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By Vivian Nereim  -bloomberg -- bloomberg.com -- - Saudi Arabia has quietly revised its plan to overhaul its government and economy by 2020, lowering some targets as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitions bump up against the reality of implementation. The scaled-back blueprint -- posted unannounced online -- doesn’t affect major fiscal or energy-related reforms. But the lowered bar is a sign that parts of the original plan were overly optimistic, and illustrates the challenges ahead for the prince, whose reputation has been tarnished by the killing of government critic Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. The program, released in 2016, was designed to overhaul the Saudi economy and prepare for life after oil. The government had already been forced to backtrack on some of its more unpopular measures, including cuts to government workers’ allowances. It’s also set less challenging projections for lowering unemployment as the private sector struggles. The government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the modified plan posted online.

Women in Workforce: Female participation in the job market is one key target that’s been pared. The new goal is to have women make up 24 percent of the workforce by 2020, down from an original goal of 28 percent and 21.2 percent last year. Less ambitious goals were also set for training government employees, and some of the measures designed to improve health services and raise quality of life. Some targets were unchanged, while several new ones have been added, including reduced corruption, raising the retail sector’s share of economic output and better integrating people with disabilities in the workforce. The National Transformation Program, announced with much fanfare, was the first initiative released under Prince Mohammed’s “Vision 2030” plan to remake Saudi Arabia as the kingdom grappled with lower oil prices. It’s still a key part of the 33-year-old prince’s agenda, which is facing major challenges as the economy struggles to regain momentum. The Khashoggi killing has added new obstacles by rocking longstanding alliances and spooking foreign investors. Civil servants and consultants began redoing the program last year after its rushed launch led to overlap with other initiatives and data errors in the planning document. The errors included a baseline figure for women workers that was overly high.

Saudi Prince Starts to Pay Political Price for Khashoggi Murder

by techspot.com — Most of the jobs that get displaced by computers or robots are menial labor that requires little or no …

The current Lebanese Justice Minister filed a complaint against a newspaper publisher, accusing him of harming relations with Saudi Arabia, AP reported. …

by Daily Star.com.lb -- “Prime Minister Hariri is waiting for a final answer from the Lebanese Forces to his latest Cabinet offer before he meets with President Aoun either Monday or Tuesday to present him with the first Cabinet lineup that includes the distribution of portfolios among the main blocs, along with the names of ministers,” a source at Baabda Palace told The Daily Star. “The Cabinet formation process is on the right track. All signs indicate that the formation of a national unity government will be announced this week after major hurdles have been eliminated,” the source said. He ruled out the possibility of last-minute snags similar to those over the LF demand for the Justice Ministry that had thwarted the announcement of a Cabinet lineup nearly two weeks ago. The LF demand was rejected by Aoun, who insisted on retaining the Justice Ministry for one of his loyalists as part of his share after ceding the position of the deputy prime minister to the LF.

According to the source, Hariri’s Cabinet offer presented to the LF still stood unchanged despite the LF’s persistent demand for a weighty ministerial post as a substitute for the Justice Ministry. During one of his meetings with caretaker Information Minister Melhem Riachi last week, Hariri was reported to have offered the Lebanese Forces four posts: The deputy prime minister’s position and the Social Affairs, Culture and Labor ministries. Riachi, one of three LF ministers in the outgoing Cabinet, told The Daily Star Sunday that the LF would convey its answer to Hariri’s offer Monday.The LF’s parliamentary Strong Republic bloc will hold an extraordinary meeting in Maarab at noon Monday to be chaired by LF leader Samir Geagea to discuss “latest developments in the Cabinet formation and take the appropriate stances on it,” a statement from Geagea’s media office said Sunday night. LF’s deputy leader MP George Adwan said the party’s executive committee, headed by Geagea, would hold a “crucial meeting” either late Sunday night or Monday morning to decide on whether or not to participate in the new government. Adwan, in an interview with MTV, raised the possibility of the LF staying out of the new government. “There is a high possibility that the Lebanese Forces will not participate in the government,” he said. Assuring that a government would be formed in the next few days, Adwan said a “Plan B” would need to be devised if the LF did not participate in the government. Commenting on Adwan’s hint at the possibility of the LF staying out of the government, a source familiar with the Cabinet formation process told The Daily Star: “Adwan’s remarks are meant to enhance the Lebanese Forces’ negotiating position. No one wants to stay out of the government.” While Hariri insists on the LF participation in the new government, Adwan said caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, was seeking either to “prevent the Lebanese Forces from being represented in the government with its real weight, or prevent its participation.” Emboldened by the results of the May parliamentary elections in which it nearly doubled the number of its MPs from eight to 15, the LF has been demanding a significant Cabinet share. The LF and the FPM have been embroiled in a fierce struggle for five months over Christian representation in the government.