1.   Abdullah is all but certain to become the next Saudi king, but the lesson of Jordan may be that no such thing is entirely certain.

2.   People such as Chavez and the Saudi king and his countless princes are all the more reason to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

3.   Plenty of skin off the kneecaps of Saudi kings when they hit the desert sand begging consumers to buy gas on Friday.

4.   The Saudi king also suffers from diabetes and a weak heart brought on by years of good living.

5.   They were not enthusiastic about blowing up their own equipment, Hart said, and they wanted to inform the Saudi king.

6.   True, the Saudi kings have distributed largesse to their subjects and neighbors, but only because it has been politically prudent.

7.   Prince Fahd bin Salman, eldest son of the governor of Riyadh and nephew of the Saudi king, died Wednesday of heart failure.

8.   A British nurse who had faced beheading for murder was freed Wednesday with her accomplice, also a British nurse, after the Saudi king commuted their sentences.

9.   He had been scheduled to visit Fahd in December, but that much-heralded meeting was postponed after the Saudi king fell ill.

10.   Hussein had been scheduled to visit Fahd in December, but that much-heralded meeting was postponed after the Saudi king fell ill.