MUST-READS

• Military
  In deaths of civilians in Gaza, U.S. weapons sales to Israel come under scrutiny

  What Israel used in that Aug. 3 strike, according to the United Nations, was a Hellfire missile — a U.S.-made weapon. The incident was one of many in the ongoing six-week-old war in the Gaza Strip in which weapons sold to Israel by the United States and some European nations have played a prominent role.

  • NYT - Op-Ed Contributor: Gaza, Victim of History
  • Washington Post - Israel and Hamas appear to have run out of ideas, but not bombs
  • Guardian - Israel destroys 2 Gaza high-rises in escalation
• 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
• Paris Robbery
  ‘All the Elements of a Hollywood Thriller’ – Saudi Prince’s Convoy Attacked by Gunmen in Paris

  The brazen robbery had all the elements of a Hollywood thriller: a commando-style ambush by a group of thieves wielding Kalashnikov rifles, a suitcase stuffed with cash, sensitive diplomatic documents and a likely shaken Saudi prince.

• Labor
  Saudi’s Labour Ministry Says Needs $4bn Per Year For Reforms

  The Kingdom has been struggling to bring down the unemployment rate among nationals – estimated at around 11.4 per cent, with economists saying that just 30 to 40 per cent of the working age adults participate in the workforce.

• Military
  Saudi Prince Miteb rules out need for military conscription

  “This is out of the question because we find that the number of volunteers among citizens for joining the military sector is very high, whether to the academies or institutes” he said, when asked about the possibility of introducing conscription in the kingdom.

• Art
  Saudi artist relates the human impact of Mecca’s redevelopment

  Ahmed Mater, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading artists, showed an audience at Sotheby’s London last night, Tuesday 12 August, the rampant development in Mecca that has transformed Islam’s holiest site into a luxury destination. Even the official logo of the municipality features a bulldozer alongside Islamic iconography.

• Pakistan
  Pakistan braces as Khan seeks 1 million people to oust Sharif

  Opposition leader Imran Khan is aiming to rally 1 million people Thursday for a march in the Pakistan capital to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over fraud allegations in an election 15 months ago.

• Energy
  Libya Plans to Resume Exports From its Largest Oil Port Next Week

  Libya plans to restart exports from its largest oil port Es Sider next week after a one-year interruption, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The news, which comes after shipments restarted this week from another key terminal, Ras Lanuf, shows Libyan oil exports are set to gain momentum after a slower-than-expected restart.

• Iraq Crisis
  Militants’ Siege on Mountain in Iraq Is Over, Pentagon Says

  Defense Department officials said late Wednesday that United States airstrikes and Kurdish fighters had broken the Islamic militants’ siege of Mount Sinjar, allowing thousands of the Yazidis trapped there to escape.

• Islamic State
  Iraq: Al-Abadi garners Iranian, US, Saudi Support: But can He Unite Iraq?

  The chairman of Iran’s national security council, Ali Shamkhani, congratulated al-Abadi and said that Iran approved of the legal process whereby President Fuad Masoum appointed the new PM. This entire line of reasoning was a slap in the face to outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who argues that Masoum acted unconstitutionally in appointing anyone but Maliki and has said he will challenge the step in the supreme court. Shamkhani appeared to caution al-Maliki and others against opposing al-Abadi, calling on “all political blocs” to abide by “the rule of law” and to unite in the face of the threat posed by an “external enemy.” Some observers believe that al-Abadi was pressed on Masoum by Iran to begin with and is now Tehran’s candidate.

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