MUST-READS

• Iraqi Kurds
  Iraqi government reaches deal with Kurds on oil, budget

  Describing the deal as a win-win accord for the central government and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Zebari said it would help increase Iraq's oil exports at a time when its budget was strained by low oil prices and the war against Islamic State militants who control much of the country. Zebari, a Kurd who is part of the Baghdad government, said oil from both areas would run through a Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) pipeline to Turkey.

  • Defense One - Baghdad, Kurds Put Aside Differences To Secure Oil from Smugglers
• Food and Beverage
  Mars set to open its first chocolate factory in Saudi Arabia

  Following an initial investment of $60 million and allocation of an additional $150 million over the next decade, Mars Saudi Arabia will open on Tuesday its first chocolate factory in the Kingdom at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh.

• Council of Ministers
  Saudi Arabia warns oil market speculators, says oil policy is ’emanating from economic fundamentals’

  “The Kingdom's oil policy is emanating from economic fundamentals, to achieve the economic interests of the Kingdom on the short and long term, and the interests of producers and consumers,” the Council of Ministers said following its weekly meeting.

  • Bloomberg - Saudi-Venezuela OPEC Split Plays Out Behind Closed Doors
  • Reuters - Saudi set for tighter 2015 budget after oil price falls
• U.S. - Arab Coordination
  US in talks over Arab boots on the ground

  Wittman recently returned from a trip with fellow Republican lawmakers to Qatar, Jordan and Afghanistan, where they met with U.S. military commanders, troops and foreign leaders including Jordanian King Abdullah II, who is scheduled to visit the White House and Capitol Hill next week. The Republican lawmaker said Abdullah spoke emphatically about the need for the fight against ISIS to be led in the region by Arab and Muslim nations, and suggested that Jordan could provide boots on the ground against ISIS.

• Global Oil Markets
  OPEC Gusher to Hit Weakest Players, From Wildcatters to Iran

  A grand experiment has begun, one in which the cartel of producing nations -- sometimes called the central bank of oil -- is leaving the market to decide who is strongest and how to cut as much as 2 million barrels a day of surplus supply.

  • Informed Comment - Oil Price Fall: Saudi Arabia targets US Shale Oil, Iran, Iraq, Russia
• U.S.-Afghanistan
  New, expanded rules for U.S. combat in Afghanistan in 2015

  New rules for the 9,800 U.S. troops staying in Afghanistan next year will let commanders order airstrikes or night raids on Taliban forces who pose a significant threat to the Afghan government, defense officials said. The rules came in an order recently signed by President Obama that clarified the authorities U.S. military commanders will have after the official end of the combat mission in December.

  • Washington Post - How Israelis responded when a White House official called their prime minister a ‘chickens––t’Two powerful explosions rock Kabul
• ISIS and the Region
  Opinion: The Islamic State Reshapes the Middle East

  While the group certainly funnels a substantial portion of its power into dispersed guerrilla formations and retains a significant regional terrorist apparatus, it remains something rather new for the region — an Islamist movement acting as a regional state.

• ISIS in Anbar
  Islamic State toughens tactics in Iraq’s Anbar, targeting potential enemies

  A recent Islamic State offensive in Iraq’s Anbar province suggests that the extremist organization is changing tactics, relying less on local Sunni Muslim tribes for support and carrying out what one coalition strategist called a “counterinsurgency campaign” intended to undercut any U.S.-led effort to enlist tribes against it.

  • RFE/RL - Humanitarian Catastrophe Looms In Anbar Province As IS Pushes To Take Ramadi
• Security
  Saudi National Detained At Fort Sam Houston With Explosives

  Officials at Fort Sam Houston say they’ve taken into custody the driver of a vehicle that military officials say contained explosive materials, and which sparked a lockdown at the San Antonio Army base.

• ISIS and Saudi Arabia
  Saudi Arabia: Islamic State Group Linked to Attack

  Interior Minister spokesman Mansour al-Turki said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency that an investigation found that a 77-person terrorist cell helped with financing, planning and carrying out the Nov. 3 attack. He said some members of the cell had been in touch with Islamic State militants and received orders from abroad.

  • AP - Islamic State Group Linked to Attack
  • Bloomberg - Saudis Say Islamic State Behind Deadly Attack on Shiites
  • Reuters - Saudi Arabia says Islamic State ordered attack on Shi'ites in al-Ahsa
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