A Saudi court handed two Saudi women 10-month jail sentences on Saturday for seeking to help a Canadian woman who wanted to leave her Saudi husband with their children, human rights activists said. The court also banned Fawzia al-Ayuni and Wajiha al-Huaider from leaving the kingdom for two years, rights activist Aql al-Bahli said. They have a month to appeal against the judgment. The two women were convicted of the Islamic sharia law offence of takhbib, or incitement of a wife to defy the authority of her husband, Bahli said.

Saudi authorities beheaded on Tuesday a Syrian man convicted of trying to smuggle narcotics into the ultra-conservative kingdom, the interior ministry said. Hussam al-Rjoob had attempted to "smuggle a large amount of narcotic tablets," the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. His execution in the northern province of Jawf brings to 51 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year. In 2012, the Gulf country put 76 people to death, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch has put the number at 69.

The first sports complex for women in Saudi Arabia has opened in the east of the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom, the daily newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday. The paper said businesswomen and women personalities attended the inauguration of the centre in Al-Khobar province after it was given the go-ahead by the authorities. Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic or sharia law, bans men and women mixing in public and access for women in public areas.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran denied on Wednesday any link to members of a spying ring detained by its Sunni Muslim regional rival Saudi Arabia, according to Iranian media. Saudi state media reported on Tuesday that officials had detained 10 people accused of spying for Iran after arresting 18 people in the same case in March.