SAUDI ARABIA: 88TH PERSON EXECUTED THIS YEAR, TOPPING 2014 TOTAL

Saudi Arabia executed three people, raising the total number of executions to at least 88 so far this year, and surpassing the total for all of 2014, when 87 people were put to death.
Awad al-Rowaili and Lafi al-Shammary, two Saudis who were convicted of smuggling amphetamines, were beheaded in the region of Jawf, the Interior Ministry said in statements carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Another Saudi, Mohammed al-Shihri, was separately put to death in the region of Asir for murder.
Around half of Saudi Arabia’s executions involved foreigners. Also among this year's dead are at least eight Yemenis, 10 Pakistanis, Syrians, Jordanians, and individuals from Myanmar, the Philippines, India, Chad, Eritrea and Sudan.
A surge in executions began towards the end of the reign of King Abdullah, who died on 23 January, accelerating this year under his successor King Salman, who has adopted a more assertive foreign policy, and in April promoted his powerful Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef to be crown prince and heir to the throne.