SAUDI ARABIA: The epicenter of the Mideast is in Riyadh these days, with multiple internal and regional issues being thrashed out in the Saudi capital. The ongoing generational reforms by King Salman touched the oil sector late last week, as the young Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman effectively put himself at the helm of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company (p3). US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Riyadh May 7 to discuss a "pause" in the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen to get aid to some 25 million people while keeping the pressure on the rebel Houthis, and where he appears to have wrung an offer of a conditional cease-fire from Riyadh (p4). Two days before, Salman hosted the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, laying much of the blame for regional ills at the feet of Iran. US President Barack Obama will next week try to convince the GCC that a nuclear deal with Iran will not come at the Mideast Gulf's expense (p2).
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