MUST-READS

• NCB IPO
  Saudi’s largest lender plans to raise $6bn in IPO

  Currently majority-owned by the state Public Investment Fund, NCB is the only unlisted lender among Saudi Arabia's 12 banks. It held assets worth about $101 billion at the end of 2013 and made net profits of $2.1 billion last year. At the offer price, NCB to be the third largest stock on the Saudi exchange, and the second-biggest bank, by market value. Al Rajhi is the current largest listed bank, with a market capitalisation of $30.8 billion. However, the 45 riyals per share value is considered cheap by analysts, who note that shares in state-run companies are often sold to the public at reduced rates as a way of spreading the kingdom's vast oil wealth.

• Social Freedom
  The Crackdown on Gay Men in Egypt

  In some ways, Egypt’s new government has become even more repressive and intolerant than the regime that was overthrown in early 2011. One disturbing example is the incarceration of dozens of gay men, a crackdown that has vilified a community that had hoped the popular uprising in 2011 would bring minorities greater freedom.

• American News
  The ISIS Conflict Has Saturated the American Mind

  In a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 94 percent of Americans said they were following the news of the horrendous and tragic beheadings of American journalists at the hands of ISIS. That number is astounding, seeing how public knowledge of the news can often be lacking.

  • Bloomberg - Army Says Troops Should Be Aware of Islamic State Threats
  • AP - Poll: Half Think U.S. at High Risk of Terror Attack
  • Defense One - In War and Tragedy, How the US Media Prioritizes Death
• Yemen
  Yemen: Power Vacuum In Sana’a Hampers Aid Response

  Following their victory, the Houthis quickly took control of other government facilities. At the same time, political parties endorsed a UN brokered deal that officially brought an end to the fighting. The agreement, signed by the Houthis and major political parties with President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s endorsement, called for the creation of a new government, a reduction in fuel prices and granted the Houthis a larger say in governmental decisions.

• 'A New Yemen'
  Khashoggi – Saudi Arabia and the Houthis

  We should realize the importance of the massive change that took place in Yemen last Monday. It is the birth of a new Yemen, added to the birth of a new Syria, a new Iraq and a new Arab world. However, I'll start the story from far away, from Italy to be exact.

  • Saudi Gazette - GCC demands return of state authority in Yemen
• Price War?
  Oil Prices Continue Decline, Pressured by Saudi Action to Defend Market Share

  But the sudden drop on Thursday was seen as a response to Saudi Arabia’s signaling on Wednesday to the markets that it was more interested in maintaining market share than in defending prices. Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, stunned markets by announcing that it was cutting prices by about $1 a barrel to Asia, the crucial growth market for the Persian Gulf producers, as well as by 40 cents a barrel to the United States.

  • Washington Post - Oil prices are falling — and that’s good for the U.S. and bad for Russia
  • Bloomberg- OPEC Price War Signaled by Saudi Move Risks Deeper Drop
• Qatari Foreign Policy
  The Case Against Qatar

  What Doha saw in the Muslim Brotherhood was a combination of religiosity and efficacy that seemed parallel to its own. Moreover, the Qatari ruling family sought to differentiate itself from competing monarchies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), both of which frown upon political Islam as dangerously power-seeking. It was pragmatism, argues Salah Eddin Elzein, head of the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, a think tank associated with the Qatar-owned satellite network. "Islamists came [to the region] in the 1980s, and Qatar was trying to ally itself with the forces that it saw as those most likely to be the dominant forces for the future."

• Construction
  Saudi firm funding boat-shaped Tunisia hospital project

  Saudi Arabian investors Lalei Al Barakah Est. are backing a project to build a sailing boat-shaped hospital in Tunisia's new Economic City.

• Cuisine in Jeddah
  Eating Out in Jeddah: Saudi Dining & Top Cultural Restaurants

  Jeddah, one of the most easygoing areas in Saudi Arabia, has a long history as an important centre for trade and cultural interchange. The city’s cuisine reflects this, blending the flavours of East and West to delicious effect. Jeddah’s restaurants, done out in elaborate Hijazi décor, make dining in the historic city a delight, so we’ve updated our Jeddah restaurant guide to bring you eight more unmissable venues in Saudi’s best culinary destination.

  • Arab News - Top chefs to compete in Foodex Saudi’s culinary event
• Iraq and Iraqis
  With the rise of Islamic State, Iraq is splintering along religious and ethnic lines

  In the wake of Islamic State’s rise, small religious minorities such as Christians and Yazidis — a group that draws from various religious traditions — have sought refuge in Kurdish areas. Some say they hope to flee the country, never to return. The people left behind in areas captured by the Islamic State will increasingly be “one color,” said Hamed al-Maliki, an Iraqi writer, meaning they will have the same Sunni beliefs and customs.

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