MADINAH: A Shariah court in the town of Mahd Al-Dahab is taking up an important question: Can genies be summoned . . . to appear before a judge? According to Wednesday’s Al-Watan newspaper, a family has filed a lawsuit against an unnamed genie for stealing mobile phones, sending threatening voice messages through mobile phones imploring the family to move away and pelting family members with stones when they go out at night. The family has been living in the same house for 15 years, but claims that it only recently began to feel the presence of the genie over the past two years. “We have to look into this case and verify its truthfulness despite the difficulty of its consideration,” said Sheikh Amr Al-Salmi, the head of the local court. If he thinks it’s going to be difficult to verify these charges, just wait until the judge orders the genie to pay compensation.

What’s in a name?

RIYADH: The best excuse that a 22-year-old Bangladeshi imam could come up with for beating up his 55-year-old father was the curse of his name: Saddam Hussein. According to Wednesday’s Al-Watan newspaper, the father had ordered his son to cut his hair after noticing strange behavior. The son got angry and beat up his dad, who had spent time in Iraq. The son told police that his name makes him as aggressive as the late big boss of Baghdad.