King Abdullah

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Berkeley, Stanford Partner with Saudi University

American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school

(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...

Saudis to Let Women Behind the Wheel

Driving ban lifted to pre-empt growing protest movement

(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...

Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil
Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil
Jan 16, 2008 2:31 PM CST

Bush Begs Saudi King for Oil

Public plea rejected, Bush entreats Abdullah personally

(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...

Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil
Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil
Jan 15, 2008 9:32 AM CST

Bush Asks OPEC for More Oil

Warns even rogue Iranian attack would have 'serious consequences'

(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...

Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit
Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit
Jan 14, 2008 6:18 PM CST

Bush Sells Arms on Saudi Visit

Prez and Abdullah discuss weather, plan to talk oil and Mideast peace

(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...

Companion in Saudi Rape Case Pardoned

Male friend of raped woman also subjected to 'enough torture'

(Newser) - The companion to the Saudi rape victim who was convicted of a crime for being alone with him, and then pardoned after an international uproar, has himself been pardoned, CNN reports. Saudi Arabia's minister of justice confirmed this—and by implication revealed that the man, kidnapped along with the woman...

King Abdullah Pardons Saudi Rape Victim

Acts out of compassion, but still believes jail time, lashes were 'fair'

(Newser) - A young Saudi gang rape victim whose case sparked worldwide condemnation when she was sentenced to a lashing and jail time for violating Islamic law has been pardoned, Al Jazeera reports. King Abdullah pardoned the woman in the "interests of the people" and out of compassion for the victim,...

Greenback Assaulted at OPEC meeting
Greenback Assaulted at
OPEC meeting
Nov 18, 2007 9:52 PM CST

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 King Meets the Pope
Saudi King Meets the Pope
Nov 6, 2007 9:00 AM CST

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...

Saudi, Brit Royals Dine
Saudi, Brit Royals Dine
Oct 31, 2007 9:52 AM CDT

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."...

After Gaffes, Queen Hopes to Placate Saudis

Miliband 'snub' latest snag in King Abdullah's rocky UK trip

(Newser) - Queen Elizabeth will have to put on a brave face when she welcomes Saudi King Abdullah today, following yesterday's gaffe-filled beginning to his London visit. Abdullah's widely reported outburst over the 7/7 attacks left Downing Street open-mouthed, writes the Times of London, but then Britain's foreign secretary skipped a meeting...

Saudi King: Britain Lax on Terror
Saudi King: Britain Lax on Terror
Oct 29, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Saudi King: Britain Lax on Terror

Monarch maintains UK ignored intelligence that may have averted 7/7

(Newser) - Britain needs to do more to fight international terrorism, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah says. Speaking on the eve of the first official visit to the UK by a Saudi ruler in 20 years, the monarch said his government passed along intelligence that could have averted the 7/7 bombings "but...

Saudi Women Want to Drive
Saudi Women Want to Drive
Sep 18, 2007 1:13 PM CDT

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...

Mystery Illness Kills Camels
Mystery Illness Kills Camels
Aug 19, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

Mystery Illness Kills Camels

Saudi government denies contagious disease is behind it

(Newser) - In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of camels have suddenly died for unknown reasons—232  were counted in the last four days in the Dawasir Valley, 250 miles south of Riyadh, Reuters reports. The Agriculture Ministry denies that an infectious disease is behind the deaths and blames problems with animal feed. Owners...

Saudi King Backs Iraq's Sunni Rebels

Ally undermining Bush strategy and fledgling government

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is working at cross purposes with the Bush administration in Iraq by backing Sunni tribes engaged in sectarian violence there, the New York Times reports. King Abdullah has funded the Sunnis and is allowing insurgents to enter the country, US officials charge. Of up to 80 foreign fighters...

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit
Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit
Jun 21, 2007 6:21 PM CDT

Egypt Will Host Mideast Summit

Abbas and Olmert to meet in effort to isolate Hamas

(Newser) - Alarmed by the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Egypt will host a summit Monday, bringing together the Western-backed Palestinian president and the Israeli PM, along with Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, Reuters reports. The move is a show of support for the moderate Mamoud Abbas-led emergency government, and an effort to isolate...

Prince May No Longer Speak For His King

Bush's Saudi conduit, Prince Bandar, is out of step with Abdullah

(Newser) - Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador and longtime Bush conduit to the Saudi leadersip, may no longer be speaking for his country. The New York Times  notes that Bandar's uncle, King Abdullah, has taken several stands recently that surprised  the White House by being in direct conflict with...

Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal
Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal
Mar 29, 2007 8:53 AM CDT

Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal

Latest evidence of breach with ally

(Newser) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia fired a warning shot at the Bush administration yesterday, calling Iraq “an illegal foreign occupation” and urging Arab leaders to unite to prevent U.S. domination of the region.  The Saudis "are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their...

Does Saudi Arabia Have a Dubai Complex?

Building binge aims to diversify boom-or-bust oil economy

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is on a building binge. King Abdullah City—a planned $26.7-billion development where multi-million-dollar yachts will dock in the ports that currently welcome 300,000 Mecca-bound pilgrims—is one of five major “economic cities” the government is building in an attempt to spur private-sector growth and...

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