say.

Saudi Arabia is removing barriers on one of the world's most-restricted major stock exchanges as the government tries to boost non-oil industries.

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.

China carries out more executions than any other country, a new report has estimated.

The royal put on a particularly awkward display when he indulged in a spot of knife dancing at the start of his three-day tour of the Middle East.

With no meaningful public transport system and a ban on women drivers, getting to school in Saudi Arabia is a challenge beyond many students.

Iran hopes to use a meeting of Opec oil ministers today as a launch pad for its return as a dominant force in global crude markets after months of sanctions.

Around 150 clerics and religious scholars held a rare protest outside the Saudi king's palace on against fresh efforts by women seeking the right to drive, highlighting the struggle faced by reformers in the ultraconservative kingdom.

Saudi women on the ultraconservative kingdom's top advisory council have called for a discussion on the sensitive issue of allowing women to drive.

As millions of Muslim pilgrims prepare to converge on holy sites in Saudi Arabia this [northern] autumn, the global health community is anxiously monitoring an outbreak of a respiratory virus known as Mers.

A "celebrity" Saudi preacher accused of raping and torturing his 5-year-old daughter to death has been released from custody after agreeing to pay "blood money".

Saudi Arabia drew widespread censure yesterday as it ignored personal pleas from the Sri Lankan President and executed a migrant worker.

Fear that expansion of three of city's oldest mosques will also destroy key historic sites.

Dating back to the second century BC, the Nabataean archaeological site, also known as Madain Saleh, has long been hidden from foreign visitors to Saudi Arabia. Assaad Abboud checks out a site that rarely opens up to tourists.

Former NZ diplomat Warren Searell called Damascus home until the Arab spring made life far too dangerous. This is his story.