The staff at a Chinese nature reserve have caught a very rare thing on film: a wild panda eating the meat of a dead widebeest.

The AP reports:

"Staff at the Wanglong Nature Reserve in southwest Sichuan province set up the camera after noticing dead animals with chew marks. It was not known if the panda had killed the animals.

"The Pingwu County forestry bureau says the panda appears to be healthy and strong."

While pandas are known to mostly eat bamboo, they have been known to eat some meat. The World Wildlife Fund, which uses a giant panda as its logo, says that only about 1 percent of a panda's diet "is made up of other plants and meat."

What's interesting is what you hear Lin Youping, of the forestry department, say in the video. That watching this is watching an "evolutionary throwback."

The WWF adds that pandas are members of the bear family, so they have the digestive system of a carnivore. "But they differ in the sense that they have adapted to a vegetarian diet," the WWF reports.

The University of Miami will return $83,000 in donations it received from Nevin Shapiro, a former booster, who was incarcerated for his role in running a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

As we reported in August, Shapiro revealed that he gave Miami players "cash, threw parties for them, hooked them up with prostitutes, entertained them at night clubs and let them use his cars." Many of the gifts were impermissible under NCAA rules. The NCAA launched an investigation and suspended eight players, including starting quarterback Jacory Harris. The university may still face sanctions.

The AP reports UM reached a deal with a bankruptcy trustee who will hand a part of that money to the ponzi scheme victims.

The Miami Herald points out the interesting part of the story: The agreement means former Miami players won't have to talk about what the gifts they received from Shapiro.

The Herald explains:

"The deal eliminates the likelihood of former Hurricane players having to disclose under oath potentially incriminating information about improper gifts received from Shapiro — testimony that might have further embarrassed the university.

"As for the money UM is paying, $55,610 will be shared among victims of Shapiro's Ponzi scheme and the remaining $27,390 will go the firm Tabas Freedman, which represents bankruptcy trustee Joel Tabas.The settlement must be approved by a bankruptcy court judge, Laurel Isicoff, Feb. 27 in downtown Miami, "but I see no reason why it wouldn't be approved," said Gary Freedman, who is representing Tabas."

Enlarge Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks by a Citibank branch at the U.S. bank Citigroup world headquarters on Park Avenue, in New York in 2008.

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

A man walks by a Citibank branch at the U.S. bank Citigroup world headquarters on Park Avenue, in New York in 2008.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruffled feathers back in November when he refused to approve a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commision and Citigroup.

As we reported, Rakoff threw out the $285 million deal which would have allowed Citigroup to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing in a mortgage derivatives deal. That kind of arrangement has become customary, but the judge said it obscured facts and failed to inform the public so he said he wouldn't OK a deal without any "proven or admitted facts"

The standoff erupted into a bit of legal drama, yesterday, with the SEC claiming Rakoff has grossly overstepped his bounds and the judge claiming that Citigroup misled the court. Here's how The Washington Post frames it:

"The judge and the SEC are locked in an extraordinary battle over how the government should police financial fraud, and just when it seemed that the conflict could not get more contentious, Thursday's development added a dimension."

In truth, Thursday's development is more entertaining than it is substantive. Essentially, the S.E.C. tried make an end run around Rakoff by asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to throw out Rakoff's judgement. Now the Washington Post says asking another judge to issue a "writ of mandamus" is "generally reserved for cases in which a judge has grossly overstepped his bounds." The Post adds, "such a direct and personal challenge to a judge is far from a routine gambit."

Needless to say Rakoff was not happy, especially because he said the SEC and Citigroup both failed to tell him they were challenging his ruling, instead letting him toil through the Christmas holiday in an effort to move the case along. Rakoff even issued a supplemental order detailing his displeasure. The New York Times describes it:

"He said that the S.E.C. had the chance and the obligation to tell him about its emergency motion to the Court of Appeals after it was filed on Tuesday, because the commission and Citigroup had a telephone conference call with Judge Rakoff about his management of the case. In that conversation, Citigroup asked Judge Rakoff to be allowed to file extra pages in its coming motion to dismiss the case.

"By not informing him of its appeals court plea, 'there appears to have been a similar misleading of this court,' the judge wrote, because both the S.E.C. and Citigroup 'held back from this court material information it needed to do its job.'

"The judge even complained that he had spent the Christmas holiday considering the stay request and drafting an opinion in order to speed the case along."

So where does the case stand? The Second Circuit will hold a hearing on Jan. 17, but in that same supplemental order, The Wall Street Journal explains, Rakoff argued "the agency doesn't have a legal basis for an appeal in the first place."

There are 79 stores in 25 states on the first list of Sears and Kmart locations being closed in the coming year, Sears Holdings has announced.

The 79 locations are posted here. Some details:

— 11 of the stores are in Florida, the most of any state.

— The second-most stores (6) are in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio.

— 38 Kmarts are included.

— 25 Sears "full-line" locations are listed.

— 14 "Grand/Essential" stores (competitors to Walmart) are identified.

— Two "Sears Hardlines Only" are included (they focus on appliances and other "hard" goods).

As we reported Tuesday, the company says it will close between 100 and 120 stores as it seeks to trim costs.

According to Sears Holdings, the stores on the list so far typically employ "between 40 and 80 associates."

In Austin yesterday more than 1,500 people gathered — as many more watched online — to say goodbye to a Texas teen who "reached millions across the world" with the videos he posted online in the months before his Christmas Day death, The American-Statesman reports.

Enlarge TotalRandomness512

Ben Breedlove, in one of his final videos.

TotalRandomness512

Ben Breedlove, in one of his final videos.

Ben Breedlove, 18, had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — "a thickening of the heart muscle that makes it work harder," as the newspaper says. His videos, which included Ben's description of a vision he said he had after a cardiac arrest last month, inspired many.

A friend of Breedlove's, 17-year-old Glynn Sullivan, tells the American-Statesman that "I don't have any memories of that kid without him having a smile on his face. ... As kids we think we're invincible, especially in high school, but Ben showed us we're not."

Austin's KXAN-TV has a video report on the service and Ben's life. It says that Ben's videos inspired "thousands of comments" from people they touched.

Among the young man's videos are two he posted just a week before his death, in which he uses flip cards to silently tell his story.

Enlarge Chaloner Woods/Getty Images

"Oh dear, the car doesn't seem to recognize me." (1960 file photo from the U.K.)

Chaloner Woods/Getty Images

"Oh dear, the car doesn't seem to recognize me." (1960 file photo from the U.K.)

We're a little behind on this story, butt it's too fantasstic not to point out:

Researchers at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Industrial Technology have developed an anti-theft device for cars that senses whether the derriere sitting in the driver's seat is or isn't supposed to be there.

Not the right backside? Then the vehicle won't start.

Now, we assume there are all sorts of details that still need to be worked out. What if you loan your car to somebody else? What if your significant other doesn't want his or her can to be scanned? Is your ride going to start nagging you if you put on weight? Will cars in Scotland finally settle that age-old question about guys who wear kilts?

Some of the answers may be in this paper posted online by the school, but since we can't read it we don't know. We do love this little graphic, though, which appears to show the sweet spots, so to speak, when it comes to tushie technology:

Enlarge Tokyo's Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology

Is that you? Someday your car may know.

Tokyo's Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology

Is that you? Someday your car may know.

Good morning.

Our early headlines on this last Friday of 2011 (except in Samoa):

— Clashes Resume In Syria, Activists Say.

— 'Outrage' Over Verizon's Plan For $2 Payment Fee.

— Romney, Paul Are 1 And 2 In Another Iowa Poll, Santorum Rising.

— Fireworks, Celebrations As Samoa Skips Friday.

Other stories in the news:

— "North Korea Vows No Softening Under Its New Leader." (The Associated Press)

— "Russia Nuclear Sub Fire Extinguished, State Media Say." (CNN)

— "Egyptian Military Raids Foreign-Funded NGO Offices." (Morning Edition)

"Syrian forces and activists have clashed during after-prayer protests in Damascus, as Arab observers continue their mission in the country," the BBC reports. It adds that "activists said troops fired nail bombs to disperse protesters who retaliated with stones in the suburb of Douma."

Reuters is reporting that "Syrian security forces shot dead at least five protesters in the northern city of Hama on Friday, a rights group said, while Arab League monitors were touring the city as part of a Syria-wide trip to assess whether Damascus has ended a crackdown."

Thursday, NPR production assistant Ahmed Al Omran reported for us on the death of Syrian citizen journalist Basil al-Sayed who was documenting some of the latest protests when he was shot in the head.

Because the regime of President Bashar Assad does not allow foreign journalists to freely report in Syria, most of the information from there about this year's protest has come from citizen journalists and activists.

"Sirens wailed and fireworks exploded in the skies over Samoa as the tiny South Pacific nation jumped forward in time" today, The Associated Press writes.

As we reported on Wednesday, Samoa (and the nearby even tinier Tokelau) decided to shift from the east side of the International Dateline to the west to be closer in time to Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and other neighbors. And by doing that, it jumped right from midnight Thursday to 12:01 a.m. Saturday. So, no Friday.

It all happened a little more than three hours ago (5 a.m. ET). And according to the AP:

"The moment was greeted with celebrations across Samoa. Fireworks danced across the sky and police, ambulance and fire truck sirens wailed throughout Apia to signal the change. Drivers circled the clock tower blaring their horns, and prayer services were held across the country."

Sky News filed a video report.

Enlarge Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Eric Thayer/Getty Images

Update at 3:30 p.m. ET. Verizon Backs Down:

Verizon has backed down from plans to charge $2 for using some methods of payment.

The company made its announcement hours after the FCC said it would investigate the charges and after angry customers took to the web to vent their frustration.

In a statement Verizon said it decided to scrap the new charge "in response to customer feedback."

"At Verizon, we take great care to listen to our customers," Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said in a statement. "Based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options, eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time."

Hours earlier, the company defended its new policy. In an interview with Bloomberg, Brenda Raney, a Verizon spokeswoman, said the company wasn't "considering canceling the charges."

"Customers have a number of alternatives to pay their bill and not incur the convenience fee," Raney told Bloomberg. "Paying the fee is an option, not an absolute."

But, now, Verizon has reversed course, like Bank of America did after customers voiced their displeasure with a new $5 charge for using a debit card.

Our Original Post Continues:

There's been an "uproar on the Web," as The New York Times says this morning, over the plan by Verizon Wireless to charge $2 for some methods of paying your bill.

Indeed, a simple Twitter search of "Verizon" turns up words such as "backlash," "OUTRAGEOUS," and "Cancel your contract!" And there's the inevitable online petition.

As Eyder reported Thursday, Verizon plans to start charging the fee if you go online or call the company on the phone to make a one-time payment with a credit or debit card. What Verizon is trying to do is steer customers toward signing up to pay their bills via electronic checks, through automatic payment programs or the old-fashioned way — by dropping a check in the mail.

Forbes contributor Erika Morphy thinks this will be a "Bank of America moment" for Verizon. That is, it will be faced with so much criticism that it will have to reverse course — as Bank of America did when it tried to charge a $5 monthly fee if its customers used their debit cards to make some purchases.

Verizon calls it a "convenience fee" that "will help allow us to continue to support these single bill payment options in these channels and is designed to address costs incurred by us for only those customers who choose to make single bill payments in alternate payment channels (online, mobile, telephone)."

The company's plan comes as some customers are already upset about recent outages in its 4G network.

Enlarge Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney campaigning in Ames, Iowa, on Thursday (Dec. 29, 2011).

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney campaigning in Ames, Iowa, on Thursday (Dec. 29, 2011).

With just one holiday weekend between now and Tuesday's Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa, there's another poll signalling that it could be a close battle at the top between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). And also once again, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is on the rise and showing up at No. 3.

The NBC News-Marist Poll has Romney drawing support from 23 percent of the "likely caucus-goers" surveyed. Paul was at 21 percent. Santorum was at 15 percent.

Rounding out the list: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, at 14 percent; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, at 13 percent; Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 6 percent.

So, basically: In that poll, Romney and Paul are virtually tied at the top; Santorum, Perry and Gingrich are running neck-and-neck-and-neck for the No. 3 spot.

The results are similar to several other recent polls in the state, as Real Clear Politics reports.

Over at The New York Times' Five Thirty Eight blog, analyst Nate Silver says Santorum "can make the most credible claim of any candidate about having momentum in the state." And he speculates about the chances that the GOP race will come down to a two-way battle between Romney and Santorum.

On Morning Edition today, NPR's Don Gonyea looked at Paul's rise to the near or at the top in Iowa polls. Meanwhile, our friends at It's All Politics continue to follow the news from there as well.

Enlarge Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Republican presidential contender Ron Paul campaigning in Atlantic, Iowa, on Thursday (Dec. 29, 2011).

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Republican presidential contender Ron Paul campaigning in Atlantic, Iowa, on Thursday (Dec. 29, 2011).

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced today that it has created a hot line for detainees who "believe they may be U.S. citizens or victims of a crime."

In its press release, ICE also announced that it was asking local law enforcement to fill out a new form when detaining someone on immigration charges. Authorities have to provide the detainee with a copy of the form, which lists the phone number — (855) 448-6903 — and advises that they can't be held for more than 48 hours on an immigration hold.

The new measures, says ICE, makes sure that people detained by local officials are "properly notified about their potential removal from the country and are made aware of their rights."

The announcement comes after a New York Times report found that more and more American citizens are being held "for investigation and possible deportation." It also comes after the federal government broke ties with the office of Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, whom the Justice Department accused of violating civil rights and discriminating against Latinos.

The Arizona Sheriff was a participant the federal government's "Secure Communities" program, which allows local authorities to conduct immigration screenings.

As the AP writes, "the hot line is the latest move by the Obama administration to address concerns about suspected illegal immigrants held in local jails."

The San Antonio Express-News reports that some welcomed the changes:

"That's one of the things I find encouraging, that this seems to allow for those people to really make known that they are U.S. citizens," said San Antonio immigration attorney Nancy Shivers. "I think the hot line's a great idea if it works."

Shivers said she had some concerns about whether detainees will have access to phones to call the hot line.

Enlarge Rami Jarrah

Basil al-Sayed, a Syrian citizen journalist who lost his life documenting the uprising in Homs.

Rami Jarrah

Basil al-Sayed, a Syrian citizen journalist who lost his life documenting the uprising in Homs.

This was the last thing Basil al-Sayed, a citizen journalist in Syria, filmed before he was shot in the head by security forces:

According to activist Rami Jarrah, yesterday, al-Sayed succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in the restive city of Homs. He was 24.

"We have thousands of citizen journalists," Jarrah told NPR's Deb Amos. "But Basil was one of those who stood out."

Jarrah said al-Sayed filmed security forces opening fire directly at protesters, and that put him at serious risk.

"He was documenting stuff that no one could actually get hold of," Jarrah said. "I don't want to say this was expected, but he was always in those situations where you could expect something would happen to him."

Jarrah said that al-Sayed's last video was taken at a checkpoint in the neighborhood of Bab Amr and uploaded to YouTube by fellow activists there.

"This video caused me to cry hard," blogger Ali Alhasan wrote, "because of his death and because this is going on until now with the world watching and still following the diplomatic methods to resolve the situation."

Enlarge Rami Jarrah

The camera Basil al-Sayed used to record protests before he was shot.

Rami Jarrah

The camera Basil al-Sayed used to record protests before he was shot.

Foreign journalists have been mostly banned from entering Syria since a popular uprising against the rule of President Bashar Assad began in the country 10 months ago. In many cases, the videos uploaded to YouTube by citizen journalists have been the only way for the outside world to see the clashes that have cost more than 5,000 people their lives in Syria.

Al-Sayed documented the uprising using a small Samsung camcorder that has a red body. He uploaded hundreds of hours of footage to YouTube. He has a brother and sister, and he was the youngest in his family. He worked at an aluminum plant in Homs.

In Bab Amr, the neighborhood that has come under a heavy attack by the security forces over the past few months, the role of al-Sayed was instrumental in relaying information and getting the word out, Jarrah added.

The video below, uploaded by activists to YouTube, reportedly shows Basil's mother and relatives weeping over the body of their son before he was laid to rest. She asks to take one last look at him and tries to touch his pale face. "For the love of God," she says as another man covers his face.

Ahmed Al Omran is a production assistant with NPR's social media desk.

China laid out its vision for space exploration in a white paper released today. In it, China declares its intention to put a man on the moon, a feat accomplished last by the United States almost 40 years ago.

The Financial Times says that while the prospect has been discussed by scientists in the past, the paper is "the first public government document to enshrine it as a policy goal."

The Times adds:

"Although a manned moon mission is still some time off – Chinese experts say after 2020 – the statement highlights Beijing's soaring ambitions just five months after the US retired its space shuttle programme . 'Chinese people are the same as people around the world,' Zhang Wei, an official with China's National Space Administration, said at a briefing. 'When looking up at the starry sky, we are full of longing and yearning for the vast universe.'

"According to the white paper, which serves as a blueprint for the next five years, China will develop new satellites, accelerate efforts to build a space station and strengthen its research in space. Laying the foundation for a mission to the moon, the government also plans to launch unmanned lunar probes and make 'new technological breakthroughs' in human space flights by 2016."

More immediately in 2012, China will launch two spacecraft that will dock with the Tiangong-1 vehicle, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency. The docking would be another step in China's goal of constructing its own space station.

Enlarge James Gathany/CDC

An Anopheles albimanus mosquito, which is an important vector for malaria transmission in Central America.

James Gathany/CDC

An Anopheles albimanus mosquito, which is an important vector for malaria transmission in Central America.

It's a question that has surely crossed the minds of many of you: Why is it that mosquitoes tend to prefer certain people?

Scientists think they have an answer — at least to what attracts the African mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, which is partly responsible for the transmission of malaria. The researchers, led by Niels Verhulst of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, found that the blood suckers are attracted to certain people because of the kinds of bacteria on their skin.

According to the study, published in the Dec. 28 edition of the journal PLoS ONE, mosquitoes were more attracted to men with a "higher abundance but lower diversity of bacteria on their skin..." The mosquitoes were less attracted to "individuals with more diverse skin microbiota..."

That's the conclusion. The scientists got there by exposing the mosquitoes to the body odor of 48 men. Body odor is affected by the kind of bacteria on your skin.

MSNBC explains:

"Verhulst and colleagues collected volatiles — the easily evaporated chemicals responsible for odor — from the left feet of 48 men. They then gave the mosquitoes a choice between each sample and a standard ammonia concentration. (The odor of ammonia is known to attract mosquitos.) They also sequenced DNA from the skin of the left foot; this gave them information on what, and how much of it, was living on the men's feet.

"Of the 48 men who volunteered for the study, the researchers classified nine as 'highly attractive', while seven were considered 'poorly attractive.'"

The scientists say the findings could help the "development of personalized methods for malaria prevention."

Enlarge Stanley Leary/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Currency is among the artifacts salvaged from the wreck of the Titanic.

Stanley Leary/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Currency is among the artifacts salvaged from the wreck of the Titanic.

The largest collection of items retrieved from the sunken Titanic liner will be auctioned next April. These include fine china, money, jewelry, playing cards, parts of the ship's hull, even perfume bottles belonging to a merchant who was aboard the ill-fated luxury liner. The auction's results will be announced April 15th: the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

Don't reach for your pocketbook, because there's a big condition that might make you think twice about bidding. All of the material must be sold together as a single offering, according to AP, and it's not cheap. The combined worth of the 5,500 items is estimated at $189 million dollars.

This is in keeping with an agreement between the U.S. government and RMS Titanic, the salvage subsidiary of the company that has title to the material. The most recent court ruling on Titanic artifact ownership says the items must be kept intact and preserved, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

These were brought ashore during seven complex dives conducted between 1987 and 2004. RMS Titanic features many of them in exhibitions spread among several cities, including Las Vegas, Edmonton, Alberta and Singapore. Last year, the company returned to the wreckage to film new images of the so-called "unsinkable" ship, which foundered on its first voyage. Here's the compelling interactive site.

The Titanic sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg, causing the deaths of about 1,550 of its passengers and crew, as the Encyclopedia Britannica reminds us.

Headlines claiming that celebrity-whose-famous-for-being-famous Kim Kardashian will be paid $600,000 to host a New Year's Eve party at the Tao nightclub in Las Vegas' Venetian hotel and casino and then return to the Tao a few more times in 2012 to make "special appearances," certainly catch your eye.

Enlarge David Livingston/Getty Images

She'll be paid well to party: Kim Kardashian.

David Livingston/Getty Images

She'll be paid well to party: Kim Kardashian.

But as Kim Masters, who covers the business of celebrity business for The Hollywood Reporter and hosts The Business at KCRW, reminds NPR's Linda Wertheimer, while that may be a lot of money to pay someone who is "famous only for being famous," celebrities have been cashing in on their fame practically forever.

And now, "it happens a lot," she says during a conversation due to air on Friday's Morning Edition. It may be "$100,000 for just showing up" and then, "if you're a singer and you're asked to perform ... open your mouth to sing and you're looking at a seven-figure payment."

Of course, that doesn't mean a club such as the Tao won't be getting back some if not all of its money. Casinos are, after all, very good at that.

Let's run through some of the numbers.

Don Ryan/AP

The Verizon Wireless logo hangs over a store in Portland, Ore.

Beginning Jan. 15, Verizon will charge you an extra $2 if you choose to pay your bill online or by phone. In a statement, the largest mobile service provider in the country said the "convenience fee" is "designed to address costs incurred by us for only those customers who choose to make single bill payments in alternate payment channels."

Verizon also lists seven ways that allow you to pay without incurring the fee and it reads a bit like the complex mobile bills you get each month. They are:

1. Electronic check online (My Verizon Online, My Verizon Mobile/Handset). Fee waived.
2. Electronic check via telephone. Fee waived.
3. Enrollment in AutoPay using credit/debit/ATM card or electronic check; fee does not apply
4. Online from the customer's home-banking service provider website; fee does not apply.
5. Credit/debit/ATM card, electronic check or cash at a Bill Payment Kiosk, Panel or with a representative at a Verizon Wireless Communications Store; fee does not apply.
6. Use of a Verizon Wireless Gift Card or Verizon Wireless device Rebate Card to pay a bill in-store, online or by telephone; fee does not apply
7. Paper check or money order mailed to the VZW remit address on customer's bill; fee does not apply.

Saying the move is part of a larger trend to get more money out of customers for using certain methods of payment, CNet is already speculating whether the new charge will unleash the kind of public scorn that led Bank of America to walk back from its $5 fee to use debit cards.

The AP reports that other cellphone companies have tried to entice customers to move to auto-pay through other means:

"AT&T offers a $10 gift card for those who set up AutoPay. Sprint Nextel charges subscribers who have caps on the fees they can rack up each month. Those people are charged $5 monthly unless they set up autopay."

The news that the U.S. has finalized a deal to sell nearly $30 billion worth of F-15SA fighter jets and other equipment to Saudi Arabia comes, as every story about the agreement says, as America and its allies seek to further isolate and pressure Iran so long as that Persian nation continues to be a threat to others in the region.

According to The Associated Press, "the U.S. will send Saudi Arabia 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more. Production of the aircrafts, which will be manufactured by Boeing Co., will support 50,000 jobs and have a $3.5 billion annual economic impact in the U.S., the White House said."

As The Washington Post writes, "the deal comes at a time of increased saber-rattling between Washington and Tehran. This week, Iran threatened to block the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz if the West imposed an oil embargo. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in nearby Bahrain, responded by warning against the disruption of vessels' travel along the route."

The deal's timing, says The New York Times:

"Is laden with significance, with tensions over Iran mounting and the United States pulling its last soldiers out of Iraq. It could also indicate that the chill between the United States and Saudi Arabia has thawed since the two longtime allies clashed over how each handled the Arab Spring. ...

"The Saudis were angry that President Obama withdrew support for Egypt's embattled president, Hosni Mubarak, after he faced large-scale protests in Cairo and other major cities. ... Later, it was the White House's turn to be upset, when Saudi tanks rolled into in neighboring Bahrain in a show of support for that kingdom's Sunni monarchy."