INTERNATIONAL. Something extraordinary, albeit not unexpected, is happening in the Persian Gulf region. The United States, lacking a coherent strategy to deal with Iran and too distracted to develop one, is struggling to navigate Iraq’s fractious political landscape in search of a deal that would allow Washington to keep a meaningful military presence in the country beyond the end-of-2011 deadline stipulated by the current Status of Forces Agreement.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia, dubious of U.S. capabilities and intentions toward Iran, appears to be inching reluctantly toward an accommod
INTERNATIONAL. "Israel is taking a calculated risk that Assad, Iran and Hezbollah are right now fighting a war against the Syrian rebels and probably don't want to open up a second front."
INTERNATIONAL. The United States, with its European allies, does not have the force needed to end Syria's bloodshed. If it tried, it would merely be held responsible for the bloodshed without achieving any strategic goal.
INTERNATIONAL. "No shred of evidence regarding those who've been arrested and stand accused has been provided," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
INTERNATIONAL. Saudi Arabia "seems poised to ramp up" production further to meet seasonal demand, after restoring output to a four-month high of 9.3 million barrels a day in March, an increase of 50,000 a day from February.
SAUDI ARABIA. "These elements had regularly received sums of money in return for information and documents on important installations during the spy operation in the interest of these services."
UAE. Two-way trade between Dubai and Iran was roughly 25 billion dirhams (US$6.8 billion) in 2012, a drop of about 31% from 36 billion dirhams in the previous year.
IRAQ. US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Iraq to stop allowing Iranian flights apparently carrying military equipment through its airspace headed to Syria.
SAUDI ARABIA. Interior Minister spokesman told state television it was "an espionage case" and that the suspects had been "involved in a spying cell for a state".
INTERNATIONAL. After a "verbal warning" from the U.S., the Iranian F-4 jet that came within 16 miles of the unmanned plane broke off, according to a Pentagon statement.
INTERNATIONAL. Visitors to the largest broadband event in the Middle East and Africa will gain insight into how emerging markets are progressing despite challenging circumstances.
UAE. HSBC's Dubai-based Middle East unit will stop personal-banking services to some customers with links to countries subject to European Union and U.S. sanctions.
EGYPT. First trip by an Iranian head of state since the 1979 revolution, underlines the thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state.
UAE. "The general trading atmosphere is sufficiently negative for gold to enable sellers to have a firm grip on the market. However, I fail to see how the rally in the stock markets can be put into any sensible relation to the economic plight of the underlying countries."
EGYPT. The Egyptian government has taken tentative steps towards reducing the roughly US$20 billion subsidy system that supporters say provides vital aid to the one-in-four Egyptians in poverty, and critics say is unsustainable and enriches the corrupt.
UAE. Red Hat's Mark Little and Tom Llewellyn explain how Large-scale Elastic Architecture for Data-as-a-Service (LEADS) will enable enterprises to leverage all of the public data on the web against privately held data.
INTERNATIONAL. Bahrain has maintained its position as a key insurance hub and continues to post growth in its insurance market despite a prolonged period of political turbulence.
UAE. "The general trading atmosphere is sufficiently negative for gold to enable sellers to have a firm grip on the market. However, I fail to see how the rally in the stock markets can be put into any sensible relation to the economic plight of the underlying countries."
INTERNATIONAL. Nothing new is coming online anytime soon and movement on developing renewable energy resources has been sadly inadequate. The idea that shale reservoirs will lead the US to energy independence will soon enough be recognized as unrealistic hype.
UAE. For those businesses yet to participate in the Middle East healthcare sector expansion, there is still time; investment in the field will be sustained, if only because of investment by the Saudi government.
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