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  • Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council Votes ‘No’ On Proposed Unity Law
     

    A new proposal to implement a new legal system to “protect national unity” was voted down by Saudi Arabia’s 150-member Shura Council as “unnecessary,” according to reports in the Saudi Gazette.  Put forth by the Islamic and judicial committee, the proposal “implies the necessity of establishing an entire legal body to deal with one issue, which is […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Reduces Crude Exports, Refining More at Home
     

    Saudi Arabia reduced crude oil exports in April but used record supplies domestically for a burgeoning refining industry, Bloomberg’s Wael Mahdi reports.  Shipments in April fell by an average of 160,000 barrels a day, down to 7.6m BPD from 9m BPD in March. The March shipments were the highest in almost a decade, according to […]

     
  • Fahad Nazer: ‘ISIS Will Fail in Saudi Arabia’
     

    After two bombings hit two soft targets in Saudi Arabia, the self-described Islamic State, or Daesh, has its sights set on Saudi Arabia, but the extremist group is unlikely to succeed in the Kingdom, writes Gulf expert Fahad Nazer. Nazer, a Saudi writer based in the United States whose contributions are featured on CNN, Washington […]

     
  • Video Released by King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue Asks Youth to Rethink Biases
     

    A powerful video campaign released by the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue asks Saudi youth to rethink their biases. Joseph Braude at the Foreign Policy Research Institute shares the video with English subtitles, which has garnered 150,000 views in 48 hours and sparked a discussion in the kingdom about how to stem sectarian conflict. As Braude […]

     
  • Is it Crunch Time for Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Operation?
     

    In an in-depth analysis in Reuters, Angus McDowall writes that following Saudi Arabia and the GCC’s lack of success in significantly tipping the scales in Yemen with airstrikes, the limited options for Saudi Arabia’s leadership in the war-torn country come with high risks. With the possibility of a ground operation apparently ruled out, “Riyadh may soon […]

     
  • NCB: Saudi real GDP to grow 3.4 percent in 2015
     

    Saudi Arabia will face “a moderate business cycle during 2015 and 2016, growing around 3% in real terms,” Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) finds in a recently released study.  The study, entitled “Saudi Economic Perspectives 2015-2016” with the theme of “Tackling Challenges on Solid Ground,” finds less contribution from the oil sector and moderation in […]

     
  • Level of Turmoil in Middle East at ‘Highest Point in 50 years’, Gulf Expert Writes in Politico Magazine
     

    Gary Sick, a well-known and respected Gulf expert writes in an in-depth piece for Politico Magazine that the turmoil in the Middle East is at the highest point in 50 years, and that Saudi Arabia is dramatically increasing its efforts to slow the spread of Iranian influence across the region. Dr. Sick, a Columbia professor […]

     
  • Cash Reward Offered for Wanted Men Connected to Mosque Bombings
     

    Saudi Arabia’s government offered a $1.3m cash reward for men connected to bombings at mosques in the past two weeks, saying that “[a]nyone dealing with the wanted men will be held accountable,” according to Reuters and information posted by the Ministry of Interior and the Saudi Press Agency. The self-described Islamic State, or Daesh, claimed […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s total exports in 2014 dropped by 8.9 percent
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Central Department of Statistics found that total exports in 2014 dropped by 8.9 percent to SR1.28 trillion ($342.28 billion), while imports rose.  Oil was the lion’s share of total exports at 83 percent of the total value of exports at $280 billion. According to Arab News and Saudi Arabia’s Central Department of Statistics, non oil […]

     
  • Photos: King Salman Urges More ‘Support to Investment and Investors in the Kingdom’ at High-Level Business Gathering
     

    In a focus on investment forum in Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman spoke to leading business leaders and government officials at Al-Salam Palace on Wednesday and asked them to encourage “businessmen to invest in the Kingdom where the climate is conducive for business and where everyone gets a fair opportunity” and to […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Amid Iran-Israel confrontation, large blast at Iraqi base raises questions

    A massive explosion at a base used by Iraqi security forces, including the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), has raised questions over culpability. The blast has particularly grabbed attention as it follows the unprecedented direct exchange of fire between Iran and Israel. While PMU representatives initially blamed the US for the incident, a subsequent retraction has led to speculations about the true nature of the blast. 

  • Why British and US strikes on Yemen are not working

    On Jan. 11, 2024, Britain and the US initiated airstrikes in Yemen with the stated goal to degrade the capabilities of the Ansarullah movement—better known as the Houthis. The decision was prompted by the Iran-backed movement’s claim of targeting ships headed to and from Israel since Nov. 2023, in an effort to allegedly force a ceasefire in Gaza. However, the western strikes have not been effective. Paradoxically, they have instead emboldened the Houthis to escalate their attacks.

  • Saudi Arabia clashes with West over Chinese green tech

    The head of Saudi Arabia’s state oil company praised China’s exports of green technology, echoing Beijing’s talking points in what appeared to be a deliberate rebuke of Western policymakers. “China really helped by reducing the cost of solar energy,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the World Energy Congress in Rotterdam on Monday. “We can see the same now in electric vehicles…a lot of policymakers do not understand what is required and how [the energy transition] is going to happen.”

  • 9% spike in Mideast military spending driven by Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey

    The institute noted that three largest spenders in the region — Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey — all increased military spending last year. Saudi Arabia was the fifth largest spender in the world, with spending increasing 4.3% from the year prior to $75.8 billion in 2023. However, Saudi military spending from the 2014 through 2023 decreased by 18% compared to the previous decade.  

  • Iran’s Israel strike coincided with crackdown on dissent at home

    The same day Iran launched its first ever direct attack on Israel it embarked on a less-noticed confrontation at home, ordering police in several cities to take to the streets to arrest women accused of flouting its strict Islamic dress code.
    Iranian authorities insist that their so-called Nour (Light) campaign targets businesses and individuals who defy the hijab law, aiming to respond to demands from devout citizens who are angry about the growing number of unveiled women in public.

  • Israel military strikes northern Gaza in heaviest shelling in weeks

    Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, panicking residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said on Tuesday.
    Tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city, residents and Hamas media said. Gunfire reached some schools where displaced residents were sheltering.

  • Saudi Arabia pushing for Israel to accept ceasefire, more aid into Gaza: FM

    Saudi Arabia is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and the entry of more aid into the territory amid Israel’s war on Hamas, the Kingdom’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in an interview with Al Arabiya.

    An agreement between Hamas and Israel must include those two factors, he said.

  • EU announces five-year Schengen visas for Saudi, Omani and Bahraini citizens

    The Schengen Area, which includes 29 European countries, was expanded last February to include Bulgaria and Romania, eliminating all air and maritime border controls.

    Citizens from the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia have been exempted from the UK's pre-entry visa requirements.

    In November, Gulf countries announced plans for a unified tourist visa similar to the Schengen permit in a move to ease travel for residents and tourists.

  • Saudi PIF Merges Mobile Tower Firms to Create Regional Giant

    Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy a majority stake in Saudi Telecom Co.’s tower unit for 8.7 billion riyals ($2.3 billion) and plans to merge it with other local assets to create a new mobile tower giant.

    The Public Investment Fund will own 54% of the new venture while STC, as Saudi Telecom is known, will hold 43%, according to a filing on the Saudi stock exchange. The entity will combine towers unit Tawal with Golden Lattice Investment Co., which the PIF bought from Zain Saudi last year, and manage a portfolio of about 30,000 towers across five countries.

  • Middle East military burden is world’s highest in 2023 as Israel spending up 24%

    Middle East countries spent 4.2 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence in 2023, the highest rate globally, as Israel's military expenditure jumped by nearly a quarter amid its intensifying war in Gaza, according to new research.

    Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, known as the military burden, is a measure of the relative economic cost of defence for a country.

    In 2023 the average military burden "grew substantially" for nations in the Middle East by 0.5 percentage points, according to the latest data by the Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). The independent institute conducts research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.