CURRENT NEWS ITEM: AFTER OIL TANKER HIJACKING, SAUDI ARABIA TO JOIN ANTI-PIRACY EFFORTS

TOP - 50 RELEVANT BREAKING NEWS

1. After Oil Tanker Hijacking, Saudi Arabia to Join Anti-Piracy Efforts

   JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 18 -- Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, calling piracy "a disease that has to be eradicated."

2. Rules frustrate anti-piracy efforts

   The BBC's Paul Reynolds looks at measures being taken against Somali pirates and wonders if they are enough.

3. Russia's Pacific Fleet warships join anti-piracy mission

   MOSCOW, January 2 (RIA Novosti) - A naval task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet led by the Admiral Vinogradov destroyer has joined a Russian frigate on an anti-piracy mission off Somalia, a source in the fleet's headquarters said Friday. "A

4. Abu Jamra praises but Aoun attacks Saudi Arabia

   Beirut - Deputy Premier Issam Abu Jamra said relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have always been excellent, contradicting a declared stand by his boss Michel Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic movement

5. Sleiman leads high-powered team to Saudi Arabia

   President Michel Sleiman arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday for talks with King Abdullah. A statement released by Sleiman's media office said that an initial meeting had focused on enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries. Sleiman headed an

6. Bush signs controversial anti-piracy law

   WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush signed into law on Monday a controversial bill that would stiffen penalties for movie and music piracy at the federal level.

7. Bush enacts PRO-IP anti-piracy law

   U.S. President George W. Bush Monday signed into law a bill designed to increase protection of intellectual property (IP) such as software, films and music by raising penalties for infringement and creating a national "IP czar."

8. EU eyes December launch for Somalia anti-piracy force

   BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union aims to launch a planned air and naval force in December to combat piracy threatening sea lanes off Somalia, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Tuesday.

9. World Briefing | Middle East: Saudi Arabia: Executions Rose in 2007

   The number of people executed in Saudi Arabia quadrupled last year, according to a report released Tuesday by Amnesty International.

10. World Powers Launch Anti-Piracy Squad

    International flotilla set to fight pirates off the Somali coast.

11. Scotland has sights on 'Saudi Arabia' of marine energy as firms bid to build big windfarms

    SCOTLAND has taken a major step towards becoming a green energy powerhouse after more than a dozen companies applied to build a series of giant offshore windfarms.

12. Saudi Arabia prepares first al-Qaeda trials

    A court began formal legal proceedings against about 70 militant suspects ahead of the first trials of al-Qaeda sympathisers who waged a campaign of violence in the US-allied monarchy

13. Hundreds indicted in Saudi Arabia's first terrorism trial

    The Saudi interior minister says that authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants in the kingdom's first terrorism trial.

14. Saudi Arabia injects cash into banks

    Saudi Arabia, the biggest economy of the Gulf and the world's largest supplier of oil, has deposited $2bn-$3bn in local banks to meet a shortfall of dollar funding in the domestic banking sector

15. Indian Naval Ship Patrolling in Gulf-of-Aden for anti-piracy surveillance

    Gulf of Aden in the western Arabia Sea falls under the area of responsibility of the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy. The ships from the Command regularly maintain surveillance in the piracy infested region off the Somali Coast

16. SAUDI ARABIA: Almost 1000 al-Qaeda suspects put in dock

    Saudi Arabia announced late on Monday it would put almost 1000 al-Qaeda suspects in the dock, in the nation's first trials of this nature. This is part of Riyadh's three-pronged offensive against al-Qaeda.

17. NATO Ships Head to Somalia for Anti-Piracy Operations

    A NATO flotilla sailing toward the Somali coast will begin anti-piracy operations within the next few days, but officials said Wednesday the alliance was still working out the rules of engagement for the seven ships.

18. AP IMPACT: Security firms join Somali piracy fight

    NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Blackwater Worldwide and other private security firms - some with a reputation for being quick on the trigger in Iraq - are joining the battle against pirates plaguing one of the world's most important shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia....

19. Iraqi Conjoined Twins Separated in Saudi Arabia

    Four months after they were born attached at the chest and stomach – conjoined twin boys from Iraq have been successfully separated in Saudi Arabia.

20. Turkey supports Ukraine's efforts to join EU and NATO, says president

21. Microsoft anti-piracy move irks Chinese official

    BEIJING (Reuters) - A top Chinese copyright official chided Microsoft for launching an anti-piracy tool that nags users of counterfeit software with a black computer screen and said the company's prices were too high.

22. Microsoft Anti-Piracy Tool Angers Chinese

    An anti-piracy tactic by Microsoft Corp. that turns some computer users' screens black has set off a wave of indignation among Chinese consumers, posing renewed problems for the software maker in the huge China market.

23. SOFTWARE: Chinese netizens slam Microsoft's anti-piracy policy

    US software giant Microsoft has launched a new war on piracy in China, where 8 in 10 Windows programmes are illegal. Chinese Web users were quick to denounce what they qualified as "brutal" methods.

24. THE OBSERVERS - SAUDI ARABIA: Poverty exists in Saudi Arabia too

    Poverty exists in Saudi Arabia too

25. Saudi Arabia Holds First Beauty Pageant . . . for Sheep

    Saudi Arabia held a beauty pageant for locally bred sheep Thursday as breeders praised the vastly improved animals who are "much more beautiful" than they were just 10 years ago.

26. SAUDI ARABIA: Internet human rights campaign gathers steam

    Human rights activists in Saudi Arabia are turning to the Internet, including the social networking site Facebook, to make their voices heard. Despite the state's tight controls on spreading information, they seem to be making some headway.

27. World Briefing | Middle East: Saudi Arabia: Making Sheep’s Eyes

    The first Saudi beauty pageant for locally bred sheep took place, and the victor was offered to the highest bidder.

28. Bolivia Suspends U.S. Anti-Drug Efforts

    Bolivian President Evo Morales suspended operations by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency he has accused of spying and helping to destabilize his government.

29. Bolivian president suspends U.S. anti-drug efforts

    Bolivian President Evo Morales suspended U.S. anti-drug operations today as Washington's relations with his leftist government spiraled downward.

30. Prop. A backers say now is the time to fund anti-gang efforts

    The city initiative would raise property taxes by $36 and funnel $30 million into after-school programs and gang prevention efforts. The city of Los Angeles ended 2006 with the high-profile killings of two children: a 9-year-old girl in Angeleno Heights and a 14-year-old girl in Harbor Gateway who, police say, was targeted in part because of her race.

31. Bolivian president suspends US anti-drug efforts

    LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales suspended U.S. anti-drug operations on Saturday as Washington's relations with his leftist government spiraled downward....

32. Oil price rallies as Saudi Arabia cuts production

    Oil prices dipped below $60 a barrel to 20-month lows yesterday, before rebounding sharply on confirmation that Saudi Arabia will cut production and as global stock markets rose on better-than-expected company results.

33. Punj Lloyd's Unit In JV With Dayim For Infrastructure Projects In Saudi Arabia

    Punj Lloyd Ltd., a transnational company specializing in the energy, infrastructure and petrochemical sectors, said its wholly owned subsidiary Sembawang Engineers Constructors Pte Ltd. entered into a 49:51 joint venture with Dayim Al-Haditha in Saudi Arabia, promoted by HRH Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Sultan for partnership and investment.

34. Credit Suisse Expands Its Business in Saudi Arabia

    Credit Suisse announced Monday that it had acquired majority ownership of Saudi Swiss Securities, which will be renamed Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia. It said Bassam Yammine, the co-chief executive of Credit Suisse in the Middle East, would also become chief executive of the Saudi Arabian business. “Saudi Arabia is the dominant economy in the Gulf region and [...]

35. Saudi Arabia reviews aluminium deal

    The Gulf nation's state mining company and Rio Tinto Alcan say they are reassessing a $10.5bn aluminium project, which was seen as an integral part of diversifying the kingdom's oil-dependent economy in the wake of the deepening financial crisis

36. Saudi Arabia, missing pluralism at home, seeks UN platform to promote it abroad

    Human rights groups are crying foul that Saudi Arabia is being given the platform of the UN to promote religious tolerance abroad while actively combating it at home.

37. Saudi Arabia to lead UN talks on religious tolerance

    Human rights defenders are crying foul that Saudi Arabia is being given the platform of the United Nations to promote religious tolerance abroad while it actively combats anything similar at home.