MUST-READS

• Golan Heights
  Syrian rebels seize Golan Heights border crossing

  Rebels aided by al Qaeda-linked militants seized control of the only border crossing between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday. The capture of the Quneitra crossing by Syrian rebels, including members of the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, represents a new dynamic in a war long feared not only for its deadly effects inside Syria but for threatening to widen into a destabilizing regional conflict.

• Islamic State
  Why the Islamic State Is Mostly a Network of Roads

  ISIS territory in Iraq and Syria tends to be described as “swaths.” The estimated size of these swaths, which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate in June, varies widely in reports, from 12,000 square miles—”an area the size of Belgium,” per The Wall Street Journal—to 35,000 square miles, or “an area the size of Jordan,” as George Packer wrote this week in The New Yorker. Whatever else the caliphate is, by these estimates of territorial size at least, it’s starting to look more and more like a state.

• Social Media
  ‘Selfie’ while driving is now punishable

  Saudi Arabia has warned motorists they would be punished with a SR300 fine (Dh300) if they are caught photographing themselves while driving.

• Society
  Kingdom’s Grand Mufti warns against misleading young people

  The Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and President of Council of Senior Scholars and General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh called on young people not to follow claims of jihad and support for Islam under unknown banners and perverted principles.

• Work Week
  Saudi five-day week for private sector scrapped

  A plan by Saudi Arabia’s labour ministry to give two days off a week in the private sector is being shelved following tremendous pressure from investors and the business community.

• Hajj
  Saudi set to earn $8.5 bn from hajj

  The study was based on estimates that 1.98 million pilgrims will travel to the holy Muslim city of Mecca, including 1.38 million, or 70 percent, from abroad.

• TASI Opening
  A note of caution for foreign investors on Saudi bourse

  Moreover, in order to protect assets in holy cities from non-Muslims, a restriction has been placed on shares in real estate firms from Mecca and Medina, such as Makkah Construction and Development Co. and Taiba Holding.

  • Arabian Money - Tight new rules will limit foreign investment in Saudi stocks
• Saudi-Iran
  Iran deputy foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia

  Iran's deputy foreign minister will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first bilateral talks between the Middle East's most intractable Muslim rivals since Iran's political landscape shifted in 2013, media in both countries reported.

• ISLAMIC STATE
  Syria warns against U.S. strikes on Islamic State on its soil

  Syria warned the Obama administration on Monday not to extend its air war against the Islamic State group into Syria, as the militants celebrated another key victory over government forces in the north of the country.

  • The Atlantic: Opinion - The Problem With Bombing ISIS
  • Foreign Policy - The Islamic State's Homefield Advantage
  • Yahoo! - U.N. accuses Islamic State of mass killings
  • Bloomberg - U.S. Won’t Consult Syria on Militant Strikes: White House
• ISIL
  Assad Policies Aided Rise of Islamic State Militant Group

  Earlier in the three-year-old Syrian uprising, Mr. Assad decided to mostly avoid fighting the Islamic State to enable it to cannibalize the more secular rebel group supported by the West, the Free Syrian Army, said Izzat Shahbandar, an Assad ally and former Iraqi lawmaker who was Baghdad's liaison to Damascus. The goal, he said, was to force the world to choose between the regime and extremists.

  • New York Times - Response to Attack Reflects Iraq’s Sectarian Divide
  • BBC - Iraq forces defeat militant push to take oil refinery
  • Reuters - Turkey struggles as 'lone gatekeeper' against Islamic State recruitment
  • Al-Shorfa - ISIL's use of the Prophet's stamp an affront to Islam: Saudi clerics
  • Reuters - Britain close to identifying beheading suspect
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