QUOTED

Quoted

“[W]e hope that we’ve put in place the sort of deterrence that will avoid another attack, we’ve enhanced Saudi’s air defenses and so have other countries, and we’re going to continue to enhance Saudi defenses and our defenses in the region to avoid it from happening again.”

-U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, referencing Iran’s alleged role in an attack on Saudi Aramco’s facilities in September 14th, in an interview with CNBC’s Hadley Gamble during the Doha forum in Qatar. [CNBC.com]

TOP STORY

Saudi Arabia’s Spending Cuts Could Reduce the Kingdom’s ‘Fiscal Vulnerabilities’ to Oil Price Fluctuation, IIF Says

MBS-CEDA-economy2

Saudi Arabia will lower government spending in 2020 as the Kingdom’s economic and social reforms start to kick in. That could help reduce Saudi Arabia’s medium-term fiscal vulnerabilities to lower oil prices, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said, and put Saudi on track for a balanced budget by 2023. [more]

 

TOP STORY

Saudi Ambassador Princess Reema Visits Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, Offers Condolences to Victims

Princess Reema at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington in 2018. Photo by Joshua Roberts / © U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema al-Saud visited the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on Thursday to “personally extend her deepest condolences for the tragedy that unfolded last week and to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s full cooperation with U.S. authorities in investigating this senseless act of violence,” the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C. said in a statement. [more]

 

MORE TOP STORYLINES

Saudi unemployment dips to 12 percent in Q3

in brecorder.com : Unemployment among Saudi Arabian citizens fell to 12% in the third quarter of 2019 from 12.3% in the previous quarter, moving further away from a record high of 12.9% in 2018, official figures released on Sunday showed.

Small reactors could meet Saudi Arabia’s energy needs, report says

in arabnews.com : According to KAPSARC, the design of SMRs requires lower initial investment and shorter simplified design construction times compared with large modular reactors (3 years as opposed to 7-10 years), as the unit can be expanded at any time (buying one module and adding others later).

Diriyah Tennis Cup final in Saudi Arabia is First to Use New Digital Line-Judging Technology

The inaugural Diriyah Tennis Cup in Riyadh made tennis history “as not only the first in Saudi Arabia, but also one of the first to use Hawk-Eye Live technology,” according to Arab News. “Replacing the need for line judges and providing more accuracy, Hawk-Eye Live sends visual and audio cues to the chair umpire and off-court monitors within a tenth of a second of a ball bouncing, to show faults and out-of-bounds shots without relying on the naked eye.”

 

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Iraq

Esper asks Iraq to help stop attacks on bases housing American troops

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Iraq

The women rising up on Baghdad’s walls

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The Supreme Leader’s Perilous Crisis Management

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Enhancing the Role of SMEs in the Arab World—Some Key Considerations

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UN climate talks end with limited progress on emissions targets

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