MUST-READS

• Saudi Population
  Population control steps: No consensus in Shoura

  Shoura Council members were divided on the issue of birth control on Tuesday during a vote on a draft law on population development issued by the Ministry of Economy and Planning. The council’s committee on economic affairs and energy had called for the deletion of the phrase “reduce the total fertility rate by encouraging spacing between deliveries,” and replacing the term “reproductive health” with “mother and child” throughout the document. The council voted on the recommendations by the committee, with 58 members in favor of the amendments and 64 in opposition.

• Israel-Palestine
  Jerusalem car attack injures 14, driver shot dead

  A vehicle hit several Israeli settlers near occupied East Jerusalem Wednesday, Israeli media said, a day after a Palestinian was run over by an Israeli settler in the West Bank. According to Israel’s Haaretz the man driving the vehicle was shot and killed. The incident comes two weeks after Palestinian Abdul-Rahman Shaludi rammed his car into Israeli settlers, injuring six and killing one. Shaludi was also shot dead. Meanwhile, an Israeli settler driving through the occupied West Bank city of Beit Jala hit a Palestinian with his car on Tuesday, witnesses told Ma'an.

  • FP - Amnesty: Israeli Gaza Strikes Show 'Callous Indifference' to Civilians
• Guantanamo
  Guantánamo review board releases one Saudi but another must stay inside

  A Saudi inmate with links to al-Qaida will remain at the Guantánamo Bay prison and a second Saudi man has been cleared for transfer home, a US national security panel said on Monday.

• U.S. Oil Exports
  BHP to sell Texas oil overseas without formal U.S. approval

  A major energy company will soon sell U.S. oil abroad without explicit permission from the U.S. government, another sign that the decades-old federal ban on crude exports is crumbling. BHP Billiton’s BHP, -1.68% BHP, -0.10% BLT, +0.00%  deal to sell about $50 million of ultralight oil from Texas to foreign buyers without formal government approval is likely to be only the first of many such moves as energy companies seek new markets and higher prices for the surge of crude now pumped in the U.S.

• Jabhat Al-Nusra
  U.S. officials consider striking another militant group in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra

  U.S. officials are weighing whether to broaden the air campaign in Syria to strike a militant group that is a rival to the Islamic State and that is poised to take over a strategically vital corridor from Turkey. Extremists from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group were said Monday to be within a few miles of the Bab ­al-Hawa crossing in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, one of only two openings through which the moderate Free Syrian Army receives military and humanitarian supplies provided by the United States and other backers.

  • Foreign Policy - Washington Cuts Funds for Investigating Bashar al-Assad's War Crimes
  • Lawfare - The Forest and the Trees: Syrian Reactions to Foreign Actions Against ISIS
  • The Hill - Pentagon Urges Caution on Syria Setback
• Saudi Dates
  The Israeli-Saudi date war

  Annual date production in Saudi Arabia is estimated in excess of 1 million tons, and the number of date palms in the country is thought to be about 23 million. Saudi exports to Europe have expanded over the past few years, largely due to dates from the “Medina” variety. According to Saudi sources, the exporters of these dates are mostly target Muslim communities across the continent. The average price for these Saudi dates in the European markets comes to approximately $1,650 per ton, whereas Israeli dates sell for $4,000 on average.

• Sectarian Violence
  Gunmen kill five in Saudi Arabia, six suspects arrested: SPA

  Gunmen shot dead at least five people in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, state news agency SPA reported on Tuesday, in what local residents said was an attack on Shi'ite Muslim worshippers marking one of their most important religious anniversaries.

  • BBC News - Saudi Arabia: Gunmen kill five in eastern Shia region
• Finance
  Moody’s outlook for Saudi banking system remains stable

  The outlook for the Saudi Arabian banking system remains stable, unchanged since September 2009, said Moody’s Investors Service.

• Anti-ISIS Campaign
  Airstrikes against the Islamic State have not affected flow of foreign fighters to Syria

  More than 1,000 foreign fighters are streaming into Syria each month, a rate that has so far been unchanged by airstrikes against the Islamic State and efforts by other countries to stem the flow of departures, according to U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials. The magnitude of the ongoing migration suggests that the U.S.-led air campaign has neither deterred significant numbers of militants from traveling to the region nor triggered a spike in the rate of travel among Muslim populations inflamed by American intervention.

  • Washington Post - Syrian regime denounces Turkey for allowing foreign fighters to enter Kobane
  • CBS News - Hagel: All Countries in the Middle East Must Help Stabilize Syria
  • The Guardian - Foreign jihadists flocking to Iraq and Syria on 'unprecedented scale' – UN
  • Reuters - Islamic State fighters kill 220 Iraqis from tribe that opposed them
• Extremism
  Saudi Arabia dismisses Hezbollah accusation of spreading fundamentalism

  Saudi Arabia is a fierce enemy of and not a supporter of terrorism, the head of Saudi National Guard said in an indirect response to accusations by Hezbollah.

• 10 of 61092 results<< 1 … 6,024 6,025 6,026 … 6,110 >>