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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia stories: 156 news summaries

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 Mecca Time Plugged 
 for World Standard 

Muslim scholars say British-imposed GMT due for a change

Apr 21, 08 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - A group of Muslim scholars wants Mecca time to replace Greenwich Mean Time as the world's default setting, the BBC reports. As Islam’s holiest city lies in perfect longitudinal alignment to magnetic north, scientists told a Qatar conference that Mecca was the “true” center of the earth. GMT,... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • England • Qatar • Mecca • scientists • Greenwich Mean Time • time

Guardian System Has Saudi Women 'Perpetual Minors'

Doing almost anything requires male consent in kingdom, report finds

Apr 21, 08 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Women in Saudi Arabia need to gain a male guardian’s consent to do almost anything, living as “perpetual minors,” the Telegraph reports. Research by Human Rights Watch found that male permission is needed to go to a doctor, travel, and even get dressed. In addition, strict segregation... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • women • women's rights • sexism • Islamic Sharia law • Human Rights Watch • gender discrimination • repression

 Osama Bin Laden 'Alive & Well' 

Deputy touts his health on internet

Apr 3, 08 4:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Seven years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is alive and well, according to his deputy. "Sheik Osama bin Laden is in good health. The ill-intentioned always try to circulate false reports about him being sick," said Ayman al-Zawahiri in a 104-minute recording posted on the internet. The comments... More »

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Israel • Saudi Arabia • jihad • Hamas • United States • Osama bin Laden • al-Qaeda • Islamic terrorism • Iraq war • Afghanistan war • Ayman al-Zawahiri

Book Review

How Osama Rejected His
Family's Values

Author examines
bin Laden's roots, Saudi clan's ties to US

Apr 1, 08 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Osama is the most famous of the bin Ladens, but he’s also the clan's black sheep. In his new book, The bin Ladens, Steve Coll explores the sprawling family, which is so different from its most famous scion that Osama’s war takes on a Freudian dimension. The... More »

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Saudi Arabia • Osama bin Laden • international relations • book reviews • Steve Coll

Fatah and Hamas Sign Deal, But Feuding Continues

Rival Palestinian factions bicker over control of Gaza

Mar 23, 08 8:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a second attempt to mend fences, rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas agreed to resume direct talks today to resolve disputes and revive their failed coalition. A Hamas official called the deal “a new beginning and the start of a new stage,” but just hours after signing... More »

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Israel • Middle East • Saudi Arabia • Gaza • Hamas • Fatah • West Bank • Mecca • Yemen • Palestinians • peace deal

 In Saudi Arabia, 
 a Hotel for Women 

Men-free Luthan Hotel 'meeting a very big demand' in conservative Muslim kingdom

Mar 21, 08 5:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s first hotel catering exclusively to women—right down to its plush spa—opened this week in Riyadh, the Independent reports. The conservative kingdom enforces strict Islamic segregation of sexes in public, but women can stay at the Luthan Hotel without a male guardian—nor any men on... More »

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Middle East • Saudi Arabia • Riyadh • Islamic Sharia law • hotel • spa • spas • Muslim women • Wahhabism • Luthan Hotel

 Pope Pushing for
 Church in Saudi Arabia 

Islam's holy ground could be ready to open up

Mar 20, 08 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI is lobbying Saudi Arabia to let a Catholic church on its soil, Time reports. The Vatican confirms that it's discussing forging diplomatic relations with the Saudis, but a house of worship would be a major coup in a country where all religions besides Sunni Islam are banned. More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • Pope Benedict XVI • King Abdullah • Qatar • Catholicism • interfaith dialogue

Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban

YouTube clip shows woman driver
calling for change in law

Mar 11, 08 7:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Activists have posted a video online to protest the Saudi ban on women drivers, the BBC reports. Made to honor International Women’s Day, the 3-minute clip on YouTube follows protester Wajeha Huwaider as she turns onto a forbidden highway and discusses the legality of the ban. “Many women... More »

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Saudi Arabia • YouTube • King Abdullah • women • women's rights • online videos • driving • Wajeha Huwaider

Qatar Navigates Persian Gulf Minefield

Geography forces balancing act; gas wealth make it a player

Mar 5, 08 7:00 PM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • Saudi Arabia • Persian Gulf • Hezbollah • Qatar • Al Jazeera • natural gas • Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jaber al-Thani • Sheik Hamad

UPDATED

Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge

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

Mar 5, 08 3:57 PM CST
(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... More »

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oil • Saudi Arabia • OPEC • recession • US economy • oil price • oil supply • commodities exchange • supply and demand

Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

Mar 5, 08 2:45 AM CST
(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... More »

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Saudi Arabia • King Abdullah • higher education • Stanford University • UC Berkeley • nanotechnology • mathematics

OPINION

Who's Funding Bush's Library?

Money coming in during presidency raises concerns over quid pro quo

Mar 4, 08 2:40 PM CST
(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... More »

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Saudi Arabia • Bill Clinton • George HW Bush • Clinton Presidential Library • foreign donors • Southern Methodist University • presidential library • private donors • George W. Bush

57 Saudi Men Arrested
for Flirting

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

Feb 23, 08 1:03 PM CST
(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... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • Mecca • Wahhabism • Valentine's Day • religious police • gender segregation • flirting

Saudis Killed
Arms Probe
Under Blair

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

Feb 15, 08 9:37 AM CST
(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... More »

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Tony Blair • Saudi Arabia • corruption • Prince Bandar • BAE • Islamic terrorism • Lord Goldsmith

Saudi Officials See Red Over Valentine's Day

'Immoral' holiday sparks temporary
ban on color

Feb 12, 08 4:05 PM CST
(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... More »

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Islam • Saudi Arabia • Muslim women • Wahhabism • Valentine's Day • red

Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey

Her crime? Sitting with a male colleague at Starbucks

Feb 7, 08 8:25 AM CST
(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... More »

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Saudi Arabia • Starbucks • women's rights • taboo • Mutaween • religious police • Islamic moral code

OPEC Holds
Oil Production Steady

As expected, consortium rebuffs
US call to boost supply

Feb 1, 08 1:00 PM CST
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • oil • Saudi Arabia • OPEC • recession • oil price • oil production

Saudis to Let
Women Behind the Wheel

Driving ban lifted to pre-empt growing protest movement

Jan 22, 08 6:49 AM CST
(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... More »

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Saudi Arabia • King Abdullah • women's rights • driving • hotel

Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil

Public plea rejected, Bush entreats Abdullah personally

Jan 16, 08 2:31 PM CST
(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... More »

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oil • Saudi Arabia • King Abdullah • OPEC • oil price • George W. Bush

For Hurting US Companies, World Supplies Band-Aid

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

Jan 16, 08 12:02 PM CST
(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... More »

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China • Saudi Arabia • Japan • Citigroup • subprime mortgages • Morgan Stanley • Merrill Lynch • Singapore • Abu Dhabi • Kuwait • sovereign wealth funds

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