The Price of Food is at the Heart of This Wave of Revolutions

Revolution is breaking out all over. As Gaddafi marshals his thugs and mercenaries for a last-ditch fight in Tripoli, several died as protests grew more serious in Iraq. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah tried to bribe his people into docility by splashing out $35bn on housing, social services and education. Across the water in Bahrain the release of political prisoners failed to staunch the uprising. In Iran, President Ahmadinejad crowed about chaos in the Arab world, but said nothing about the seething anger in his own backyard; in Yemen, the opposition gathers strength daily.

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World Oil prices Soar, Stocks Tumble on Fears of Widening Unrest in North Africa and Middle East

Global stock values fell broadly for the second day on Tuesday and crude oil prices surged as the social upheaval in Libya disrupted petroleum exports and ongoing protests in Bahrain and Yemen threatened to spread to Saudi Arabia. All of the major Western oil companies operating in Libya reported cutting back or suspending their operations Monday, reportedly causing a decline of more than 8 percent in the country’s normal output of 1.6 million barrels per day. In addition, Libya’s ports were closed.

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