MUST-READS

• Saudi-Yemen
  Saudi suspends aid to Yemen after Houthi takeover

  Saudi Arabia has suspended most of its financial aid to Yemen, Yemeni and Western sources said, in a clear indication of its dissatisfaction with the growing political power of Shi'ite Houthi fighters friendly with Riyadh's regional rival, Iran.

  • Washington Post - Al-Qaeda affiliate threatens to kill U.S. hostage after rescue attempt in Yemen
  • Long War Journal - AQAP claims bombing of Iranian ambassador's residence in Yemen
• Women Driving
  Saudi woman driving blog ‘arrest’

  She tweeted that officials had taken aside, and were making phone call after phone call. Hours went by. Her friend and UAE-based Saudi journalist Maysaa Al-Amoudi, drove to the border from Dubai to bring her supplies.

  • Huffington Post - Behind Closed Doors, Women Are Leading a Revolution in Saudi Arabia
• Oil
  Saudi Arabia likely to tighten 2015 budget – but not stop growth – after oil price falls

  Plunging oil prices could mean the first budget cuts for major exporter Saudi Arabia since 2002 but they are not expected to be large enough to stop growth in the Arab world’s biggest economy.

• Afghanistan
  How Afghans Feel About the Direction of Their Country

  In its tenth annual public opinion survey in Afghanistan, Afghanistan in 2014: A Survey of the Afghan People, the Asia Foundation polled over nine thousand citizens across all thirty-four Afghan provinces. While insecurity remains the top public concern, 48.5 percent of those surveyed cited economic growth as the biggest problem confronting the nation today.

  • War on the Rocks - What's the Plan? The Afghan National Security Forces
• Boston Marathon Bombing
  Glenn Beck loses bid to dismiss Saudi’s libel suit

  A federal judge has rejected a bid by conservative commentator Glenn Beck to toss out a libel lawsuit filed by a Saudi student Beck repeatedly accused of funding the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

• Pipeline to Europe
  The world’s first pipeline war has officially come to an end

  One of the strangest wars of modern times—a seven-year-long pipeline dispute that pitted the United States against Russia for influence in Europe—has ended.

• Israeli Politics
  Israel headed to elections: Lapid rejects Netanyahu’s terms for saving coalition

  Finance Minister Yair Lapid late Monday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultimatums presented to him in a meeting billed as a last-ditch attempt to preserve the coalition. Netanyahu demanded that Lapid stop “sabotaging the work of the government,” retract his opposition to Netanyahu’s version of the Jewish nation-state bill, and freeze the zero-VAT plan, the flagship of Lapid’s economic agenda.

• Bahrain
  Between ISIS and Iran: Bahrain Tweaks Washington

  Such is the background to this weekend's "Manama Dialogue," an annual event organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies and hosted by Bahrain. Manama will want to show off its role in the anti-ISIS coalition while also emphasizing the threats posed by a nuclear Iran, which it blames for subversion among its Shiite population. The third leg of the stool is Bahrain's political system, for which last week's elections are a probably short-term fix. But for how long it will remain stable is uncertain.

  • NYT - Top American Human Rights Official to Return to Bahrain
  • Washington Post - Electoral rules (and threats) cure Bahrain's sectarian parliament
• Healthcare
  Saudi Arabia Liberalises Investment Rules In Healthcare Sector

  As per the new regulations, experienced healthcare professionals will be allowed to move freely within institutions in the Kingdom in an effort to improve efficiency. The amended regulations will also allow citizens who are not healthcare professionals to run hospitals in the country. Previously, only Saudi doctors or healthcare professionals were allowed to operate and manage medical institutions, local daily Saudi Gazette reported. In addition, the new rules will also allow global healthcare companies to invest in Saudi Arabia, the ministry of health said in a statement.

• Palestinians in Jersualem
  Rage in Jerusalem

  When it conquered the eastern part of Jerusalem and the West Bank – both administered by Jordan – in 1967, Israel expanded the city’s municipal boundaries threefold. As a result, approximately 37 per cent of Jerusalem’s current residents are Palestinian. They have separate buses, schools, health facilities, commercial centres, and speak a different language.

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