Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan have already taken six of Asia's eight guaranteed spots at next year's 48-team World Cup.
Al-Ahli secured a 3-1 win over 10-man Al-Hilal to win the battle of the Saudi Pro League sides in Jeddah on Tuesday, booking a place in Saturday's final of the Asian Champions League Elite to keep their dream of a first continental title alive.
Al-Hilal powered into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League Elite in Jeddah on Friday as Jorge Jesus's Saudi Pro League side demolished South Korea's Gwangju 7-0 to move closer to a record-extending fifth continental title.
Former France striker Karim Benzema was delighted to help Al-Ittihad secure a 4-1 victory over Al-Hilal in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday, maintaining their dominance in the Saudi Pro League.
Saudi Arabia is pressing Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return home before the upcoming general elections, media reports said.
Al-Nassr ensured all three Saudi Pro League teams reached the Asian Champions League Elite semi-finals as Stefano Pioli's side handed Yokohama F Marinos a 4-1 defeat on Saturday.
Crown Prince Sultan, who was around 86, had been in the United States for medical treatment since June. His death has thrown his brother Prince Nayef into line to succeed King Abdullah as leader of the key oil producer country.
The 47-year-old Democrat briefly spoke to Zardari, King Abdullah, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and its Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday over telephone, thanking them for their congratulatory messages.
Former US President Donald Trump claims Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir support his plan to end the Gaza conflict, citing their involvement in negotiations and a recent statement of full support.
Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman.
The new decree provides for the eventuality of the king and the crown prince becoming ill or dying at the same time. \n\nThis precautionary measure is due to the fact that all the sons of the founder of the Saudi state King Abdulaziz Al Saud are old.
Did Saudi state television blur Michelle Obama's face?
Crown Prince Al Soud, 81, was the deputy minister of aviation and defence, and was one of the top figures in the Saudi kingdom.
From the US perspective, the immediate political advantage of the Saudi involvement will be two-fold: its impact on Pakistani public opinion and, secondly, in countering the expanding Iranian influence within Afghanistan. The Saudi role would hopefully temper the stridency of 'anti-Americanism' in Pakistan, given their influence on the Islamic parties in Pakistan, especially the Jamaat-i-Islami
The Saudi government's royal treatment to Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf during his visit to Riyadh has left his opponents into total confusion, Dawn newspaper has reported.
A suicide bomber blew himself up near the prince while he met members of the public in connection with the festival of Ramzan, the Islamic month of fasting, according to the report. Reports suggested that the suicide bomber was a wanted militant who said he wanted to meet the prince, to announce his surrender.
Giving a boost to their academic ties, India on Tuesday agreed to help Saudi Arabia in setting up centres of excellence in its universities to promote scientific research and higher studies.
Saudi Arabia has allowed State Bank of India to open its branches in the Kingdom.
Real outclass Majorca, to meet Barca in Super Cup final
In a landmark development, King Abdullah has appointed Norah al-Faiz as deputy minister with special responsibility for female education. She will report to Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, who has been appointed as the education minister
"We were brothers yesterday, we are brothers today and we will be brothers forever," he said.
"As many as 1.12 million expats corrected their professions until July 6. We have also issued and renewed more than 1.6 million work permits during the period," Abdullah Abuthnain, Deputy Minister for Inspections and Developing Work Atmosphere, was quoted by the local media as saying.
The programme would begin on January 25 with a ghazal performance by Talat Aziz, who would be accompanied by renowned tabla maestro, Jeetu Shankar.
Rights group protests Saudi prisoner's sentence
Terrorism will be high on the agenda of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his three-day visit to Saudi Arabia from Saturday when the two countries will sign an extradition treaty. Singh will be the first Indian PM to visit Saudi Arabia in the last 28 years; the last visit was undertaken by Indira Gandhi in 1982. The prime minister will hold talks with King Abdullah on a number of bilateral and regional matters of mutual concern and address the influential Shura Council.
The assurance came after a meeting of the Saudi Arabia's Supreme Council for Petroleum and Mineral Affairs, which was chaired by King Abdullah. The meeting, which reviewed world oil market developments, referred to the resolution taken by the last OPEC summit in Riyadh in which leaders said they would manage petroleum resources to ensure sustained development. The summit expressed its satisfaction over the progress of work at new investment projects.
Nearly 65,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia have already collected their travel documents and are legally secure in the oil-rich country ahead of the July 3 deadline to regularise their residency under an amnesty programme.
A number of Middle Eastern nations have expressed concern over Iran's aspirations of becoming a nuclear armed state, according to the secret cables released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks. Saudi Arabia's leader King Abdullah has even asked the US to consider bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, reveal the cables."He told you (US administration) to cut off the head of the snake," the Saudi ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir is quoted as saying.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on Wednesday dismissed the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Moqren bin Abdul Aziz bin Saud, and replaced him with the Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef.
British-Somali super-bantamweight Ramla Ali took little more than a minute on Saturday to win the first sanctioned female professional boxing bout held in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi ruler King Abdullah extended the 'Nitaqat' deadline by four more months and has given undocumented expats time till November 4, 2013, to have their status corrected. The decision is set to provide relief to thousands of migrants based in the Islamic country, including hundreds of people from Kerala.
Saudi also opposed talks between Washington and Tehran and pushed the United States to encourage the resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin, who is heading a high-level delegation, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on January 26.
'The Saudis are in the driving seat in navigating the relations with India; they set its compass and calibrate its pace,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
These women, like Michelle Obama, did not wear a headscarf in Saudi Arabia
In a widely anticipated move, Saudi Arabia's Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz has been chosen as the country's new Crown Prince. He has been appointed Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior of the Kingdom, a royal decree has announced. The country's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in a royal order issued on Thursday evening, notified the chief and members of the Allegiance-Pledge Commission of his choice. The announcement was subsequently made on state-owned television channel
A Saudi Arabian prince, the grandson of King Abdullah who was charged with battering his aide to death, was jailed for life by a British court with the judge observing "no one in this country is above the law."
Benzema was Al-Ittihad's first signing since winning the league title for the first time since 2009 with compatriot Kante expected to join him
Al-Hilal wrapped up a place in the Asian Champions League semi-finals as a 2-0 win over fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad in Jeddah on Tuesday completed a 4-0 aggregate success and set a world record with their 28th straight win in all competitions.
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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