Saudi Arabia – News Stories About Saudi Arabia - Page 36

Mar 5, 2008 7:00 PM CST

Qatar Navigates Persian Gulf Minefield

Geography forces balancing act; gas wealth make it a player

(Newser) - The challenges of being Qatar, a peninsular nation bordering Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, could be a hint of the diplomatic discourse to come, Bloomberg reports. The emirate cannily attends to the demands of its Saudi and Iranian neighbors, and it hosts US military forces; it also has learned...

Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge

UPDATED

Mar 5, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge

Cartel president blames 'mismanagement' of US economy for rising prices

(Newser) - Crude oil rose to a record $104.52 a barrel today after OPEC decided to hold production steady. “The oil market is currently stable,” said Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. “There is no need to increase even one barrel of oil.” The cartel blamed sky-high prices...

Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

Mar 5, 2008 2:45 AM CST

Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

(Newser) - Berkeley and Stanford University will help choose faculty and develop curricula for a new university in Saudi Arabia, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The graduate-level King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, funded by a $10 billion gift from the king, will focus on fields like petrochemicals and nano-technology...

Who's Funding Bush's Library?

OPINION

Mar 4, 2008 2:40 PM CST

Who's Funding Bush's Library?

Money coming in during presidency raises concerns over quid pro quo

(Newser) - President Bush's coy refusal to name the mystery donors helping to erect his $200 million presidential library is problematic, writes David Corn in Mother Jones' MoJo blog. Though the law doesn't require him to reveal names, his actions raise serious ethical questions. "What's problematic is the prospect of a...

57 Saudi Men Arrested
for Flirting

Feb 23, 2008 1:03 PM CST

57 Saudi Men Arrested for Flirting

Prosecutors say they exhibited 'bad' behavior to woo girls at malls

(Newser) - Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested 57 young men accused of flirting with girls at shopping malls in Mecca, the BBC reports. Prosecutors say the men wore indecent clothing, played loud music, and danced to attract the girls’ attention. The arrests were prompted by Saudi’s Commission for the Promotion of...

Saudis Killed
Arms Probe
Under Blair

Feb 15, 2008 9:37 AM CST

Saudis Killed Arms Probe Under Blair

Prince threatened to withhold terror info; predicted 'another 7/7'

(Newser) - The Saudi royal family threatened to withhold information about planned terrorist attacks on London unless British authorities suspended an investigation into corrupt arms deals, court documents show. Prince Bandar flew to London in December 2006 to warn investigators they faced "another 7/7," referring to the four bombs that...

Saudi Officials See Red Over Valentine's Day

Feb 12, 2008 4:05 PM CST

Saudi Officials See Red Over Valentine's Day

'Immoral' holiday sparks temporary ban on color

(Newser) - In preparation for Valentine's Day, Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned all things red. The morality cops are out in force in search of the color of love, reports CNN, with plans to confiscate everything from flowers to stuffed toys. The ban is part of a yearly effort, complete with raids...

Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey

Feb 7, 2008 8:25 AM CST

Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey

Her crime? Sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks

(Newser) - A 37-year-old American businesswoman says Saudi Arabia's religious police swooped her out of a Riyadh Starbucks and bundled her off to jail, where she was strip searched, humiliated, and bullied into signing confessions, reports the Times of London—all for sharing a table with a male colleague when the Internet...

OPEC Holds
Oil Production Steady

Feb 1, 2008 1:00 PM CST

OPEC Holds Oil Production Steady

As expected, consortium rebuffs US call to boost supply

(Newser) - OPEC dashed American hopes for a boost in oil production today, Bloomberg reports. The US and other Western nations wanted more oil on the market to lower prices, but OPEC decided to hold production steady. The consortium, which supplies 40% of the world's oil, is worried that the flagging world...

Saudis to Let
Women Behind the Wheel

Jan 22, 2008 6:49 AM CST

Saudis to Let Women Behind the Wheel

Driving ban lifted to pre-empt growing protest movement

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s Royal Court has decided to allow women to drive. The move is calculated to stem growing activism, including protest convoys of women drivers, reports the Daily Telegraph. "If girls have been in schools since the 1960s, they have a capability to function behind the wheel when...

Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil

Jan 16, 2008 2:31 PM CST

Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil

Public plea rejected, Bush entreats Abdullah personally

(Newser) - After his public request for increased oil production and the resulting price drop was rejected yesterday, President Bush made a personal appeal to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to be more generous with his wells, ABC News reports. Only an hour after Bush’s public plea, the Saudi oil minister announced...

For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid

Jan 16, 2008 12:02 PM CST

For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid

In economic sea change, 'we need the money,' one US Rep. says

(Newser) - The subprime collapse has US financial institutions in uncharted waters—asking for help from foreign investors and governments, the Wall Street Journal reports. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley all have recently sought bailouts, a dramatic switch from a tradition that saw US banks coming to the “rescue of...

Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil

Jan 15, 2008 9:32 AM CST

Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil

Warns even rogue Iranian attack would have 'serious consequences'

(Newser) - OPEC should start producing more oil, President Bush told Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah today, or it risks damaging “consuming economies,” like the US. Bush said high oil prices were reducing consumer purchasing power, and said more supply “would be helpful.” He also warned Iran to...

Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit

Jan 14, 2008 6:18 PM CST

Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit

Prez and Abdullah discuss weather, plan to talk oil and Mideast peace

(Newser) - President Bush announced a $123 million arms deal with the Saudis as he visited the oil kingdom for the first time today. Part of $20 billion in military sales to shore up Gulf states against Iran, the Saudi deal will offer advanced "smart bomb" technology that some US lawmakers...

Sky-High Oil Will Reshape World Power, Dent US Clout

Jan 3, 2008 6:39 AM CST

Sky-High Oil Will Reshape World Power, Dent US Clout

Power shifts as global economies change

(Newser) - The surging price of oil from $10 a barrel a decade ago to a record $100 today is remaking the global economy and altering the balance of power across the world, according to the Wall Street Journal. If oil prices continue to climb, as many experts predict, US political power...

Saudis Holding Blogger Critical of Government

Jan 2, 2008 1:50 PM CST

Saudis Holding Blogger Critical of Government

Popular scribe detained since Dec. 10, spurring fears of crackdown

(Newser) - The Saudi Arabian government has confirmed that it is holding a prominent blogger for questioning, the New York Times reports today. Fouad al-Farhan, who discussed social issues as one of the few Saudis to blog in Arabic under his real name, was arrested Dec. 10 to be interrogated about “...

Dallas Dilemma: Where to Reshoot JR

Dec 24, 2007 1:51 PM CST

Dallas Dilemma: Where to Reshoot JR

City battles to live down TV show, competes to be movie location

(Newser) - Dallas has tried for years to disassociate itself from 'Dallas,' the cheesy '80s soap opera that's so iconic that the fictional scheming oil baron JR Ewing is still the city's biggest celebrity—16 years after the show was canceled. So it's with considerable cringing that officials find themselves wooing...

Pilgrims Use Wi-Fi at
Hajj for First Time

Dec 22, 2007 3:06 PM CST

Pilgrims Use Wi-Fi at Hajj for First Time

Wireless routers set up at 70 holy sites for ancient Islamic ritual

(Newser) - Muslim pilgrims had free access to Wi-Fi for the first time during the Hajj, which ended yesterday in Saudi Arabia. The short-term service, provided by two telecom firms, had 70 access points around holy sites and took only two months to assemble. Pilgrims say that online access helped them seek...

Saudis Foil Hajj Attack

Dec 22, 2007 6:27 AM CST

Saudis Foil Hajj Attack

Militants aiming to disrupt Muslim ritual nabbed

(Newser) - As millions of Muslims completed the annual Hajj pilgrimage yesterday, Saudi police said they'd arrested a group that had been planning attacks, Al Arabiya reports. An official said the al-Qaeda suspects, detained at cities across the country, had been intent on disrupting the ritual and causing "security confusion."...

Companion in Saudi Rape Case Pardoned

Dec 19, 2007 1:06 PM CST

Companion in Saudi Rape Case Pardoned

Male friend of raped woman also subjected to 'enough torture'

(Newser) - The companion to the Saudi rape victim who was convicted of a crime for being alone with him, and then pardoned after an international uproar, has himself been pardoned, CNN reports. Saudi Arabia's minister of justice confirmed this—and by implication revealed that the man, kidnapped along with the woman...