MUST-READS

• Weather and Refugees
  As storm hits Mideast, refugees bear brunt

  A storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds on Wednesday, keeping people at home across much of the region and raising concerns for Syrian refugees facing freezing temperatures in flimsy shelters.

• Regional Challenges
  Opinion: Saudi Arabia Faces Challenges in the New Year

  The next year will see the Sunni presence in Syria attempt to coalesce behind rebels acceptable to Western governments that are eager to see negotiations begin and greater local pushback against the Islamic State. More cohesive Gulf leadership will also present a more effective bulwark against Iranian and Alawite interests in the Levant. Most important, however, is the opportunity for regional Sunnis, led by Saudi Arabia, to present a more mature and capable response to mounting pressures. Whether through more assertive military moves in the region or by working with states such as Qatar to steer the Muslim Brotherhood rather than embolden the Islamist opposition, 2015 will likely see a shift in Sunni Arab strategies that have long shaped the region.

• Extremism
  Saudi Arabia captures Shi’ites suspected of instigating unrest

  Saudi security forces have arrested a man believed to belong to a Shi'ite Muslim group blamed for instigating protests and unrest in the country's Eastern Province, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

• Population Control
  Opinion: Lies to block the Saudi population policy paper

  The problem is that those who failed to convince the Shura Council members have resorted to fraud and intimidation by accusing the draft document of promoting indecency, homosexuality and the forced reduction of fertility rates. However, these are all lies. The question is: Is it acceptable to incite the society in order to win a voting battle at the Shura Council? Unfortunately, defaming others with lies and false accusations has become a norm that is ignored.

• Saudi History
  Driving Riyadh – The Beast

  The life of a Yemeni electrician was quite perilous, about a third of them being inadvertently electrocuted in their first week on the job. Blissfully unaware of Ohm’s law or Von Helmholtz’s first theorem, they pressed on: connecting red wires to red wires and learning the perils of grounding yourself to a high voltage line while standing in water. I imagined that the energetic Yayha was rolling in riyals because he was the electrical contractor of choice in the poorer neighborhoods of Riyadh. Rapid expansion had stressed the municipality beyond its limits, and service to these older areas was virtually ignored, so Yayha would climb a pole, tap into a live high voltage line, string dozens of illegal power lines down the street and bill his customers monthly.

• Saudi Clergy
  Saudi Rulers Reconsider Ties to Wahhabi Clergy

  Saudi Arabia remains one of the most religiously conservative countries on earth, and the royal family is not cutting off the clergy or ditching Wahhabism's basic precepts, analysts and diplomats say. They are instead attempting to foster a reading of its teachings that distances it from Islamist militants such as Islamic State, and which better meets the demands of a modern economy.

• Construction
  Saudi construction sector to record 11pc growth

  A rising population, plans to overcome the housing shortage, and efforts to develop the transport network and renewable energy infrastructure will set the Saudi Arabian construction industry on track to record a growth of 10.98 per cent CAGR compound annual growth rate until 2018, a report said.

• Saudi - Lebanon
  Saudi deputy crown prince calls for presidential solution in Lebanon

  After meeting Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea in Riyadh Monday, a high-ranking Saudi official called for the swift election of a new president in Lebanon, according to a statement issued by Geagea’s office.

• Women in Saudi Arabia
  Saudi Women Hope For Greater Rights In 2015

  In the municipal elections slated for next year, Saudi women will get the chance to vote and run for office for the very first time. And while experts predict that their franchise will have little effect on the day-to-day realities in the kingdom, most believe it’s a very big deal for women themselves, if only as a step in the gradual softening of gender-based restrictions that bar Saudi women from virtually all elements of public life.

• Start-Up Investment
  Saudi Arabia builds start-up culture with state oil money

  Saudi Aramco founded its Aramco Entrepreneurship Center (AEC) in 2011. Its managing director Sami Khursani told Reuters: "We have Aramco’s support to invest more and more. Money here is not an issue - we are looking for quality deals that are entrepreneurially promising."

  • Forbes - Saudi Arabia's Entrepreneurial Elite 2014
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