MUST-READS

• Laser Lab
  Saudi Arabia opens top-notch laser lab

  The Attosecond Science Laboratory at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh hosts an ‘attosecond laser’, which generates ultrashort pulses of light, lasting just a few billionths of a billionth of a second, that can image otherwise invisible electrons as they move similarly fast within atoms. Attosecond lasers were invented in 2001, and facilities now exist at dozens of sites around the world. The Saudi Arabian facility is the result of a collaboration that began in 2008 with the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching, Germany, which hosts its own attosecond laser, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

• U.S. Public Opinion
  CNN/ORC poll: Majority of Americans oppose Netanyahu invite

  The nationwide poll, released Tuesday, shows 63% of Americans say it was a bad move for congressional leadership to extend the invitation without giving President Barack Obama a heads up that it was coming. Only 33% say it was the right thing to do. And as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to simmer in the Middle East, the survey found that a similar majority thinks the U.S. should stay out of that fight altogether.

• Fraud
  SR800m fraud: Saudi con men ‘on the run’

  The investor had signed contracts with them related to bogus investments in several projects in Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah, most notably the Riyadh metro project and equipment rental firms.

• Saudi - Qatar
  Saudi king and Qatar emir strengthen ties

  Saudi Arabia's King Salman held talks in Riyadh Tuesday with Qatar's emir, in what an analyst sees as part of a regional effort to strengthen ties against the Islamic State (IS) group. Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is the latest Gulf leader to visit Riyadh this week, after Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait.

• Saudi Oil Exports
  Saudi Arabia’s Oil Exports Fell in 2014 in ‘Tough Year’

  Shipments averaged 7.11 million barrels a day, down from an 11-year high of 7.54 million barrels a day in 2013 and the lowest in three years, according to data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. December exports were below 7 million barrels, the level needed to balance the Saudi budget. Shipments were below 7 million for most of 2014, the data show.

  • FT Blog - Gulf economies well placed to cope with lower oil
• ISIS Strategy
  Why does ISIS keep making enemies?

  We live in an increasingly secularized world, so it's sometimes difficult to take seriously the deeply held religious beliefs of others. For many of us the idea that the end of times will come with a battle between "Rome" and Islam at the obscure Syrian town of Dabiq is as absurd as the belief that the Mayans had that their human sacrifices could influence future events. But for ISIS, the Dabiq prophecy is deadly serious. Members of ISIS believe that they are the vanguard fighting a religious war, which Allah has determined will be won by the forces of true Islam.

• Afghanistan
  Kabul is losing control of Afghan countryside, EU report states

  Afghanistan's government is losing control of its territory outside major population centres to the country's insurgent groups, says the EU's asylum agency. "The overall trend is one of decreasing government control outside the larger towns and cities, escalating violence and more insurgent attacks," observed the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

• Iran Negotiations
  Good or bad Iran nuke deal? Israel vs. the US administration

  The main dispute is over the size and potency of Iran's uranium enrichment program, which can make both reactor fuel and the fissile core of a weapon. The U.S., along with Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, came to the table demanding that Tehran dismantle 80 to 90 percent of the nearly 10,000 centrifuges now turning out enriched uranium along with all of the 8,000 or so other machines set up but not working. But faced with Iranian resistance, diplomats now say the U.S. is prepared to accept 4,500 operating centrifuges — perhaps more — if Tehran agrees to constraints on their efficiency.

• Israeli Politics
  Binyamin Netanyahu faces damning expenses accusations ahead of elections

  A damning official report into spending by the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, at his official residence in Jerusalem and private seaside home has accused him of excessive and improper use of public funds, including spending huge amounts on takeaway food, hairdressing and cleaning..

• ISIS in Iraq
  Kurdish forces repel ISIS offensive near Irbil

  ISIS launched the major assault from several directions Tuesday night near the towns of Gwer and Makhmour. The towns are about 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Irbil, the Kurdish capital.

  • The Hill - US reveals hit list of top ISIS suspects
  • BBC News - Islamic State militants 'burn to death 45 in Iraq'
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