Saudi Arabia

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May 2008
- Women-Only Saudi Hotel Raises Debate on Progress
  
  Christian Science Monitor | May 15, 08 4:49 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Saudi businesswomen are embracing a hotel for women-only that frees them of the pressures from a society in which they can't drive and, until January, couldn't check into a hotel without permission from a male guardian. But others are concerned the Luthan Hotel & Spa simply reinforces the kingdom's gender segregation. The Christian Science Monitor profiles the hotel and the controversy. More »
- Mozart Helps Snap Saudi Taboos
  
  Associated Press | May 3, 08 9:56 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Mozart hasn't challenged cultural taboos for more than 200 years, but last night he caused quite a stir in Saudi Arabia. A German-based quartet gave the nation its first public classical concert where men were allowed to hear Mozart and sit next to, gasp, women. "The concert is a sign that things are changing rapidly here," a German ambassador told the AP. More »
April 2008
- Mecca Time Plugged for World Standard
  
  BBC | 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, they argue, is a relic of British imperialism, and should be abolished. More »
- Guardian System Has Saudi Women 'Perpetual Minors'
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | 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 denies women access to public libraries and educational institutions. More »
- How Osama Rejected His Family's Values
  
  New York Times | 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 book "possesses the novelistic energy of a rags-to-riches family epic," Michiko Kakutani raves in today's Times. More »
March 2008
- In Saudi Arabia, a Hotel for Women
  
  Independent (UK) | 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 the premises at all—and without needing to stick to tough dress standards. More »
- Saudi Video Protests Driver Ban
  
  BBC | 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 in this society are able to drive cars,” Huwaider says as she drives. More »
- Oil Hits $104; OPEC Won't Budge
  
  Wall Street Journal | 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 on “tremendous speculation,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil futures were up $5 on the day. More »
- Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University
  
  San Jose Mercury News | 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 when it opens in September 2009. University of California administrators said they agreed to the deal only with assurances that women would be treated equally. More »
- Who's Funding Bush's Library?
  
  Mother Jones | 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 sitting president obtaining foreign cash for a pet project and not disclosing it," argues Corn. More »
February 2008
- 57 Saudi Men Arrested for Flirting
  
  BBC | 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 Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which runs its powerful religious police. More »
- Saudis Killed Arms Probe Under Blair
  
  Guardian (UK) | 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 killed 52 people in 2005, reports the Guardian . More »
- Saudi Officials See Red Over Valentine's Day
  
  CNN | 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 on retailers on the night of Feb. 13, to quell romance's big day. More »
- Saudi Religious Cops Toss US Exec in Pokey
  
  Times (UK) | 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 in her office went out. More »
January 2008
- Saudis to Let Women Behind the Wheel
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | 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 they grow up," said a government official. More »
- Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil
  
  ABC News | 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 the country would increase production “when the market justifies it.”—a polite refusal. More »
- Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil
  
  Associated Press | Jan 15, 08 9:32 AM CST
  
  (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 avoid another Strait of Hormuz incident, saying any attack on US ships would have serious consequences. More »
- Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit
  
  Associated Press | Jan 14, 08 6:18 PM CST
  
  (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 worry could be used to strike Israel. But Saudi Arabia's war on terror efforts and anti-Iran stance appear to override such fears, the AP reports. More »
- Saudi Prince, Chinese Bank to Back Citigroup
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 11, 08 6:02 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A Saudi prince and one of China's government banks are expected to invest billions in Citigroup, the Wall Street Journal reports today. The China Development Bank is expected to pump in $2 billion, sources said; the amount billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal would front is yet to be determined, but would need to be below 5% of Citigroup's $140 billion value to avoid regulatory issues. More »
- Saudis Holding Blogger Critical of Government
  
  New York Times | Jan 2, 08 1:50 PM CST
  
  (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 “specific violations of nonsecurity laws” according to an Interior Ministry spokesman. More »