Just as a quick update for those wondering the fate of Mazen Abdul Jawad, the Saudi who spoke openly about his escapades on an LBC program over the summer: A Saudi court has sentenced the divorced father of four to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes–for violating the Kingdom’s law against “publicizing vice.” Video of the segment here (knowledge of Arabic helps … but you can get the gist, I think, from the visuals):
In other visual media news, the Yemen Embassy is participating in the Arabian Sights: Contemporary Arab Cinema (starting tonight in D.C., dear readers), with the very first Yemeni-produced movie, according to the press releases/the amazing trailer:
“Yemen’s first locally produced film, An intriguing and compelling plot, An exploration to the price of terrorism”
I’m not exactly sure what the plot will be, but based on the trailer, if you know what Allahu Akbar means, you can get by without knowing Arabic. I’m also left wondering; does first locally-produced film really just mean first government-funded propaganda feature-length propaganda piece? Interesting timing, with the Yemeni government confirming yesterday that “hundreds” of soldiers have been wounded and killed in the fighting against the Houthi in the northern region of Sa’ada.
(HT: BT for the Jawad update.)