MUST-READS

• Saudi - China
  China-Saudi Arabia trade hits $71 billion

  The two-way trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and China amounted to $71.3 billion in 2014, the kingdom’s finance minister reveals.

• Saudi - Turkey
  Frustrated Turkey Turns to Onetime Ally Saudi Arabia

  Turkish-Saudi cooperation suffered a blow, however, when the two countries found themselves on opposing sides in Egypt in the summer of 2013. While the Saudis became ardent supporters of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and branded Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group a terrorist organization, Turkey welcomed Brotherhood figures seeking refuge. Turkey’s criticism of the Gulf countries for supporting the removal of the Egyptian Brotherhood drove a wedge between Ankara and Riyadh. Riyadh then played a key role in the campaign against Turkey’s bid for a Security Council seat at the United Nations in October 2014.

• Petrochemicals
  Saudi’s PetroRabigh signs $5.2bn loan for expansion

  The move reflects the kingdom's determination to diversify its economy even after lower oil prices caused some regional petrochemical and energy projects to stall.

• MERS
  Saudi MOH: 1 New MERS Case, Reiterates Warnings On Camel Contact

  While 90% of adult camels have antibodies to the MERS coronavirus, the actual percentage of camels that are actively infected, and capable of transmitting the virus, is fairly small and their period of infectivity is relatively short.

• Saudi Cross Country Racing
  Record entry set to tackle Saudi Arabia’s Ha’il rally

  The event will run for a further three days over a trio of gruelling desert selective sections through the north-central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and finishes at the Maghwat Conference Centre, near Ha’il, on Sunday. “This is the biggest entry we have had in the 10 years of the Ha’il Rally,” enthused Nayef al-Hejelan, general secretary of the SAMF. “We have six bikes, two quads and almost 50 cars and everything is on track for a superb few days of motor sport.”

• Pakistan
  Riots in Pakistan follow suicide attacks on two Christian churches

  The protests followed twin suicide attacks at two churches during Sunday services that killed 15 people and wounded more than 70 others. The Pakistani Taliban militant organization, which is at war with the Pakistani state, claimed responsibility in the latest in a series of deadly assaults against religious minorities.

• Libya
  ISIS kidnaps 20 medical workers in Libya

  Most of the abductees are from the Philippines. Others are from Ukraine, India and Serbia, said the hospital official. The official believes the ISIS gunmen didn't want the staff to leave the city because they are the only medical team there if they needed them for the group's wounded and injured.

• Egypt
  Muslim Brotherhood leader Badie sentenced to death in Egypt

  Badie is embroiled in several trials and has been sentenced to death before, although the sentences were later reduced to life imprisonment. Egypt's government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group in 2013.

• Iran Negotiations
  Poll: Iran negotiations popular

  Americans broadly back direct negotiations with Iran about that country's nuclear program, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. And although about half (49%) say some Republican senators went too far by sending a letter to Iran's leaders warning that any agreement with the Obama administration would require Senate approval, only about one-third (39%) think the letter hurt U.S. efforts to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

  • AP - Official: Iran confronts US at nuke talks over GOP letter
• Tikrit Campaign
  Iraqi offensive for Tikrit stalls as casualties mount

  After two days of little activity on the battlefield, Iraq’s interior minister, Mohammed al-Ghabban, confirmed Monday that the offensive has “temporarily stopped.” The steady flow of coffins arriving in Iraq’s Shiite holy city of Najaf suggests a reason for the pause; cemetery workers say as many as 60 war dead have been arriving each day.

  • Yahoo/AFP - Minister says Iraq halts Tikrit operation to avoid losses
  • Foreign Policy - How to Win Friends and Influence Iraqis
  • BBC News - Saddam's tomb destroyed in Tikrit fighting
  • Anadolu Agency - Turkey starts military training in Mosul, governor says
  • US News and World Report - To Defeat ISIS, Iraq Forced to Accept Iran's 'Suffocating Embrace'
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