Al Qaeda's top financier for Yemen and Saudi Arabia has been taken into custody, the Yemeni government announced Sunday.

For many consumers, the only silver lining on the global financial crisis has been the falling oil price it has precipitated. But OPEC is determined to put an end to the relief at the gas pump. Concerned to protect their countries' financial health, oil ministers from the 13 members of the cartel of oil-producing countries meet in Vienna on Friday with only one item on their agenda — cutting their oil output in order to drive up world prices. ...

Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence, Saudi media reported Sunday. Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that "if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her ...

Though discouraged by Iran's moves since the Obama administration extended its "open hand," the United States is "not willing to pull the hand back yet," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. Gates is currently on a trip to the Middle East in which he is seeking to ease allies' concerns about U.S. talks with Iran. As he left Egypt on Tuesday for his second stop, Saudi Arabia, Gates played down any expectations of reconciliation between the United States and Iran. ...

Saudi Arabia's crown prince was convalescing Saturday in Morocco where he arrived this week after surgery in New York City, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is also the nation's deputy prime minister, completed "all medical tests and treatments in the aftermath of the medical surgery he has previously undergone," the news agency said, quoting a statement from the Royal Court. His illness was not revealed. Sultan arrived in the Moroccan city ...

The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria will meet in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a mini-summit designed to improve relations between the countries, according to a Saudi government official who did not want to be identified. The three leaders are Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Saudi King Abdullah. The source said "an open invitation" has been issued "for the leaders of any Gulf country and the leader of Jordan to attend the summit." There ...

Conjoined Egyptian twin boys Hassan and Mahmoud, who were successfully separated in Saudi Arabia Saturday, are recovering and are expected to lead normal lives, officials said. "The twins' vital signs are good; they're doing excellent," said Sami Al-Shalan, spokesman for the King Abdulaziz Medical City facility in Riyadh where the surgery took place. "The twins still have about 24 hours before a progress report can be issued. The anesthesia consultants are happy with the progress of the children." The boys ...

Saudi King Abdullah has for the first time appointed a woman to the council of ministers as part of a Cabinet reshuffling, Saudi owned Al-Arabiya television station reported Saturday. King Abdullah announced a new supreme court chief, a new minister of health, a new justice minister and a new information minister as part of the reshuffling, Al-Arabiya reported. King Abdullah appointed Noor Al-Fayez to the Saudi Council of Ministers. She will serve in a new position as deputy minister for ...