MUST-READS

• Aviation
  Bahrain’s Gulf Air set to launch two new Saudi routes

  Bahrain's Gulf Air has announced further growth of its network in Saudi Arabia, with plans to launch two new routes in early 2015.

• Iraq and ISIS
  In northeast Iraq, flashes of resistance against Islamic State militants (+video)

  A combination of Iraqi Army units and Kurdish and Shiite paramilitaries has flushed Sunni militants from much of Diyala Province. But tribal leaders run a lethal risk for defying militants and joining the resistance.

  • Foreign Policy - U.S. Iraq Strategy Missing Key Allies As More Troops Set to Deploy
  • BBC News - Mount Sinjar: Islamic State siege broken, say Kurds
  • WSJ - U.S. Says It's Killed Top ISIS Leaders in Iraq
  • Reuters - Pentagon Still Predicting ISIS Fight to Take Three Years
  • The Hill - Pentagon calls ISIS 'Daesh' for first time
  • Defense One - Is Obama’s ‘Iraq First’ Strategy Working Against ISIS?
• Hotels
  InterContinental Group to open nine hotels in Saudi Arabia

  HG plans to open nine hotels over the next three to five years, including InterContinental Riyadh and Hotel Indigo Riyadh, which will be the Middle East’s first Indigo property. Both hotels will be situated in the King Abdullah Financial District.

• Social Media
  Saudi Arabia’s religious police close 10,000 Twitter accounts

  Saudi Arabia’s religious police have shut down more than 10,000 Twitter accounts so far this year, according to Arab News.

• Internet Access
  Saudi Arabia: 3 Million Internet Users Access Blocked Sites

  About 3 million Internet users this year managed to gain access to websites blocked in the Kingdom, an academic has revealed. Nasser Al-Buqami, an IT professor, said this was a 58 percent increase from the year before. Meanwhile, he said Internet penetration has risen from 38 percent in 2009 to 64 percent in 2014, and now stands at 18.3 million users.

• Iran Nuclear Talks: The Fog Recedes

  The process had been deadlocked for months over two key issues: the size of Iran’s enrichment program and sanctions relief. For want of a last-minute breakthrough, the parties agreed to a new seven-month extension, with the goal of reaching a political agreement by 1 March 2015 and a comprehensive agreement, including an implementation plan, by 1 July 2015. A landmark agreement can still be found if both sides adopt more flexible postures. As Crisis Group has previously written and here reiterates, they can do so without violating their core principles and interests.

• GCC and Region
  Gulf Arab states close ranks with navy, police

  The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which is concerned about Shiite Iran's regional influence and the rise of Sunni extremist groups, agreed on Tuesday to create a joint naval force based out of Bahrain and announced a police force based out of the United Arab Emirates' capital of Abu Dhabi. The creation of the police force, known as GCC-POL, and the naval force were announced at the conclusion of the Gulf bloc's annual summit in Qatar. The meeting was held just weeks after the Western-allied countries reached a reconciliation agreement linked to Qatar's support for Islamist groups throughout the region

  • VOA - Qatar Emir Urges Gulf Arab Solidarity
• U.S.-Afghanistan
  US selects new ambassador to Afghanistan

  Michael McKinley, a US diplomat has been confirmed by the senate to replace James Cunningham as the US ambassador for Afghanistan. James Cunningham who was in Afghanistan since August 2012 as the Ambassador of the Unites States of America recently ended his tour.

  • NYT - Made Rich by U.S. Presence, Many in Kandahar Now Face an Uncertain Future
• Tourism
  Six million GCC citizens visited Saudi Arabia last year

  Saudi Arabia received more than six million Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens last year, according to a GCC General Secretariat report.

• U.S. - Iraq
  4,600 International Troops Pledged to Train Iraqi Forces

  Following a conference this month among members of the US-led coalition that has been launching airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq, allies have committed to send about 1,500 troops to Iraq — bolstering the 3,100 US troops already committed to the mission — said Lt. Gen. James Terry, who commands all coalition efforts in Iraq and Syria.

  • NYT - Iraqi Officials Push to Take Fight to ISIS in Mosul as U.S. Urges Restraint
  • Defense One - Islamic State Is On the 'Defensive' As a Coalition Builds in Iraq
  • Washington Post - In Baghdad, Hagel underscores U.S. role in Iraq's fight against Islamic State
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