Arrests were also made in Eastern Province - where the kingdom's Shia Muslim minority is concentrated - the statement reportedly said.

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With each passing day, the Iranian regime is actively destabilizing Saudi Arabia's neighbors and increasing its influence over Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority in the kingdom's Eastern Province where most of its oil is located.

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In 1858, the Great Eastern steamship, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched at Millwall, London.

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Voter registration is running far higher in the Eastern Province than elsewhere in the kingdom.

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Far-right groups from Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Germany and Eastern Europe gathered last month in the Danish city of Aarhus for what they said was a rally to make their governments aware of the threat of Islamic extremism.

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Following the recent escalation of tension around the north-eastern Congolese town of Bunia, the United Kingdom, a major donor to both countries, urged them not to resume hostilities.

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The first step in that multi-decade process is for the Middle Kingdom to secure control of the eastern seas adjacent to its territory the most likely path of approach for major military attacks.

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The volatile but oil-rich Eastern Province, home to many of the Sunni kingdom's sizeable Shia minority, has witnessed frequent bouts of violent unrest in the past year.

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Emergency shelters are also being airlifted to Mashhad in eastern Iran, some of it provided by the United Kingdom.

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Saudi's Wahhabist version of Sunni Islam regards the Shia creed as an aberration, and it does not help that the kingdom's Shias happen to be concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern Province.

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