MUST-READS

• Green Buildings
  Ministry of Housing, With the Support of Alpin, Develop Mostadam, New Green Building Rating System

  Alpin Limited is proud to have been an integral part of the development of Mostadam, a new green building rating system developed by the Ministry of Housing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mostadam, launched in October 2019, will have a great impact on construction projects in the region. It draws inspiration from the Saudi Vision 2030 and its objectives (energy, water, and human health). Mostadam will greatly improve sustainability in the construction industry and will have a resoundingly positive social and economic impact.

  • Arab News - Saudi Arabia joins club of Middle East’s ‘green energy’ leaders
• Lebanon
  Hundreds injured in Lebanon as violence flares in ‘week of anger’

  Lebanese medical groups said at least 377 people were injured on Saturday, including 80 who were taken to hospital, during the culmination of days of unrest that organisers called a “week of anger” after a relative lull.

  • Reuters - Lebanese security forces, protesters clash for second night
• IMF
  World Economic Outlook Update, January 2020: Tentative Stabilization, Sluggish Recovery?

  Trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and idiosyncratic stress in key emerging market economies continued to weigh on global economic activity—especially manufacturing and trade—in the second half of 2019. Intensifying social unrest in several countries posed new challenges, as did weather-related disasters—from hurricanes in the Caribbean, to drought and bushfires in Australia, floods in eastern Africa, and drought in southern Africa.

• Natural Gas
  America Is Awash With Natural Gas and It’s About to Get Worse

  The Appalachian region has spearheaded a historic expansion, turning the U.S. into the world’s biggest producer while slashing prices for consumers and sounding the death-knell for domestic coal. But the dark side of the boom is increasingly difficult to ignore. Shale drillers are extracting so much gas that it’s overwhelming demand.

• U.S. Energy
  U.S. oil and gas boom tamed by sharply lower prices

  U.S. oil and gas production growth is slowing, as lower prices force shale firms to reduce new well drilling and completion rates, and the slowdown is set to intensify this year. Low prices and the need to conserve cash, rather than a sudden conversion to the merits of investment discipline, have brought the drilling and production boom of 2017/18 to a halt. U.S. crude oil output was up almost 9% in the three months between August and October compared with the same period in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

• USAF
  Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles arrive at Saudi Arabian base amid Iran tensions

  The 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s jets arrived just hours after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a top Iranian general in early January, escalating already high tensions even further.

• U.S. Military
  ‘A Very Stable Genius’ book excerpt: Inside Trump’s stunning tirade against U.S. generals

  The Tank meeting was a turning point in Trump’s presidency. Rather than getting him to appreciate America’s traditional role and alliances, Trump began to tune out and eventually push away the experts who believed their duty was to protect the country by restraining his more dangerous impulses.

• Taliban Talks
  Taliban say they handed cease-fire offer to US peace envoy

  The Taliban have given the U.S. envoy a document outlining their offer for a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan that would last between seven and 10 days, Taliban officials familiar with the negotiations said Thursday. The offer is seen as an opportunity to open a window to an eventual peace deal for Afghanistan that would allow the United States to bring home its troops and end the 18-year war, America's longest conflict.

• Qasem Soleimani
  Commentary: Soleimani’s death creates power vacuum within Iran

  While after Soleimani’s death the supreme leader said the Quds Force’s mission “is the same as it was under” his commandership, three areas to watch will be the status of the Quds Force within the IRGC’s top brass, the Ayatollah’s decision-making circle and Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s attempts to assert more control over regional foreign policy.

• Oman
  As Oman enters a new era, economic and political challenges persist

  Haitham bin Tariq, 65, was the minister of heritage and culture from 2002 until his ascension to the throne. Under Qaboos, he had also served as secretary general for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994-2002) and as undersecretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in political affairs (1986-1994).

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