MUST-READS

• UK Passport Policy
  Where will jihadis stripped of their passports go?

  The new "temporary exclusion orders," it is proposed, will include passport cancellation, entry on a "no fly list," and sanctions against any airline carrying an "excluded" British citizen to the UK.

  • Guardian - Opinion: British fear of Islamists and Saudi fears about atheists are two sides of the same coin
• Tunisian Elections
  Tunisians vote in first free election

  The election has been billed as Tunisia's first free poll since independence from France in 1956. The vote will also mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country’s modern history.

• Afghanistan Attack
  Bomber targeted police commander in Afghan volleyball game attack

  At least 50 people were killed instantly on Sunday evening when the blast went off at the height of a popular volleyball game in a remote area in Afghanistan's Paktika province. Details of the attack, one of the deadliest in Afghanistan this year, were initially sketchy but as dozens of wounded were brought to the capital, Kabul, to be treated, a clearer picture emerged on Monday of what happened during the tournament.

  • Washington Post - Afghan military welcomes expanded U.S. combat role as Taliban threat intensifies
• China and Dubai
  China to become Dubai’s largest trading partner this year as Chinese comprise 10% of its population

  The 200,000 Chinese now resident in Dubai comprise around 10 per cent of its population. This is a phenomenal rise from very low numbers since the relaxing of visa requirements in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2009. There are some 4,200 Chinese companies established in the city and Chinese guests make 25 per cent of bookings for the iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel.

• Iran Negotiations
  Iran atom talks set to resume next month after missing deadline

  "Given progress made this weekend, talks headed to likely extension with experts and negotiating teams reconvening in December at a yet-to-be-determined location," a Western diplomat said in an email. The diplomat declined to be identified.

• Oil Slump
  Iran May Propose Million-Barrel Daily OPEC Cut in Saudi Talks

  Iran may propose that OPEC cut its output target by as much as 1 million barrels a day to halt the slide in crude prices when the country’s oil minister consults with his Saudi counterpart before the group gathers this week.

  • Bloomberg - Oil-Price Slide Won’t Deter Saudi Aramco From Expansion Strategy
  • Bloomberg - Russia to Cooperate With Saudis on Oil, Avoiding Output Cuts
• Jabhat Al-Nusra
  What Will Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State Do Next in Syria?

  Jabhat al-Nusra’s behavior in Syria’s Hama and Idlib provinces, where it already has an extensive presence, offers the most significant indication of what it sees ahead. It knew that the moderate opposition had agreed several months ago to fight it in the future, as part of a U.S. effort to eliminate extremists and make a deal with the regime. And so its move against the U.S. and Saudi-backed Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Hazm Movement, in particular, was pre-emptive. But their threat was not imminent, suggesting that Jabhat al-Nusra is preparing to deal with other eventualities. It has become the main rebel force in the northwest, and has the capability to capture the opposition’s last two border crossings to Turkey, vital for rebel training and supply, humanitarian relief flows, and the movement of opposition activists and administrators.

• Arab Spring
  Three assumptions about the Middle East that are just plain wrong

  The West’s understanding of the Middle East has often been laden with misconceptions—this has especially been the case in the years following the Arab Spring.

• Gulf Cup Soccer
  Gulf Cup: Saudi Arabia top group after 1-0 win over Yemen

  The result sees the Green Falcons qualify top of their group on seven points, four points clear of second-placed Qatar, who recorded their third successive point in a goalless draw with Bahrain in a match held simultaneously the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium.

• Kuwait
  Kuwait’s novel solution for undocumented Bidun: Buy them citizenship in Comoros.

  This month, however, the Kuwaiti interior ministry announced that the Bidun would soon be eligible for citizenship … but not in Kuwait. Rather, the government plans to bulk purchase “economic citizenship” for the Bidun from the East African island nation of Comoros, hundreds of miles away. Comoros, a member of the Arab League, has already provided passports to some stateless residents of the United Arab Emirates under a similar scheme. Before the program gets up and running, Comoros has to establish an embassy in Kuwait.

  • Aljazeera - Kuwait offers stateless group citizenship — from Comoros
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