Venezuela says its oil reserves surpass Saudi Arabia's. Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world leader in oil reserves with certified deposits leaping to 297 billion barrels at the end of 2010, President Hugo Chavez’s government said Saturday. Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters that the new reserves, which pushed the total 41 percent higher than the previous year, were... 

Former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. A startling power shift in restive Tunisia inched forward Saturday as the country’s parliament speaker assumed the interim presidency and the country’s former longtime leader took refuge with his family in Saudi Arabia. In a change of government driven by days of angry street protests, Tunisian state TV reported that Fouad Mebazaa was sworn... 

Saab AT4 portable anti-tank missile. This is one of Saab’s anti-missile systems. The one sold to Saudi Arabia, Bill 2 is heavier. The Swedish defense contractor Saab sells advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia. This writes the daily newspaper Dagens Industri today. Saab does not want to comment on the issue. A secret affair since 2002 The Swedish Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls (ISP)... 

The woman was attacked and her veil ripped off outside Central Station A man who ripped a veil from a Muslim woman’s face as she walked though Glasgow has been jailed for two years. William Baikie, 26, admitted racially assaulting 26-year-old Anwar Alqahtani by forcibly removing her niqab in the city’s Hope Street on 27 April. Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how Baikie, who has previous convictions... 

Israeli Attack from Caucasus Israel is massing warplanes in the Caucasus for an attack on Iran, it was revealed yesterday. Preparations are underway to launch the military attack from Azerbaijan and Georgia, reports our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, quoting military sources. Israel was, in fact, training pilots in Turkey to launch the strike and was smuggling planes into Georgia using Turkish airspace,... 

Lebanese Sorcerer A Lebanese man charged with sorcery and sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to be beheaded on Friday, the man’s lawyer said Wednesday. May El Khansa, the attorney for Ali Hussain Sibat, told CNN that she and Sibat’s family were informed about the upcoming execution. She said she heard from a source in Saudi Arabia with knowledge of the case and the proceedings... 

At left, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in Tehran on Tuesday. At right, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Jidda, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program appeared to deepen Tuesday as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton escalated her verbal assault during a Persian Gulf visit and Russia joined the United States and France in bluntly questioning... 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan The rift in Israeli-Turkish relations is the result of Ankara turning away from secularism and toward more radical Islam, Israel’s military intelligence chief said on Tuesday. The comments to a parliamentary committee by Maj. General Amos Yadlin reflected wider concern in Israel and followed a high profile visit to Turkey on Sunday by Defense Minister... 

Russian Oil Pipeline Over the next few days, Russia will change the world. It has completed a new oil pipeline and port complex that sets Russia up to become a more powerful oil exporter than Saudi Arabia. The ramifications for Europe and Asia are profound: The shape of the global economy—and the global balance of power—will be altered forever. December 28 was a big day of ceremony in Russia. Prime... 

Israeli border police officers take position during a protest by Palestinian and international activists against the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah January 1, 2010, to mark the founding of the Fatah movement. Saudi Arabia said on Saturday said Israel was the world’s “spoilt child” and got away with what Riyadh said were violations of... 

The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites. Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility. The Israeli press has already... 

Muslims do not respect Western ideals of human rights and do not assimilate into Western nations. When they hear the word Islam, most Americans think of terrorism. However, terrorism is only one manifestation of the fundamentally alien nature of the religion practiced by 1.8 billion world-wide. Americans and other westerners believe that people have natural rights and that these are the foundation... 

Canada’s foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured. Both nations expressed unhappiness after it emerged they had been listed in a document that formed part of a training course manual on torture awareness More..given to Canadian diplomats. Foreign... 

Photo: An Asian slave woman lives in confinement while forced to do hard labor in Dubai. Saudi Arabia officially outlawed slavery in the 1960’s, however they still openly practice indentured servitude that international rights groups say is tantamount to slavery. Servants are brought in from countries like Bangladesh to do hard labor while living in squalid conditions. Women are also lured to Saudi...