MUST-READS

• Cyber Attacks
  Report: Iran Hackers Infiltrated Airlines, Energy, Defense Firms

  An Iranian hacker group has breached airlines, energy companies, defense firms and even the US Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, according to the US cyber security firm Cylance. The firm says these attacks — dubbed Operation Cleaver — showcase a dangerous leap forward in Tehran’s cyber skills as it seeks to retaliate against Western cyber attacks on its nuclear program. The goal of these attacks was apparently infiltration and information gathering, with motives beyond intellectual property theft.

• Women Driving
  Human Rights Watch urges Saudi to free women held in driving case

  During October, dozens of women drove in the kingdom and posted images of themselves doing so as part of an online campaign supporting the right to drive. In response, the interior ministry said it would "strictly implement" measures against anyone undermining "the social cohesion". Activists say it is not actually against the law for women to drive and that the ban is linked to tradition and custom in the kingdom.

  • Human Rights Watch - Saudi Arabia: Release Women Driving Activists
• Society
  Video: Behind-the-scenes look at life for Saudi women

  Saudi Arabia is clearly changing. There are now more women than men graduating from university, and the government is encouraging them to join the workforce. We met countless professional Saudi women who - despite a legal system that treats them as less-than-full citizens - occupy powerful positions in government and private companies.

• Bab Al-Mandeb
  Houthis’ advance threatens Red Sea countries

  Regarding the possibility of Egypt engaging in a war against the Houthis in the event that they pose a threat on the Red Sea region and the new Suez Canal project, security expert and founder of the International Terrorism Association, Gen. Rida Yacoub, told Al-Monitor, “This war may not be a direct military one, as is the case currently in the Sinai [Peninsula] between Egyptian forces and terrorist groups. It will be an indirect war between Egypt and the Houthis, through the support of the Yemeni army that will provide plans, ideas and intelligence data. It will also supply [Egypt] with the necessary equipment and techniques to get rid of the Houthis.”

• ISIS Origins
  The Islamic State: From al-Qaeda Affiliate to Caliphate

  There has been a scramble by policy makers, militaries, intelligence officials and journalists from around the globe to understand the ISIS phenomenon, resulting in a profusion of unverified and contradictory information.* This study, drawing from a multitude of open sources, seeks to provide a concise overview of the origins, ideology, goals and military operations of ISIS in Iraq and Syria from 2003 to the present in order to help governments understand and deal with this phenomenon.

  • Doha Brookings - Profiling the Islamic State
  • Lobelog - The ISIS Phenomenon: How Does It End?
• U.S. Air Campaign Against ISIS
  Raqqa, Syria, is new target for coalition airstrikes

  The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria has stepped up its attacks on the militant Islamist group's de facto capital, with 30 airstrikes targeting Raqqa overnight, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday.

  • Washington Post - U.S. Will Use Psych Evaluations, Stress Tests to Screen Syrian Rebels for Training
• Contracting
  Saudi builder Khodari hires advisor for $133m rights issue

  Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Abdul Mohsin al-Khodari and Sons has appointed GIB Capital to manage its proposed 500 million riyal ($133.2 million) capital hike, it said in a statement on Sunday.

• Labor
  Making the private sector attractive for Saudis

  The Ministry of Labor is looking into the possibility of creating an attractive work environment for Saudis in the private sector, similar to the government sector with regard to wages, working hours and two-day weekends with the aim to discourage them from changing jobs frequently.

• Anti-ISIS Strategy
  Could Hagel resignation signal shift in US strategy against Islamic State? (+video)

  “There is no connection between the secretary’s resignation announced yesterday and the strategy that we’re pursuing against ISIL in Iraq and Syria – no connection whatsoever,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a briefing Tuesday with reporters. “I wouldn’t draw from one any kind of conclusions or changes to the other.”

  • Daily Beast - U.S. Hasn't Even Started Training Rebel Army to Fight ISIS
  • Reuters - Russia's New Push for Syria Dialogue Unlikely to Be Fruitful
  • McClatchy - Key provincial capital in Iraq may be about to fall to Islamic State
  • TPM - Clemons: Hagel Deeply Frustrated By Obama Team's Lack Of Discipline
  • AP - Iraq to overhaul Baghdad security to stop bombings
• National Society for Human Rights
  Anger boils over ‘no single women’ signs at restaurants

  The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has asked a number of restaurants to take down signs banning the entry of women who are unaccompanied by their male guardians, Al-Hayat daily reported. In a statement, the NSHR described these signs as illegal and said should be removed immediately because they were put up at the request of their owners, not the authorities.

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