MUST-READS

• U.S. Congress and the Middle East
  GOP letter to Iran deepens White House ire

  The letter, written by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), suggests that any deal between Obama and the Iranian leadership would amount to only an “executive agreement” that could be undone by Congress or a future president. “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time,” the letter states.

  • The Hill - Outrage over GOP's letter to Iran
  • Slate - Opinion: The Republicans’ Latest Iran Ploy Is Brazen, Borderline Unconstitutional, and Totally Predictable
  • Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Dr. Zarif`s Response to the Letter of US Senators
  • Lawfare - The Error in the Senators’ Letter to the Leaders of Iran
• Tikrit Campaign
  Iraqi troops, militia enter strategic town near Tikrit

  Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militia took the center of a town on the northern edge of Tikrit from Islamic State on Tuesday as they closed in on Saddam Hussein's home city. Al-Alam is the last Islamic State stronghold that needs to be cleared before government forces and militiamen can enter the city of Tikrit itself, which has been under militant control since last summer.

  • Defense News - US Looking for Contractors to Help in Iraq
  • AP - Iraqi minister: We're comfortable receiving aid from Iran
• Saudi Energy Policy
  The big drop: Riyadh’s oil gamble

  “If the Saudis had cut they would have been the idiot at the party. They would have done what everyone wanted, but they would also have been the one that everyone else laughed at,” says one long-time Opec analyst. “Ultimately, Naimi has told the world the Saudis would not be the ones to mop up everyone else’s mess.”

• ISIS and Saudi Arabia
  Analysis: Islamic State Sets Its Sights on Saudi Arabia

  The Islamic State’s leader (and self-styled caliph) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi singled out Saudi Arabia in an audio statement titled “Even if the Disbelievers Despise Such,” released by the group’s al-Furqan Media Foundation on November 13, 2014. In his statement, al-Baghdadi extolled what he describes as the purported expansion of the Islamic State to the “lands of al-Haramein” (two holy places) in addition to Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Algeria, through its acceptance of oaths of allegiance sworn by local militants to the self-styled caliphate.

  • Al-Arabiya - Security tightened for Saudi diplomats
• Saudi Workforce
  Saudis continue to opt for government jobs: Construction sector shows improvement

  But the construction industry – the most labour intensive part of the private sector – has seen even better results under the Nitaqat system, with a 34% jump in the number of Saudis employed. Saudi workers now represent 10.3% of the construction workforce which is still some way off the 12% the government is targeting, and considerably short of the more ambitious targets set under phase three of the programme, due to be implemented in April 2015.

• MERS
  MERS count rises in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Qatar

  The late-winter stream of MERS cases in Saudi Arabia continued with seven more reported over the past 3 days, while Germany reported a case imported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar cited its second case of the year.

• Nuclear Energy
  Saudi Arabia and Argentina form R&D joint venture

  Saudi Arabia is looking to nuclear power to help it meet growing demand for both electricity and desalination, with plans for the construction of as many as 16 reactors over the next 20 years. Smaller reactors, such as CAREM, are envisaged for use in desalination. The country has signed nuclear cooperation agreements with France, South Korea and China as well as Argentina.

• Women's Education
  Why educating girls should be a priority for Arab states

  As illustrated in the findings of the Arab World Learning Barometer, gender disparities are aggravated by wealth and location differences. In Yemen, less than 1 percent of wealthy, urban males suffer from extreme education poverty, compared with 86 percent of poor, rural females. Families living in poverty in rural areas in countries like Egypt and Yemen often choose to send their sons to school rather than their daughters, because they cannot afford the direct costs (e.g., tuition fees) or opportunity costs (e.g., lost family revenue) of sending their girls to school. Girls’ education is also still widely seen as providing lower rates of return on investment, because they are less likely to use their education to earn an income.

• Tadawul
  Saudi Arabia edges up; Egypt rallies on property

  Saudi Arabia's stock market edged up in early trade on Tuesday, although weak petrochemicals offset gains in other sectors. Egypt continued rising, supported by property stocks.

• Prince Alwaleed
  Will Saudi Prince Alwaleed invest in Snapchat?

  But the social media upstart apparently has no problem making its recent rendezvous with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal something for the permanent record.

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