The rivals for regional power have plenty to talk about. If they do come closer, it would have a significant impact on the Middle East's most pressing conflicts.

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No foreign pilgrims will be able to attend this year's hajj. Saudi Arabia's leading religious council has decided that protecting the population is the most important goal.

The pace of reforms is picking up in the Gulf state. A pattern is emerging that seemingly sidelines religion but consolidates political power with Saudi royals.

Officials in Myanmar have said they are freeing 2,300 prisoners who had taken part in protests against the country's military rulers. No reason was given for the timing of their release.

In the Russian prison system, letters are oftentimes the only effective means to communicate with prisoners, and activists see writing to the convicts as their own personal act of protest.

The human rights group has used a new report to warn that Riyadh is cracking down on dissidents now that it is no longer chairing the G20 group of leading world economies.

Saudi Arabia will begin receiving requests for umrah pilgrimage from abroad for vaccinated worshipers starting August 9. The move comes 18 months after a border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Once allies, Saudi Arabia and the Taliban have been divided by war, betrayal, and 9/11. As Afghanistan changes and Middle East relations shift, the two won't rekindle ties, but another nation is looking closely at Kabul.

Opposition activists welcomed the news, but say the military has yet to make good on its word. Ousted President Alpha Conde has been seen on video, but would not answer questions about whether he was being mistreated.

Eighty political prisoners detained by Alpha Conde's government, including a number who had campaigned against his third term, were released on Tuesday (september 7) evening following a military coup which deposed the now former Guinean president. Ismael Conde, a former member of Alpha Conde's party who rallied against a third term, left Conakry's central jail thanking the people of Guinea for his liberation and embracing a close relative before disapearing into the crowd.

Relatives of prisoners in an Ecuadorian jail where gang clashes left over a hundred dead speak of their fears for their loved ones. "It's very painful," said the mother of one prisoner outside the jail, "I don't know if my son is well or not."