Saudi Arabia

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West Urges Saleh to Step Down

US, Britain offer guarantees of money, no prosecution

(Newser) - US and British officials are urging Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, offering him guarantees of money and protection from prosecution, reports the Guardian . A Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council had tried to convince Saleh to step aside and agree to elections, but the president refused. However, now that...

End Game in Yemen? Injured Leader Going to Saudi Arabia

President Saleh might not be able to return

(Newser) - The rocket strike that hit the presidential palace in Yemen yesterday may have been more effective than thought: President Ali Abdullah Saleh is going to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, and once he leaves the country it could be near-impossible for him to return. Reports are sketchy: al-Jazeera says he'...

Saudi Woman Driver Freed
 Saudi Woman 
 Driver Freed 
May 30, 2011 5:30 PM CDT

Saudi Woman Driver Freed

Manal al-Sherif reportedly signed an agreement saying she wouldn't drive

(Newser) - The 32-year-old Saudi woman who was detained last Monday after boldly posting a YouTube video that featured her in the driver's seat has been released today, according to a Saudi activist. He credited "pressure from inside and outside" Saudi Arabia as the reason for Manal al-Sharif's release—...

Saudis Forming Anti-Shiite 'Club of Kings'

Royal family moves to form alliance against Iran, uprisings

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is moving to firm up alliances with Sunni nations in a bid to limit Iran’s influence and stem the tide of revolts in the Arab world. It has asked several countries across the Middle East and Asia, including Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to join an informal alliance...

In Mideast Desert, a Risky, Costly Hunt for Heavy Crude

As easy oil supplies dwindle, project launched along Saudi-Kuwaiti border

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have embarked on a risky, expensive hunt for heavy crude—and that might be a bad sign for global oil supplies. For decades these countries have fueled the world with its easy-to-drill light oil supply, but now those reserves are drying up, one Middle East energy...

Saudi Woman Nabbed After Posting YouTube Driving Video

Manal al-Sharif defies ban on female drivers

(Newser) - A Saudi woman is being detained by police after a bold YouTube protest against the ultra-conservative nation's ban on female drivers. Manal al-Sharif, 32, tools around the city of Khobar in a video posted on YouTube that's now been seen by some 600,000 fans. Sharif was busted...

Saudi Woman Spits at Walmart Shoppers

...and gets charged with hate crime over Florida incident

(Newser) - Spitting on Walmart shoppers in Florida has earned a Saudi woman a battery charge with a hate crime enhancement. One woman says Nuha Mohammed Al-Doaifi spat in her face when she told her she was trying to enter the store via an exit door. Witnesses say the Saudi spat at...

Gunmen Kill Saudi Diplomat in Pakistan

Karachi shooting tied to recent grenade attack on consulate

(Newser) - Gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Saudi diplomat as he was driving in Pakistan's largest city today, just days after two hand grenades were tossed at the Saudi consulate, police in Karachi said. The diplomat, who was a member of the security staff at the consulate, was...

How a Rich Boy Turned to Terror

Kuwait was a turning point, say Osama bin Laden experts

(Newser) - Long before Osama bin Laden was America's most reviled terrorist, he was the quiet boy of a rich Saudi family, "a gentle, enthusiastic young man of few words who didn't raise his voice while talking," according to a former Saudi intelligence chief. Born in 1954, bin...

US Takes Heat as Bahrain Protests Die

US did little to help movement against allied government

(Newser) - Thanks to a violent crackdown and an assist from Saudi troops, the government of Bahrain has just about silenced the protest movement—and that’s left the US facing some hard questions. Even as it fights to free Libya, the Obama administration has done next to nothing to help Bahrain’...

Mideast Regimes Use US Software to Censor Web

Firms cite lack of control over how products are used

(Newser) - Behind Middle Eastern governments' censorship of the Web, an uncomfortable reality—US products help do the dirty work. Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia use filtering programs by McAfee; other US and Canadian firms have sold Web-filtering technology to Yemen and Qatar, among other countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. The...

Plan to Train Saudi Fighter Pilots in Idaho Under Fire

Training part of a $60-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia

(Newser) - It's been nearly a decade since a Saudi pilot crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, but a plan for the US Air Force to train Saudi Arabian pilots in Idaho has some people outraged, reports al-Jazeera . As part of a huge $60 billion arms deal made last autumn, the Air...

6 Dead as Tanks Attack Bahrain Protesters

Forces clear Manama square in major tank assault

(Newser) - Bahrain's king has declared martial law in the island nation following the arrival of more than 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations to quell an opposition movement. At least three people were killed in clashes between troops and pro-reform protesters yesterday, Reuters reports. Today tanks and...

Saudi Arabia Sends 1K Troops Into Bahrain

Opposition groups call move war threat

(Newser) - More than 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries entered Bahrain today to protect important oil and power facilities, a Saudi official tells the Wall Street Journal . The move comes a day after violent protests rocked Bahrain, notes Reuters , and mostly-Shiite opposition groups are likening it to...

Saudi Arabia Protests: More than 200 Protest Outside Interior Ministry in Riyadh
 Hundreds Protest in Riyadh 
saudi protests
Mar 13, 2011 4:33 PM CDT

Hundreds Protest in Riyadh

More than 200 gather outside Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry

(Newser) - More than 200 Saudis were allowed to protest outside the Interior Ministry today to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest. A massive show of force snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in Riyadh...

Saudi Police Open Fire on Protesters

One injured, with bigger protests planned tomorrow

(Newser) - Has the wave of Arab unrest finally reached closely watched Saudi Arabia? The AP reports that Saudi police opened fire at a protest in the eastern city of Qatif today. At least one man was injured, and protesters have called for a bigger "day of rage" tomorrow after Friday...

Saudi Prince: Maybe We Should Let Women Drive

...that way, we can send foreigners home, says King Abdullah's nephew

(Newser) - Maybe women should be allowed to drive, says a senior Saudi prince—whose reasoning isn't that females should enjoy equal rights, or would make excellent motorists. Rather, it would allow the kingdom to send hundreds of thousands of foreigners home, reports Reuters . "A lot of Saudi women want to...

Obama Presses Saudis to Arm Libyan Rebels

No response yet to top secret request

(Newser) - The Obama administration is reluctant to take any obvious action to help rebels in Libya—so it's pressuring Saudi Arabia to do so instead, according to reports. Officials have asked the Saudis to airlift American weapons—paid for by the Saudis—into Benghazi. The Saudis haven't yet responded to the...

Saudi Arabia: Protests Not Allowed

Leaders get nervous as 'day of rage' approaches

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's leaders are starting to shake in their boots: As a Facebook page calling for a "March 11 Revolution of Longing" in Saudi Arabia has begun attracting hundreds of viewers, the Interior Ministry today announced that demonstrations will not be tolerated in Saudi Arabia—and its security forces...

Cables Reveal Saudi Royals' Money Grabs

US messages detail royal welfare program, and royal schemes

(Newser) - The handouts Saudi King Abdullah is granting to his people are nothing compared to the handouts his family's thousands of princes and princesses have received over the past two decades. American diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks detail the royal welfare program, which has cost the country an estimated $2...

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