MUST-READS

• Regional Economic Growth
  UAE and Saudi lead regional economic expansion

  “Demand in the UAE and Saudi Arabia was reported as strengthening, both at home and abroad. Interestingly, PMI data recorded over a period of time have clearly indicated that the MENA region still have the same leaders (UAE, Saudi Arabia), and same laggards (Egypt, Lebanon) in terms of economic performance,” said Wetterwald. In Saudi Arabia, the August headline PMI (non-oil private sector economy) of 60.7 was at its highest level since July 2011. The most recent data in the PMI series lead to an optimistic assessment relative to the growth over the first half of 2014.

• Private Schooling in Saudi
  International schools catch on with Saudis

  There are two kinds of foreign schools in the Kingdom: the community schools run by the embassies of countries for their nationals living in Saudi Arabia and the international schools teaching British and American curricula. There are approximately 75 community schools in the Kingdom. “It is important for Saudi private schools to develop their academic programs to attract more students as the international schools have done. At present, there is strong competition between Saudi private schools and international schools,” Abdul Aziz Al-Makhlouf, a Saudi private school director in Jeddah, said.

• Women's Sports
  Saudi Arabia urged to end discrimination in women’s sports

  Human Rights Watch urged Saudi officials to make clear what steps they are taking to ensure that women are included in other future competitions and are able to participate in sports generally. The kingdom has indicated it plans to send women to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro but earlier this month officials announced a team of 199 men for the 2014 Asian Games, which is currently taking place in Incheon, South Korea and runs until October 4. Mohammed al-Mishal, the secretary-general of Saudi Arabia's Olympic Committee, told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s 2014 Asian Games team did not include any women because none have yet reached a level for international competition.

• U.S.-Saudi Relations
  Opinion: A New Chapter in the Tangled U.S.-Saudi Relationship

  Obama’s failure to match action to his verbal demand for Assad to leave has been at the heart of what had been an ever deepening malaise in U.S.-Saudi relations. The decline in the relationship dates back to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that had led to the 2006 election of a pro-Iranian government, with Washington’s backing, under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki only now leaving power. The Saudis were furious that the United States, its main foreign protector, had turned Iraq over to Iran “on a silver platter.”

• Anti-ISIS Coalition
  Here’s a Map of Obama’s Coalition Against the Islamic State

  Currently, more than 50 countries have pledged support in the fight against ISIL, according to the State Department. This includes everyone from strong allies like Canada and Britain to countries like Morocco and Ukraine.

• Domestic Oil Consumption
  Saudi Arabia uses largest amount of crude oil for power generation since 2010

  Saudi Arabia used an average of 0.7 million bbl/d of crude oil for power generation during the summers from 2009 to 2013. During that same period, Iraq and Kuwait, the next two largest users of crude oil for power generation in the Middle East, each averaged roughly 0.08 million bbl/d of crude burn.

• Saudi GDP
  Saudi GDP growth falls to 3.8 pct y/y in Q2 as oil sector slows

  Saudi Arabian economic growth is usually at its most robust early in the year, when the weather is favourable and few public holidays halt work; GDP then regularly falls in the second quarter from the previous three months. Growth in the hydrocarbons sector, which accounts for almost half of the $748 billion Saudi economy, slumped to 2.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter from 6.1 percent in the previous three months, the data showed.

• Saudi-Iran
  Rouhani Looks to Warmer Ties with Saudis, Tepidly Criticizes US Syria Strikes

  On his second trip to the UN General Assembly as Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani Tuesday said he looked forward to better relations with regional rival Saudi Arabia and only tepidly criticized the US attack on Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) and Khorasan targets in Syria.

  Speaking at a press breakfast with about two dozen media representatives, Rouhani expressed hope that the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany) and Tehran will conclude a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program by the current Nov. 24 deadline but noted that differences remain and that this week’s series of meetings in New York are likely to be critical.

  • Al-Monitor - Rouhani expresses optimism over nuclear deal at UNGA
  • Reuters - Iran's Rouhani says ties with Saudis deserve to be warmer
• U.N. Meetings
  President Barack Obama to meet with Iraqi, Egyptian leaders

  Obama’s meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Thursday is expected to be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men. Egypt has been pivotal in U.S. efforts to fight terrorism and rein in violence between Israel and Gaza, but the U.S. has objected to strong-arm tactics by al-Sisi’s government, such as the jailing of journalists and figures from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

  • WSJ - Egypt's President Backs U.S. War Against Islamic State Militants
• ISIS and Iraqi Kurds
  Oil-rich Kirkuk in Iraq’s north fears attack by Islamic State

  In recent weeks, international attention has focused on Islamic State advances elsewhere in the Kurdish region, such as near the strategic Mosul dam and the city of Irbil, capital of semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. U.S. airstrikes have helped push back the militants — and provided a tactical and psychological lift for peshmerga fighters, who fell back last month in a humiliating retreat.

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