How stable is Saudi Arabia? Not very, according to at least one member of the Kingdom's ruling class. Last month Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, a prominent dissident now in exile in Cairo, issued an open letter to his fellow royals, urging them to abandon their desert fiefdom for greener pastures. According to the prince, the current social compact between the House of Saud and its subjects had become untenable, with the government no longer able to "impose" its writ on the people and growing grassroots discontent at the royals "interfering in people's private life and restricting their liberties." His advice? That King Abdullah and his coterie flee the Kingdom before they are overthrown--and before their opponents "cut off our heads in streets."

Beijing audits new rural medical system; China grapples with syphilis epidemic

Some unexpected competition for Central Asian gas;
New homeland security measures for Russian transit

Ukraine, Georgia off NATO's agenda;
Putin, Medvedev split on Soviet legacy

The latest issue to raise heckles [in India] has been cyberespionage. In January, India’s National Security Advisor MK Naryanan directly blamed China for multiple hacking attacks, and the chairman of India’s Cyber Law and IT Act Committee warned that same month that China had “raised a cyber army of about 300,000 people and their only job is to intrude upon the secured networks of other countries.” In April, a study by US and Canadian researchers claimed that a Chinese ‘shadow network’ had copied secret files of India’s defence ministry, potentially compromising some of India’s advanced weapons systems.

China-based hackers compromise nine Indian embassies; Beijing sends patrol boats to escort fisherman in South China Sea

Special Edition: China's Water Security Crisis

Kremlin moves to combat police corruption;
Yukos and the ECHR

China weighs in on Israeli-Palestinian peace; China looks to combustible ice to meet energy needs

U.S. ponders new base in Kyrgyzstan; In Iran's shadow, Arabs see Israel in different light, Nabucco, two steps forward; Yemen peace holds