MUST-READS

• 2023 Expected to Be Hottest Year on Record

  With full December data still outstanding, 2023 has already qualified as the globe's hottest year on record due to temperatures well above the average between June and November. USA Today reports that official hottest-year announcements from NASA, NOAA and Copernicus Climate Change Service will follow in the coming weeks. For example, September 2023 was 1.43° C (2.57° F) hotter than the 20th century average temperature. Second-placed September 2020 was just 0.98° C (1.76° F) hotter.

• Why America’s Car Buyers Are Rethinking EVs

  It’s not just the charging network that’s unreliable. EVs had 80% more problems than cars with traditional internal combustion engines, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports magazine. EV owners reported the most troubles with their battery and its ability to take a charge.

  “This has nothing to do with the chargers in the field. This is specifically about a problem with the vehicle where it would not accept a charge,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. “It’s like you can’t get gasoline into the car. That’s a problem, a big problem.”

• US Can Strike Houthi and Iranian Targets to Protect Red Sea Shipping

  A series of brazen attacks in the Red Sea and North Arabian Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against merchant shipping and US Navy warships have roiled global shipping lanes. More than 15% of the world’s trade passes through these vast waters, and many of the major shipping companies — Maersk, MSC, Evergreen — have put voyages through them on pause.

• 36th Saudi aid plane for Gazans arrives in Egypt

  Saudi Arabia’s 36th plane carrying aid for Palestinians in besieged Gaza arrived at El-Arish International Airport in Egypt on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The delivery of the aid, which includes 24 tons of food, medical, and shelter supplies, is being coordinated by the Saudi aid agency KSrelief to help Palestinians affected by the conflict within the Gaza Strip.

• Finance Minister ratifies Saudi borrowing plan for 2024

  As per the plan, Saudi Arabia’s financing needs for 2024 are estimated to near SAR 86 billion, including the repayment of principal dues for the year, in addition to covering the expected deficit in the state budget for 2024. Besides, the Kingdom’s debt portfolio is projected to reach about SAR 1.11 trillion by the end of 2024.

• Iran vows revenge after biggest attack since 1979 revolution

  Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber vowed revenge on Thursday for explosions that killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony to commemorate top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020 in Iraq.

  "A very strong retaliation will be handed to them on the hands of the soldiers of Soleimani," Mokhber told reporters at a hospital were some of the wounded were receiving treatment for the bloodiest attack since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

• Atal fined and given suspended jail sentence for Israel-Hamas conflict post

  Algeria international soccer player Youcef Atal has been handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a 45,000-euro fine by a court in Nice for a social media repost about the Israel-Hamas conflict. The court said the social media repost provoked hatred on the grounds of religion. Defender Atal, who has been at Nice since 2018, was suspended by the Ligue 1 club in October after the media post, which he deleted.

• Saudi Arabian companies warn Aramco fuel price hike may curb earnings

  Scores of Saudi Arabian companies said their earnings could be dampened this year as production costs will increase after state energy group Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) notified them it would sharply raise feedstock and fuel prices.

  Companies including Nama Chemicals (2210.SE) and Saudi Ceramic (2040.SE) said in regulatory filings that they were notified by Saudi Aramco on Wednesday that, effective from Jan. 1, the energy giant would increase retail diesel prices for 2024 by 53% to 1.15 riyals ($0.3067) per litre, its third increase since 2016.

• US seeks 3 million barrels of crude for strategic reserve

  The U.S. is seeking to buy up to 3 million barrels of U.S.-produced sour crude oil for delivery in April to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the Department of Energy said in a statement on Wednesday. President Joe Biden's administration is slowly purchasing oil for the SPR after it sold a record 180 million barrels from it in 2022 to help fight high oil prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• Saudi Arabia Condemns Iran Explosions

  Saudi Arabia has condemned two deadly explosions in Iran. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed the Kingdom’s rejection and condemnation of the terrorist bombings that targeted civilians in Iran,” a statement said. The Ministry extended it condolences and sympathy to Iran, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. Two bombs exploded and killed and injured hundreds of people in Iran.

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