MUST-READS

• Women
  Permanent residency for expat mothers of Saudis

  Foreign mothers of Saudi children can now apply for permanent residency without having sponsors and regardless of whether they are married, divorced or widowed.

• Saudi Oil Production
  Saudi Oil Output Steady; OPEC Sees Lower 2015 Demand For Its Oil

  The report said Saudi Arabia reported October production to OPEC of 9.69 million bpd, little changed from 9.704 million in September. This is the last monthly report before OPEC oil ministers meet in Vienna on Nov. 27 to discuss whether to respond to the drop in prices by cutting output for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008.

• Iran and ISIS
  Opinion: In the war against ISIL, Iran is not—and will not be—a friend to the US

  Their arguments rest on the premise that Baghdadi’s Sunni-extremist hordes threaten Shia Iran as much as—and possibly more than—they do the US and more generally, the West. Surely the old adage about my-enemy’s-enemy is reason enough to join forces? And if Washington and Tehran don’t share a worldview, that’s not such an insurmountable hurdle: after all, Roosevelt and Churchill were able to work with Stalin to defeat Hitler. There are several problems with this line of argument. But let’s get the main one out of the way first: In the fight against ISIL, your enemy’s enemy is not automatically your friend.

  • Reuters - Special Report: The fighters of Iraq who answer to Iran
  • Memri - Iranian Analyst Mohammad Sadeq Al-Hosseini: Saudi Arabia Is on the Verge of Extinction; We Are the New Sultans of the Mediterranean, the Gulf, and the Red Sea
• SAGIA
  Kingdom’s doors ‘fully open for investment’

  The Kingdom is moving steadily toward reducing its reliance on petroleum as a single source for its economy. The nonoil sector reached 50 percent of GDP in 2012, with manufacturing, trade and utilities leading this growth and diversification. Both oil-based and new sectors are seeing exciting development possibilities. Our new growth sectors include health care, transportation, IT, food manufacturing and renewable energy.

• Really Big Teabag
  World’s largest tea bag tours the Kingdom

  Ahmed Mohamed Saleh Baeshen & Co. “Rabea Tea” was able to break this new world record by manufacturing the largest tea bag in history; weighing at 250 kilograms, Rabea Tea’s largest bag measures four meters in height and three meters in width, enough to prepare an astounding 100,000 cups of tea.

• Anbar Province
  U.S. troops back in Iraq’s Anbar, scene of heaviest combat of 2003-11 war

  Anbar is particularly haunting for the American military, which suffered roughly one-third of its deaths – 1,335 troops – there during the eight-year war. In addition, the province, whose primary cities are its provincial capital, Ramadi, and Fallujah, was home to some of the biggest U.S. military battles of the war. Fallujah has been under Islamic State control since January, and Ramadi is contested.

  • Reuters - Britain launches first drone strike in Iraq against Islamic State
  • Air Force Times - Islamic State threat delays delivery of F-16s to Iraq
  • Washington Post - The Pentagon's 'Nine-Brigade Gamble' on Iraq
  • Defense One - Destroying ISIS Goes Beyond Killing Its Leadership
  • The Hill - Iraq deployments on hold until Congress provides $5.6 billion
• Industrial Development
  Saudi RCJY attracts $239.78b in local investments

  The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) said that it has been able to attract a total of USD239.78 billion in investments locally for its expansion and development works in its different fields since it began working in both its Jubail Industrial city and Yanbu City, Arab News reported.

• Green Tech
  KSA green technology patents up 58%

  “The Kingdom’s annual growth of 58 percent in patents for inventions in the field of the environment is an indicator of growing awareness and the efforts of local scientists to find solutions for local environmental issues,” Al-Suwaiyel said recently during the opening of the Saudi International Conference for Environment Technology organized by the KACST in Riyadh.

• Iran Negotiations
  Iran, West hold unscheduled second day of nuclear talks

  With two weeks to a deadline for an overall agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU envoy Catherine Ashton met in Oman's capital Muscat to tackle a decade-long dispute which has raised the risk of wider conflict in the Middle East. The discussions aim to put verifiable limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment work - and any other potential path to a nuclear weapon - in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions.

• MENA Electricity
  The Middle East’s electricity woes

  Over the past decades, power generation in the Middle East has increased by around 6-8% per year, up to 5-10% in some countries. It is notable, meanwhile, that the global annual rate of power generation has only increased by around 2.5% annually. The high rates of power consumption in the region can be attributed to the following factors: the increase in population growth; steep government subsidies for electrical power, provided at a cheaper rate than the actual cost price; limited attempts to rationalize consumption; and the soaring temperatures in the summer in Gulf states.

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