MUST-READS

• American Muslims
  9 Famous Americans You Probably Didn’t Know Were Muslim

  Still, there are more than 2.5 million American Muslims, making it the third-largest religion in the US. While Muslims account for just 0.8% of the population, they have faced rising discrimination and prejudice since the 9/11 attacks 13 years ago. With the rise of groups like the Islamic State now seeking to promote their brand of violent extremism, that may be unlikely to end anytime soon. A recent poll reported that 62% of American's didn't personally know a Muslim, so here's a list of 9 Muslim Americans you probably will know.

• Foreign Aid
  Why Egypt, of all places, is keeping a wary eye on falling oil prices.

  The budget impacts of falling oil prices could percolate down to countries that don't even export the stuff. Belt-tightening in petrostates, in other words, could curtail the generous foreign assistance that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and others have showered on Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco to keep their economies afloat and stave off the specter of unfriendly governments steeped in Islamist ideology.

• Iran Negotiations
  Endgame for Iran nuclear talks

  US officials, while not confirming the reports, have recently said there are multiple combinations of ways that Iran’s breakout time could be extended, and the focus should not only be on the centrifuge numbers in a deal. The goal, US officials said, should be a deal that closes off all possible pathways for Iran to make fissile material for a nuclear weapon, either through producing weapons-grade uranium, plutonium or through a covert facility. “We’re trying to shut down the four pathways to get enough nuclear material for a nuclear weapon,” a US official told journalists in Vienna Oct. 15. “There are a lot of ways you can do that. There’s no one right answer.”

• GCC Economies
  IMF Retains GCC Growth Forecast But Warns Of Weak Fiscal Balance

  But despite a favourable economic outlook, the IMF warned of weakening fiscal balances across GCC countries and the wider region, urging nations to address these risks. “Fiscal balances are forecast to deteriorate. Notably, Saudi Arabia is expected to run a central government fiscal deficit as early as 2015,” the report said. “In aggregate, after reaching a peak of 7.75 per cent of GDP in 2012, the oil exporters’ fiscal surplus is expected to be only 1.25 per cent in 2015 and to vanish by 2017.

• Drone Proliferation
  Look Who Else Has Drones: ISIS and Al Nusra

  In late August, ISIS released a 14-minute video of the preparation, planning, and execution of an assault on a Syrian military base in the northern part of the country. The video, entitled in English, “Disperse Those Who are Behind Them,” is like many jihadist propaganda videos: it begins with a long segment of Quranic verses that are meant to justify the attack, shows militants examining a map of the region, and contains gruesome battle scenes, including two beheadings. However, the video is of special note for one reason: ISIS employs a drone for aerial surveillance of the base.

• Mideast Stock Markets
  Markets recover further, Saudi up despite SABIC’s Q3 miss

  Saudi Arabia's index rose 1.5 percent even as shares in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the Gulf's largest listed company, fell on disappointing third-quarter results.

• Khafji Oilfield
  Kuwait says technical, not political, reasons behind oilfield closure

  A senior Kuwaiti official said on Sunday the Khafji oilfield, run jointly with Saudi Arabia, had been shut down for "purely technical and not political" reasons, state news agency KUNA reported. Crude production from the Khafji oilfield had been halted temporarily to comply with environmental rules, according to an industry source and an internal letter seen by Reuters. But the closure of the offshore field, which has an output of between 280,000 to 300,000 barrels per day, revived speculation of renewed tensions between the two countries.

• US-Saudi
  Abdullah Al-Qadi buried at Al-Baqi

  A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane brought home the body of Abdullah Al-Qadi from Los Angeles. Al-Qadi, a Saudi scholarship student, was murdered in the United States. The body was accompanied by the Saudi consular representative, as well as the eldest brother and cousin of the deceased.

• NCB IPO
  NCB IPO 18% subscribed at end of 5th day

  The initial public offering IPO of the National Commercial Bank NCB was 18 percent covered by the end of the fifth day, according to the financial advisers and lead managers GIB Capital and HSBC Saudi Arabia.

• Michael Zehaf-Bibeau
  Canada Parliament gunman aimed to go to Saudi Arabia, not Syria: mother

  "Most will call my son a terrorist," Bibeau wrote. "I don't believe he was part of an organization or acted on behalf of some grand ideology or for a political motive. I believe he acted in despair.

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