I forgot to mention this: another slice of life in Saudi Arabia.

From the Agence France Presse yesterday:

Saudi Arabia beheads man for murder

RIYADH (AFP) -- A Saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword on Monday in the northern city of Hail, the interior ministry said.

Abdullah bin Mashari was executed for shooting dead Mansour al Kharir following an argument caused by "family differences", the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

It was the third execution announced in Saudi Arabia this year, after a record 153 people were put to death in 2007. That figure compared with 37 beheaded in 2006, and the previous record number of 113 executions in 2000.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in the ultra-conservative Gulf country, where executions are usually carried out in public.

-- Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times