MUST-READS

• U.S.-Afghanistan
  Obama invites new Afghan leaders to White House

  U.S. President Barack Obama, keen to reset relations with Afghanistan that soured under longtime president Hamid Karzai, has invited the leaders of Afghanistan's new unity government to visit the White House early next year. The new Afghan leadership comes at a crucial time as American combat troops draw down after 13 years and a remaining U.S. force of about 10,000 shifts to a support role for Afghan security forces taking over the fight against Taliban insurgents.

• Women Driving
  Saudi Arabia warns women not to join protest against ban on driving

  Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry on Thursday issued a warning to women not to get behind the wheel in defiance of the kingdom's men-only road rules after a renewed social media campaign to challenge the law by driving in public. The announcement comes ahead of the anniversary on Oct. 26 of a demonstration last year in which dozens of Saudi women said they had taken to the road in protest at the ban on female drivers, leading to some arrests.

  • The Atlantic - Saudi Arabia's Women Problem
• Arab Spring
  Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ites fear they are at mercy of region’s tumult

  The Shi’ite Muslim minority in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province have long felt marginalized by the Sunni ruling dynasty, and protests for greater rights as part of the 2011 Arab Spring brought a crackdown on both protesters and demands for reform.

• TASI
  Saudi market leads Middle East stocks to weekly gain

  Middle East markets recovered from the prior week’s losses to record strong weekly gains Thursday as investors anticipated healthy third-quarter corporate earnings.

• U.S. Presidential Powers
  Special report: America’s perpetual state of emergency

  In his six years in office, President Obama has declared nine emergencies, allowed one to expire and extended 22 emergencies enacted by his predecessors. Since 1976, when Congress passed the National Emergencies Act, presidents have declared at least 53 states of emergency — not counting disaster declarations for events such as tornadoes and floods, according to a USA TODAY review of presidential documents. Most of those emergencies remain in effect.

• U.S.-Turkey
  Kidnapping plot in Turkey raises new questions about U.S. troops’ safety

  A bold yet ultimately unsuccessful kidnapping plot orchestrated by the Islamic State in Turkey raises new questions about the safety of U.S. troops and other American personnel stationed throughout the country.

• Saudi Convictions
  Saudi convicts 27 for plotting attack on US forces

  A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced 27 people to prison for planning a series of attacks against US forces in Qatar and Kuwait, with more than half of the defendants charged on Wednesday with also trying to join forces with a group in Syria to smuggle fighters to Iraq, official media reports said. The same court also sentenced on Tuesday two Saudi citizens to death and a third to 12 years in prison for taking part in violent protests in the eastern town of Al Awamiya.

• Real Estate
  Saudi’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Aims For 10% Growth Next Year

  Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co, Saudi Arabia’s largest listed developer, plans to spend over SAR1 billion ($267 million) on projects in 2015 and aims for 10 per cent growth of its business that year, its chairman said. The company has a strong tailwind: supply of housing in the country lags strong demand, the result of rapid population growth and slow progress in government building programmes designed to ease the shortage.

• Oman
  Oman’s uncertain future

  When Qaboos seized power in 1970, Oman was an isolated and impoverished state beset by a Marxist insurgency. Yet, over the course of his 44-year reign, Qaboos has been credited with using Oman’s oil wealth to transform his nation into a rich country with a vibrant tourism industry and a high standard of living. Under Qaboos’ stewardship, Oman has also conducted an independent foreign policy that serves a unique role in the region.

  • Onsite Exclusives - Oman studies expenditure cuts amid plunging oil revenues
• Dollar-Riyal
  More peculiarity: Saudi riyal falls sharply against US dollar

  The surge of demand for dollars in the Saudi Arabian foreign exchange market may be linked to the recent plunge of global oil prices as well as a sharp fall of the Saudi stock market over the past two weeks, the traders said. They said banks were not panicking, but some were buying forwards because the dollar demand had pushed the Saudi riyal’s spot rate unusually far beyond its peg of 3.75 against the dollar.

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