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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who famously declared "The system worked" after an underwear bomber was able to partially detonate his weapon aboard a jumbo jet bound for Detroit, has completed her divorce proceedings from reality. The New York Post reports: "Saudi Arabia, which gave us 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers, will soon get the coveted "trusted traveler" status from the Department of Homeland Security. Saudi travelers who are cleared through the program could bypass normal customs lines after showing their passports and providing fingerprints. Only a few other countries - Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands and South Korea...

At least 25 people have died and 30 others were hurt in a fire at a wedding in eastern Saudi Arabia, officials say. Hundreds were inside the courtyard of a home in the village of Ain Badr, in the Abqaiq region, when the blaze began. A high-voltage power line reportedly fell down and sent sparks flying after it was hit by celebratory gunfire.

Listen to what an Arabic language expert discovered by monitoring Arabic broadcasts in t.v. & radio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jhx_2TqffE

Azeez Al-Ghazian, 29, a Saudi national from Fort Worth, TX, is in custody after authorities found counterfeit military identification documents and weapons in his wrecked truck behind Hurst shopping center, which prompted authorities to evacuate it.

In late March 2008, on a local New York City show called “Inside City Hall,” the venerable African-American entrepreneur and politico, Percy Sutton, told host Dominic Carter how he was asked to help smooth Barack Obama’s admission into Harvard Law School 20 years earlier. The octogenarian Sutton calmly and lucidly explained that he had been “introduced to [Obama] by a friend.” The friend’s name was Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, and the introduction had taken place about 20 years prior. Sutton described al-Mansour as “the principal adviser to one of the world’s richest men.” The billionaire in question was Saudi prince Al-Waleed...

Searching old newspapers is one of my favorite pastimes, and I have tried to use them many times to shed light on current events — or to inform readers about how the past is prologue to our very interesting present-day quandaries. Recently, I came across a syndicated column from November 1979 that seemed to point 30 years into the future toward an obscure campaign issue that arose briefly in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Jittery afternoon in the oil markets, where crude futures plunged $3 in less than a minute shortly before 2 p.m., for no immediately obvious reason. In such cases, the chatter inevitably turns to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But we have no credible reports of a release at this point. Heck, we don’t even have a shady report to point to. CNBC’s befuddled anchors are just now floating the idea that options expiry may be playing a role. And CNBC has a White House spokesman saying there’s no change to the strategic petroleum reserve. “Fat finger” error? Probably not: Brent moved...

Was Rush Limbaugh right when he discussed Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin, criticizing the Secretary of State for her Deputy Chief of Staff’s familial ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and the close relationship between Huma’s mother and Egypt’s new first lady? Think Progress refers to Limbaugh’s claims as ‘baseless’. First, here is Rush’s commentary on the subject on June 26th (via Think Progress): The first sign that Rush’s claim is not baseless is that Think Progress says it is. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, Saleha and her now-deceased husband, Syed Z. Abedin, co-founded the Institute of...

CNBC HOST: Donald, you see the OPEC news this morning? Venezuela wants OPEC to stop pumping more, overproducing, they are saying, that, because Saudi Arabia is pumping above the limits it's supposed to be doing to help us out a little bit and Venezuela is complaining and right now you're looking at oil prices at about back around $82. DONALD TRUMP: That's still very high, Becky, they should be at $30 if you look at free market. I think Saudi Arabia is doing Obama a big favor. Look, you have to do be a favor, I have to get elected,...

JEDDAH: An official at the Saudi Youth Welfare Presidency has denied media reports that it had allowed women to enter playgrounds and watch matches. The presidency has so far not issued any orders permitting women to enter a stadium and watch matches, according to Ahmad Rawzi, director of the presidency’s Jeddah office. “If there was any formal order allowing women to enter playgrounds, it would have been announced officially by the presidency authorities,” he said. Rawzi was reacting to reports that women were permitted to watch the Asian Men's Handball Championship, which is being held in Jeddah. Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah...

The US embassy in Riyadh revealed that 110,000 Saudi nationals applied for a visa to visit the US in 2011, an increase of 25,000 from the previous year. The embassy also revealed that 93 percent of these visa applications were approved, and 75 percent of visa application approvals were issued within one week. He also revealed that the US embassy is required to check all the required documentation, as well as interview the visa applicant, revealing that some visas are rejected due to the applicant’s failure to provide accurate answers at this stage. As for claims that some questions contained...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The U.S. Congress' House majority leader has met with Saudi Arabia's oil minister, marking the latest stop by an official from a major oil importing nation to the OPEC kingpin since Iran threatened to shutter the vital Strait of Hormuz. A statement released Wednesday by the Saudi Oil Ministry says Ali Al-Naimi and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, discussed the importance of coordination between oil exporters and importers to stabilize oil markets.

NEW YORK — A federal judge says there isn't enough evidence to support a claim that money from a construction company founded by Osama bin Laden's father supported terrorists. Judge George Daniels in Manhattan dismissed the Saudi Binladen Group on Wednesday as a defendant in Sept. 11 lawsuits brought by families of terrorism victims and others.

While the green movement naively harbours hopes it will be able to shut down unconventional oil and gas development, in Saudi Arabia they are already contemplating a time when North American fossil fuel will replace their oil. Looking past the din of protesters, state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco is resigned to the fact that its influence will wane because of the massive unconventional fossil-fuel development underway in North America. As such, Saudi Arabia has no plans to raise its production output to 15 million barrels per day from 12 million, said Khalid Al-Falih, the powerful chief executive of Aramco. “There...

Thirteen months after a Tunisian street-vendor immolated himself and sparked the revolutions in the Middle East dubbed the “Arab Spring,” the bipartisan celebrations that attended those events last year appear premature, if not delusional. Now that Islamist parties are consolidating their power in the wake of the regime changes in those countries, President Obama’s claim that Egyptians merely wanted “a government that is fair and just and responsive,” or Senator John McCain’s assertions that Libyans were aiming for “lasting peace, dignity, and justice,” or Senator Joseph Lieberman’s article in Foreign Affairs that summarized the Arab Spring as a struggle for...

(AINA) — The number of Christian girls abducted and coerced into converting to Islam since the Egyptian “January 25 Revolution” has skyrocketed, according to Father Filopateer Gamil of St. Mary’s Church in Giza. “More than two to three girls disappear everyday in Giza alone,” he said. “The cases that are brought to public attention are few compared to what the numbers actually are.” Many Christians blame the military council for not intervening to put an end to this problem, which has escalated after the Revolution because of the “emergence of Muslim Salafists,” says activist Mark Ebeid, “who believe strongly that...

The Hajj each year brings untold suffering for the poor Muslim families in the poor Muslim states. My country, Bangladesh, home to 170 million, was once known internationally as the poorest country in the world. It is still a poor country. In recent years, hunger has been reduced from famine-like to "just" a hand to mouth condition in this densely populated tiny land. This minute change came about mainly from the ready-made garments, or textile, sector in which four million girls, aged twelve and up, work exhaustedly ten hours a day. Every single dollar that comes into Bangladesh represents an...

A "scientific" report published in Saudi Arabia has claimed that lifting the ban on women drivers would result in "no more virgins". The report also warned that such a move would also make more Saudis, both men and women, turn to homosexuality and pornography. The study also predicted a surge in prostitution and divorce. Such startling conclusions were drawn by Muslim scholars at the Majlis al-Ifta' al-A'ala, Saudi Arabia's highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University, according to the Daily Mail. The study was made to assess the possible impact...

Textbooks used in Saudi Arabia’s schools contain virulent forms of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish bigotry that continue to fuel intolerance and violence around the globe, says a new report. The problem is far greater than the five million students in Saudi Arabia who use these texts every day, said Nina Shea, director of the Washington-based Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. “Because of the Saudis’ great oil wealth, it is able to disseminate its textbooks far and wide,” she wrote in the report, Ten Years On. “[These textbooks] are posted on the Saudi Education Ministry’s website and are shipped and distributed...

Saudi Arabia has welcomed the recent establishment of a United Nations Center for Counter-Terrorism & provided $10 million to cover the center's costs for the 1st three years. The project is a result of the International Conference on Combating Terrorism held in Riyadh in 2005 and attended by around 60 countries and international bodies, which recommended expanding global efforts and cooperation to counter terrorism.