Saudi Arabia

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Saudis Defend Rape Victim's Sentence

Woman may have been meeting man trying to blackmail her

(Newser) - Responding to international outrage, Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry is defending the punishment meted out to an 18-year old rape victim, and then doubled when she appealed. The ministry says her sentence was increased—to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison—not because she took her case to the media...

Saudi Rape Victim 'Crushed Human Being,' Husband Says

Blames judge, not system, for sentence

(Newser) - The husband of the Saudi gang-rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in jail blamed one judge's vendetta—and not the Saudi judicial system itself—for her treatment "as a guilty person who committed a crime." He told CNN his wife has been a severely depressed,...

Dozens Invited to Mideast Peace Talks

White House presses Saudi Arabia and Syria, Olmert bolsters Abbas

(Newser) - The negotiating table may be packed Nov. 27 in Annapolis, when the Mideast peace conference brings together not only Israelis and Palestinians, but upwards of 40 other countries and institutions invited yesterday. The White House's priority is to persuade Saudi Arabia and Syria to attend the talks, to bolster the...

Musharraf Leaves Home to Mend Fences

Sudden trip to Saudi Arabia likely attempt to forge deal with old foe

(Newser) - Pervez Musharraf traveled to Saudi Arabia today, and the desperate Pakistani president may attempt to broker a power-sharing deal with the PM he ousted in a 1999 coup, Reuters reports. Nawaz Sharif has said he will not meet with Musharraf while emergency rule is in effect, but Musharraf relaxed the...

Gulf States May Dump the Dollar
Gulf States May Dump the Dollar

Gulf States May Dump the Dollar

Sinking greenback fuels inflation in booming Gulf economies

(Newser) - The flagging greenback is forcing oil-rich Gulf states to consider uncoupling their currencies from the US dollar to fight runaway inflation at home and the devaluation of their own currencies, the Wall Street Journal reports. Leaders are considering everything from an outright break to revaluing their own currencies to pegging...

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting
Greenback Assaulted at
OPEC meeting

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting

Dollar a 'worthless piece of paper,' Iran's president says

(Newser) - Calling it a "small and worthless piece of paper,” Iran’s president today urged OPEC's members to drop the depreciating US dollar as its official currency. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed President Bush for the dollar’s decline and its adverse effects. The comments highlight mounting tension among OPEC members,...

Chavez Warns of $200 Oil if US Strikes Iran

But call to make OPEC 'geopolitical agent' rejected by Saudis

(Newser) - Crude oil prices could hit $150-$200 a barrel if Bush is “mad enough” to strike Iran, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned today at the OPEC summit. “The basis of all aggression is oil,” said Chavez, arguing that OPEC should set itself up as “an active geopolitical...

Saudi Rape Victim Gets Jail for Appealing

19-year-old woman earns 200 lashes and 6 months in prison

(Newser) - A Saudi woman who was gang-raped by 14 men has been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison, the BBC reports. Her original crime was being in the car with a man unrelated to her, but her punishment was doubled and prison time added when she appealed the...

Oil Drops to $91 as Rush to $100 Stalls

Saudi oil minister blames speculators, says $60 is more like it

(Newser) - After gushing toward $100 a barrel, oil traded as low as $90.13 yesterday, closing at $91.17. Analysts said the downward pressure could continue as demand for oil slows and OPEC increases production, reports the Wall Street Journal. Saudi Arabia's oil minister, meanwhile, told the Globe and Mail that...

Pimp My Airbus A380
Pimp My
Airbus A380

Pimp My Airbus A380

Billionaire Saudi prince plans to transform world's largest jet into flying palace

(Newser) - A billionaire Saudi prince plans to convert one of the world's largest passenger planes into a flying palace. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the first purchaser of the luxury version of the double-decker Airbus A380, price tag $320 million-plus. And that's before he tricks it out with amenities that may...

Saudi King Meets the Pope
Saudi King Meets the Pope

Saudi King Meets the Pope

King Abdullah travels to the Vatican on his European tour

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah visited with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today—the first official meeting of any pope with a reigning Saudi monarch. The visit comes as relations are improving between the Vatican and the Muslim world, the BBC reports. Still, the pontiff was expected to press Abdullah...

Saudis: We Could Have Stopped 9/11
Saudis: We Could Have Stopped 9/11

Saudis: We Could Have Stopped 9/11

No bombings if they'd been consulted in a 'credible manner'

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar bin Sultan claims the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented if the US had consulted the kingdom in a "credible" way. The claim mirrored remarks earlier in the week by King Abdullah that the Saudis could have helped the British stop the September 2005...

Saudi, Brit Royals Dine
Saudi, Brit Royals Dine

Saudi, Brit Royals Dine

King Abdullah sweeps into London with 23 advisers and 400 aides

(Newser) - In the first visit of a Saudi king to the UK in 20 years, King Abdullah was treated to a Buckingham Palace banquet last night. His host, Queen Elizabeth, said Britain and Saudi Arabia must fight together against "terrorists who threaten the way of life of our citizens."...

First Lady Pushes Saudis on Breast Cancer Awareness

Stigma prevents many women from seeking treatment for the disease

(Newser) - Laura Bush today swept into a country where breast cancer is such a taboo that it is often not prevented, treated, or publicly admitted—a high-profile woman trumpeting a pink-ribbon message where 70% of cases aren't reported until late stages. Though excellent care exists, many ignore "that disease" for...

World Bank President Touts New Strategy

Zoellick calls for fast funds and alternative energy sources

(Newser) - Robert Zoellick has outlined a new strategy for the World Bank, including giving the private sector a bigger role in development, speeding aid to countries coming out of conflict, and promoting green energy alternatives, Reuters reports. The new president  has been quick to reposition the global bank's mission following the...

Dubious Bush Benefactor Embedded in Clinton Camp

Alan Quasha makes a strange Dem bedfellow

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has another backer as mysterious as the now-discredited Norman Hsu—this one a businessman who goes way back with George W. Bush. The Nation examines Clinton's ties to Alan Quasha, the Harken Energy magnate who bailed out the younger Bush’s oil company in 1986. Quasha now has...

Syria, Saudis to be Invited to Peace Table

Rice hopes Mideast talks will include Arab neighbors

(Newser) - The US will issue invitations to this fall's Mideast peace conference to Saudi Arabia, Syria and other Arab nations that don't have diplomatic ties to Israel, the Washington Post reports. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested Sunday that attendance would bring with it "certain responsibilities" such as avoiding violence...

Saudi Women Want to Drive
Saudi Women Want to Drive

Saudi Women Want to Drive

Neither Islamic law nor country's constitution forbids female drivers

(Newser) - A group of Saudi women is trying to regain a “stolen right”: driving. The group will deliver a petition to King Abdullah this week demanding the right to get behind the wheel. But prospects for lifting the world's only ban on female drivers are cloudy, the BBC reports, because...

Ex-PM Battles Expulsion From Pakistan

Sharif's lawsuit may worsen Musharraf's tenuous position

(Newser) - Ex-Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif is taking Pervez Musharraf to court, hours after Musharraf ordered the deportation of his longtime political rival. In a move that casts further doubt on Musharraf's already shaky authority, Sharif—re-exiled to Saudi Arabia just 4 hours after his plane landed in Pakistan yesterday—filed suit...

Is Biggest Oilfield Running Dry?
Is Biggest Oilfield Running Dry?

Is Biggest Oilfield Running Dry?

Saudis may be hiding fact that world's largest reservoir is drying up

(Newser) - The world’s most critical oil field might be nearing its end. Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 19% of all oil exports, doesn’t supply hard data about its production, but a little math sleuthing by a computer scientist shows the Ghawar reservoirs should be empty soon, the Atlantic reports.

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