Saudi Arabia

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November 2008
- Saudi Tanker Owners in Talks With Pirates
  
  BBC | Nov 19, 08 2:36 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Negotiations are under way between Somali pirates and the shipping company that owns the Saudi Arabian oil supertanker they hijacked over the weekend, the BBC reports. The Saudi foreign minister could not say whether Vela International might agree to a ransom. More »
- Saudis Fight Extremism With... Rehab?
  
  New York Times | Nov 9, 08 1:12 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Saudi Arabia has a particular brand of counter-terrorism: a cozy detention center where captured militants share their feelings, practice art therapy, snack on Twix, rumble on PlayStation, and leave with the prospect of a wife. The retreat, Katherine Zoepf writes in the New York Times magazine, is part of the kingdom’s rehabilitation program for jihadis, often age 18-36. More »
- $100 Oil Will Return Soon Enough: Study
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Nov 6, 08 10:53 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - If today’s price of $60 per barrel of oil seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Oil prices will rebound to $100 a barrel once the economy recovers, and climb toward $200 by 2030, the market’s most comprehensive review predicts. Output is declining at a steep natural rate of 9% while demand grows nearly unabated, the Financial Times explains. More »
- Osama Son Seeks Asylum in Madrid
  
  Reuters | Nov 4, 08 1:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Omar bin Laden—goateed, peacenik son of Osama—is seeking political asylum in Spain, where he and his British wife arrived from Egypt. He's being held at Madrid airport while authorities make a decision, Reuters reports. The al-Qaeda-trained Saudi, 28, made headlines earlier this year when, sporting a leather jacket and dreadlocks, he condemned his father's actions. More »
October 2008
- Mass Trials Signal Saudis' Anti-Terror Progress
  
  Economist | Oct 24, 08 3:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The biggest mass prosecution of Islamist extremists in Saudi Arabian history is the latest clue that the kingdom’ anti-terror campaign in on track, the Economist reports. The Saudis plan to try 991 prisoners on charges ranging from committing terrorist violence to justifying it in religious sermons—and will do so under Wahhabist Islamic law, lending the proceedings more legitimacy. More »
- OPEC Panics as Oil Plunges
  
  New York Times | Oct 22, 08 8:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Earlier this year the nations of OPEC were riding high as booming economic growth and tight supplies buoyed crude above $100. But now a barrel of oil is $70 and dropping fast, and frightened petroleum producers are holding an emergency meeting this week to discuss a production cut. As the New York Times reports, a global fall in demand could have major repercussions for nations that have profited from the black gold. More »
September 2008
- Oprah Stirs Saudi Women
  
  New York Times | Sep 19, 08 5:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Oprah Winfrey Show has become a Saudi sensation, giving hope to women isolated in their homes with the talk show queen to keep them company, reports the New York Times . Women in the conservative kingdom are delighted to see Oprah tackle taboo subjects like sex and race. Many say her message of self-empowerment resonates strongly with them and makes their tightly restricted lives in a male-dominated society more bearable. More »
- Oil's Slide as Chaotic as Its Rise
  
  Washington Post | Sep 17, 08 10:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Crude oil prices have fallen 38% from their July high of $147.27 a barrel, and the decline is causing nearly as much consternation around the world as its meteoric rise in the first half of the year, reports the Washington Post. Oil-dependent governments are worried about revenues and forecasters are scurrying to revise outlooks. while alternative-energy companies see their prospects decline. More »
- Saudi Judge: Kill Offending Broadcasters
  
  Guardian (UK) | Sep 12, 08 4:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The highest judge in Saudi Arabia says “it is permissible” to murder owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast questionable material during Ramadan, the Guardian reports. When a caller to his radio show asked about channels featuring “bad programs,” Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan responded, “What does the owner of these networks think, when he provides seduction, obscenity and vulgarity? … Certainly it’s permissible to kill them.” More »
- OPEC Cuts Oil Production
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Sep 10, 08 2:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The international oil cartel OPEC announced today it's reducing production by more than half a million barrels a day, the Financial Times reports. The decision by the cartel, which controls 40% of world oil production, stunned most analysts. The move comes as oil prices, after spiking to an all-time high in July, have dropped 30%, bringing relief to many world economies. More »
August 2008
- Hey Saudis, Let the Women Play!
  
  Washington Post | Aug 14, 08 10:42 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The most beautiful sight in the Olympics' opening ceremony came when Egypt’s 26 female competitors strode into the stadium, writes Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian Muslim, in the Washington Post . Women also carried flags for Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, filling Eltahawy with pride. And then came Saudi Arabia—devoid of women, leading Eltahawy to think, "Yo, Saudi Arabia, how come there ain't no sisters on the team?" More »
- Saudi Cops Target Flirty Dog Walkers
  
  Christian Science Monitor | Aug 13, 08 3:12 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Officials in a Saudi province have banned the sale of cats and dogs after complaints that flirtatious men are “using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families,” the Christian Science Monitor reports. Although owning a pet isn’t illegal, the religious police say they’ll seize animals from men walking pets in public—and force them to sign a pledge "not to repeat the act.” More »
June 2008
- Saudis May Boost Oil Supply Even Higher
  
  Bloomberg | Jun 22, 08 4:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A hastily organized summit meeting in Saudi Arabia today offered little relief to oil consumers, Bloomberg reports. The Saudis did vow to increase production if needed, but OPEC blamed speculators and the credit crisis, not markets, for surging oil prices. "Saudi Arabia is prepared and willing to produce additional barrels of crude above and beyond the 9.7 million barrels per day," a Saudi minister said. More »
- Saudi Oil Boost Little More Than PR
  
  Time | Jun 18, 08 4:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Saudi Arabia consenting to increase oil output is more public-relations ploy than problem-solver, Vivienne Walt writes in Time , since the half-million extra barrels a day won't make much of a dent, if the Saudis even have that much to spare. One analyst says the move is really an attempt “to pump out the message to the West that ‘we are not trying to hurt your economy.'" More »
- Saudis Bumping Oil Flow 2% to Slow Soaring Prices
  
  Associated Press | Jun 16, 08 7:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Saudi Arabia, worried soaring prices could weaken the world's appetite for oil, will increase production by 200,000 barrels a day, beginning next month, the Saudi oil minister told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a meeting yesterday. The move follows a May increase of 300,000 barrels, the AP notes. More »
- Saudis to Boost Oil Output to Record Level
  
  New York Times | Jun 14, 08 6:14 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Saudi Arabia aims to put the brakes on oil prices by raising output to its highest ever, the New York Times reports. The kingdom resisted calls from President Bush earlier this year to boost production, but is now concerned that record oil prices could lead to lower demand in the long term by cutting economic growth and making alternative fuels more viable. More »
- Oil Prices Threaten US-Saudi Relations
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 8, 08 6:46 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The weakening dollar and rising oil prices are marring more than just the American economy: It’s also eroding the long-standing friendly relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, the Los Angeles Times reports. A bleak economic outlook has cost the US clout with its oil-producing ally. “There’s certainly a perception that the power equation has changed,” said an oil analyst. More »
May 2008
- Dear Yanks: Time to Snap Out of Oil Coma
  
  Times (UK) | May 20, 08 2:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Romancing the Saudis and railing against speculators won’t accomplish anything, Gerard Baker tells American pols in the Guardian : A second industrial revolution is driving oil prices up and there’s no turning back. Stop the populism— the "economically illiterate idea for a gas tax holiday," for instance—and the saber-rattling, and instead focus on areas, like energy efficiency, where progress is being made. More »
- Bush, Stop Begging the Saudis
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 17, 08 1:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Whichever adviser sent President Bush to plead with the Saudi king to help bring down oil prices should be canned, the Wall Street Journal opines. Bush had the same request turned down during a visit in January, and the rebuff is even more humiliating the second time around. If Bush wants to go begging, he'd be better off turning to Fed chief Ben Bernanke, "creator of our current commodity-price spike." More »
- Saudis Won't Budge on Oil
  
  Associated Press | May 16, 08 6:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Saudi Arabia's leaders today denied a request from visiting President Bush that they boost oil production to help ease rising gas prices, the AP reports. "Supply and demand are in balance today," the kingdom's oil minister said, with the commodity pushing $128 per barrel. "How much does Saudi Arabia need to do to satisfy people who are questioning our oil practices and policies?" More »