Saudi Arabia pledges $3.5bn in aid to neighbouring Yemen, which is facing political instability and a possible humanitarian catastrophe.

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Saudis pledge $3.5bn for Yemen

British defence giant BAE signs a £1.9bn ($3bn) deal with Saudi Arabia to supply Hawk trainer jets, saving 218 jobs in East Yorkshire.

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BAE signs £1.9bn Saudi jet deal

Saudi Arabia, concerned that chaos in Yemen is creating an al Qaeda base on its doorstep, pledged aid to its neighbor at a donor group meeting.

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Saudis Pledge $3.25 Billion in Aid to Yemen

A Kuwaiti man pleads not guilty to charges that he insulted the Prophet Muhammad and the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in messages on Twitter.

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Kuwaiti denies Twitter blasphemy

Bahrain’s foreign ministry summons Iran’s charge d’affaires following Iranian comments objecting to a proposed union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

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Bahrain and Iran in ‘union’ row

Turkey’s besting Iran in the contest for the hearts and minds of advocates of change in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa is proving to be both a blessing and a curse. With tension mounting over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the perceived window of opportunity for a military strike closing, Turkey faces increased challenges and the threat of a proxy war with Syria and the Islamic republic. This is compounded by the fact that the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia need Turkey in their effort to further corner the regime in Syria and to isolate Iran, but want to prevent a shift in regional power away from the kingdom and the Israeli state to Ankara — increasingly held up as the model of an economically successful, Islamist-led democracy.

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Turkey and Tehran: Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place (JMD in Turkish Review)

Sweden’s Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors resigns after facing criticism for a secret plan to help Saudi Arabia build weapons.

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Swedish MP quits over Saudi deal

President Obama may be traveling the country this week to tout his energy policy, but the oil market’s attention is focused on Saudi Arabia and its production plans. The kingdom’s oil minister insisted this week that oil markets are amply supplied and that it stands ready to boost output. Its council of ministers asserted that excessively high petroleum prices threaten the global economy and that a downturn would lead to an abrupt pullback in prices, hurting the interests of oil exporters and consumers. Read full article > >

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Saudi Arabian oil minister says kingdom ready to boost output

BAGHDAD — After years of strained relations, a series of diplomatic gestures between Iraq and Saudi Arabia is easing tensions between two of the Middle East’s most influential nations at a critical time for the region. Read full article > >

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Iraq and Saudi Arabia show signs of improved relations after years of strain

Saudi Arabia said Sunday that Syrians have a right to take up arms to defend themselves against the regime and accused the Damascus government of “imposing itself by force,” as concerns mounted over a humanitarian crisis there.

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Red Cross Tries to Enter Syrian Town

Saudi Arabia has moved to repair a long-fractured relationship, naming its first envoy to Iraq in more than two decades, Iraq’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

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Saudi Arabia Names Ambassador to Iraq

Just after the first anniversary of the onset of the Arab Spring, the Obama administration announced in December an enormous arms sale to Saudi Arabia , with a price tag greater than the annual gross domestic product of more than half the countries in the world. The administration hailed the sale as a “ historic achievement ” that “reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The close juxtaposition of the anniversary and the apparent repair of the temporary rough patch in U.S.-Saudi relations highlights crucial overlooked realities about the Arab Spring and the U.S. response. Read full article > >

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Washington’s bow to Mideast monarchs

Just after the first anniversary of the onset of the Arab Spring, the Obama administration announced in December an enormous arms sale to Saudi Arabia , with a price tag greater than the annual gross domestic product of more than half the countries in the world. The administration hailed the sale as a “ historic achievement ” that “reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The close juxtaposition of the anniversary and the apparent repair of the temporary rough patch in U.S.-Saudi relations highlights crucial overlooked realities about the Arab Spring and the U.S. response. Read full article > >

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Washington’s bow to Mideast monarchs

Saudi Arabia’s Gulf allies joined Riyadh on Tuesday in pulling out of an Arab League monitoring team to Syria, risking the collapse of a mission whose presence has not halted more than 10 months of violence.

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Gulf Arabs Quit Syria Monitoring Mission

UK PM David Cameron visits Saudi Arabia, for the first time as prime minister.

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Cameron in talks with Saudi king