Hello and welcome to the explanation from the BBC World Service.

This is where we press polls on the busy 24-hour news cycle

and dig a bit deeper behind the headlines.

Today the West Bank's nightmare started coming true.

The protest is trying to bricks in there,

using bamboo poles to smash vehicles.

It's a city where mothers carry guns along with their groceries.

The spaces that people can run to for safety are shrinking every day here.

I'm Claire Graham and with the help of my BBC colleagues around the world,

I'll be trying to get a better understanding of the stories that matter to all of us.

Today the Saudi Royal family.

Who are they?

And why do they wield so much power not only in the Middle East,

but throughout the world?

I'm joined today by the BBC's Middle East correspondent Anna Foster Hayanna.

Hello Claire.

Let's start by exploring high Saudi Arabia.

The second largest country in the Arab world is rooted in religious tradition.

Saudi Arabia has been very deeply conservative, sunny Islam.

It has followed a branch called Wahabism,

the teachings of Islam which led to rules like women not being able to drive.

Things like what women were allowed to wear in the streets,

...