MUST-READS

• Islam
  Opinion: Saudi Arabia’s ‘slow steaming’ changes to Islam may just work

  For those who are observing events in the Muslim world, with an eye toward recognizing positives rather than negatives, the concept of slow steaming is being used by Saudi Arabia as it seeks to administer a course change for Islam to gradually bring stability to the Middle East region.

• Water
  Cloud-seeding plan aims to increase rainfall in Saudi Arabia by 20 percent

  The Saudi cabinet has approved a cloud-seeding program that aims to increase rainfall in the Kingdom by almost 20 percent. The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture said the program was developed after a review of global practices and visits to other countries in the region to study their experiences of cloud seeding. It is a response to the growing pressure placed on water resources by population growth, in addition to significant growth in the industrial, energy, transportation, mining and agricultural sectors, where demand for water has almost reached 24 billion cubic meters a year.

• Entrepreneurship
  Saudi Arabia vs Dubai Could Be the Gulf’s Next Big Rivalry

  The growing number of startups in Riyadh reflects an undeclared competition between two Gulf allies that’s set to intensify this year, realigning the economics of a region striving to reduce its reliance on oil. Dubai has staked its economic recovery on World Expo 2020, a six-month showcase of global innovation expected to attract some 25 million visitors, while investing billions of dollars in infrastructure. It’s also a big year for Saudi Arabia, which takes on the chairmanship of the Group of 20 major economies and plans a series of events to promote its own breakneck transformation.

• Iran
  Jeers as Weakened Rouhani Calls for Unity in Deeply Divided Iran

  But his speech in Tehran’s Azadi Square was often drowned out by vocal, mostly male groups who had swarmed a temporary fence dividing the stage area from the public enclosure. They booed Rouhani loudly, while glorifying Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and even calling for war with the U.S.

• Israel
  Israel’s maturing cybersecurity startup ecosystem

  There are a lot of reasons why Israel excels in cybersecurity, but one of them is undoubtedly its talent pool, which is fed by intelligence units like 8200 and 81. Indeed, it’s exceedingly unusual to come across security startup founders in the country who did not receive their initial training in the intelligence services. This experience also gives these founders a network of potential co-founders and employees right from the get-go.

• Trump Peace Plan
  Palestinian leader says U.S. peace plan would make ‘Swiss cheese’ out of Palestinian land

  The Trump administration claimed a symbolic victory at the United Nations on Tuesday, as an effort to formally condemn the new U.S. Middle East peace plan fizzled, while Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas angrily accused Washington of trying to extinguish the idea of an independent Palestinian homeland.

• Iraq
  Tehran-backed Hezbollah steps in to guide Iraqi militias in Soleimani’s wake

  Shortly after Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, the Tehran-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah urgently met with Iraqi militia leaders, seeking to unite them in the face of a huge void left by their powerful mentor’s death, two sources with knowledge of the meetings told Reuters.

• U.S. Congress
  Senate poised to pass bill curbing President Trump’s war powers

  Senate Democrats say they have enough Republican support to win passage of the measure, which would bar Trump from using military force against Iran unless Congress specifically voted to authorize such action.

• Libya
  UK to propose Libya ceasefire amid concern over UN’s waning authority

  A UN arms embargo is being flouted with impunity and plans for an EU naval mission to monitor illegal arms shipments has not yet been agreed.

  • Washington Post - Despite promises, flow of foreign arms continues to fuel Libya’s war
• Turkey in the Region
  Turkey will hit Syrian government forces anywhere if troops hurt: Erdogan

  Erdogan said Turkey is determined to push Syrian government forces beyond Turkish observation posts in Idlib by the end this month, and he urged allied Syrian rebels not to give government forces an excuse to attack.

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