MUST-READS

• Shi'a Protests
  Hizballah Cavalcade: The Shia Militant Response to Ayatollah Nimr al-Nimr’s Death Sentence

  Protests in Saudi began in early 2011 and in part addressed anti-Shia discrimination suffered by the group in the Shia majority area in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province; primarily zones around the Shia-majority towns and villages near the city of Qatif.4 Following the 2011 Saudi intervention in Bahrain, protests against the Saudi government increased in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia among Shia protesters.5 Following the 2011-2012 protests, links between Bahrain’s and Saudi Arabia’s protest movement spilled over into the more militant circles which actively promoted Nimr’s defiant stance and a hope to combine their fronts against common foes.

• INTERVIEW
  Saudi’s ACWA Power Eyes Expansion After IFC Investment

  The Wall Street Journal sits down with ACWA’s Chief Executive Paddy Padmanathan to discuss the investment and the company’s future projects.

• Food and Beverage
  Abraaj aims to seal purchase soon of Saudi fast-food chain Kudu

  Private equity firm Abraaj Group hopes to conclude a deal soon to buy a majority stake in Saudi fast-food chain Kudu alongside TPG Capital, a senior Abraaj executive told Reuters.

• Haqqani Network
  ‘Haqqani rebels held in Bahrain’

  Members of the Afghan Taliban, including the Haqqanis, have long moved relatively freely in Qatar, which in the past has mediated between the US and the militant group. The arrest of the two Haqqani leaders last week, however, may indicate that is changing, the Journal said.

• Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone
  Saudi Arabia, Kuwait shared zone tensions underlie oilfield closure

  Any differences between the two OPEC allies are watched closely by oil majors getting ready to return to Kuwait after years of fruitless talks and fierce political opposition to foreign firms taking a role in production in the past. Diplomatic and industry sources have told Reuters that Kuwait has been placing restrictions on the Saudi unit of U.S. oil major Chevron which operates another jointly run Neutral Zone field, Wafra, as a result of various disputes. The curbs have affected oil output from the Neutral Zone, which dates back to 1920s treaties to establish regional borders. Output capacity from the Zone has been around 600,000 bpd until last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

• Non-oil Growth
  Non-oil private sector in Saudi Arabia surges to over 3-year high

  In the latest Saudi British Bank PMI report, it noted that the growth was underpinned by accelerated increase in new work and output. Latest data showed that new business rose at its strongest pace for 28 months, amid strong demand for goods and services. Notably, construction was reported by several sources to be a key area of demand growth, while others reported the benefits of higher marketing and promotional activities.

• Labor
  Measures under way to help Saudi women work from home

  The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry has announced a series of measures to activate a project it had launched earlier to enable women, especially those with special needs, to work from home.

• Capital Punishment
  Saudi Arabia Has Stepped Up Public Beheadings, And Some See A Political Message

  A sudden surge in public executions in Saudi Arabia in the last two months has coincided with a U.S.-led bombing campaign against Islamic State. This has led to inevitable comparisons in Western media between Islamic State's beheadings and those practiced in Saudi Arabia.

• Afghanistan
  New Afghan leaders face culture clash as they form Cabinet

  Ghani, an American-educated technocrat who cites Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson as his influences, wants to enact reforms and create a modern government run by experienced civil servants accountable to the people. But he has to contend with the high expectations of dozens of powerful individuals under him, some with nefarious pasts, who helped him attain the presidency. They are steeped in the traditional ways of Afghan politics, driven by ethnicity, patronage and enormous egos.

• Al-Qaeda in Syria
  The Pentagon Can’t Say If It Stopped the Khorasan Terror Threat

  The United States launched eight strikes against the Khorasan Group last month "to disrupt the imminent attack plotting against the United States and Western interests," Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a Sept. 23 statement. Those strikes targeted the group's "training camps, an explosives and munitions production facility, a communications building, and command and control facilities." There were also early reports that Mohsin al-Fadhli, one of the group's leaders, was killed during the airstrikes around Aleppo—a city in northwestern Syria—but the Pentagon is unable to confirm those reports.

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