Saudi government may drop plans for gender barrier in Shura Council

Source: The National (Read full story)

Saudi officials may consider dropping plans for a barrier separating men and the newly appointed women in the country’s top advisory body. News reports follow the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday for the first women in the ultraconservative kingdom’s Shura Council. There was no barrier during the event as the 30 women sat on one side of the chamber and the 130 men on the other.

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Mulaifi retracts grilling threat

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

MP Ahmad Al-Mulaifi said that he decided to withdraw his earlier threat to grill Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al- Hmoud Al-Sabah after learning that the minister was soon to be replaced. “I retracted my decision after receiving information that the minister is soon to be relieved of his duties and replaced with another minister,” he said in a statement yesterday.

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Oman seeks consolidation in financial sector

Source: Reuters (Read full story)

Oman’s financial regulator, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), is encouraging consolidation in the country’s crowded financial sector, aiming in the long term for local banks to build a regional presence in the Gulf region.

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Growth in the banking sector has slowed. Assets in commercial banks in Oman grew 13.9 percent in 2012, compared to 17.6 percent in 2011, central bank data showed.

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Opposition derailing talks…

Source: Gulf Daily News (Read full story)

Bahrain’s latest National Dialogue session ended in stalemate last night as opposition groups were accused of holding up the talks. The deadlock came as they refused to drop demands for His Majesty King Hamad to be officially represented in the process. It happened despite consensus being reached last week that three government ministers would play a full role in the sessions. Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa accused six opposition groups of stalling the talks.

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John Kerry first trip and current ‘success’ metric

Source: The Washington Times (Read full story)

 John Kerry’s first trip as secretary of state provides a good opportunity to look at how we evaluate our secretaries. Most recent secretaries have considered travel to be the measure of their terms. When Hillary Clinton returned to work from hospitalization, her staff gave her a football jersey with “112” on it – reflecting the number of countries she had visited. Republicans retorted that Condoleezza Rice still held the record for most miles logged.

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Emirates LNG leases land for UAE gas import terminal

Source: Al Arabiya News (Read full story)

 Emirates LNG has leased a plot of land on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and will start building an LNG import terminal there later this year, the company said in a statement on Sunday. The joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum and IPIC was set up in 2012 to import liquefied natural gas (LNG)into the port of Fujairah to help meet rapidly rising demand for gas in the UAE. “The Emirates LNG facility will have the capacity to import9 million tons per annum of LNG to help fuel the growing energy demands of the UAE economy,” Emirates LNG Chief Executive Ahmed Matar Al-Mazrouei said.

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