MUST-READS

• Private Sector Growth
  Saudi private sector growth hits 3 year high in August

  Saudi Arabia's non-oil business activity grew in August at its fastest pace in more than three years, as rises in output, new orders and employment all gained momentum, a new survey has showed. The seasonally adjusted SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers Index rose to 60.7 points last month - the highest level since July 2011 - from 60.1 points in the previous month. Any reading above 50 points indicates expansion; anything below, contraction.

• Khamenei
  Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei has prostate surgery

  The Ayatollah's appearance on TV before the surgery and announcement of the news by himself is a clear change of approach. Either he knows that the critical situation in Iran and the region cannot bear another rumour of his death, or he has decided to be more open about his personal life, our reporter adds.

  • Huffington Post - Sports Diplomacy With Iran: Breaking Barriers, Bridging Differences
• Counter-Terrorism
  Top Saudi cleric urges Muslims to fight IS militants

  Saudi Arabia's top cleric has urged Muslims to confront the "oppressive" Islamic State militant group if it fights Muslims after seizing swathes of Iraq and Syria, media reports said Sunday (Sep 7).

  • Gulf News - Five female militants face trial in Saudi Arabia
• Islamic State
  Sunni Tribes Join Iraqi Forces in Battle Backed by U.S. Airstrikes

  Sunni tribes joined forces with Iraq's Shiite-dominated military, backed by U.S. airstrikes, in a coordinated assault on insurgents, an operation hailed by Iraqi politicians as a model for the cooperation needed to defeat Sunni extremists. The Sunni tribes had been fighting Islamic State militants for months around the town of Haditha, where a strategic dam is located. But they only succeeding in beating back the fighters...

  • WSJ - U.S. Launches Airstrikes in Haditha, Expanding Iraqi Bombing Campaign
  • New York Magazine - Meet the Female Recruiters of ISIS
  • Guardian - Obama says he will outline Isis strategy in speech on Wednesday
  • Juan Cole Blog - Top 5 Signs the US is de facto allied with Iran versus ISIL
  • AP - Arab League chief: Confront Islamic State group
• Saudi GDP
  How Big Is the Saudi Economy? Does the World Bank Know?

  The Bank (2012) now estimates the total size of the Saudi economy at $1,462 billion, yet as recently as 2010—if the data table posted to the left is accurate—it had assessed it instead at a mere $593 billion. As of 2013, both the IMF and the CIA provide figures that are closer to the World Bank’s earlier estimation than to its current figure ($937 billion US and $928 billion respectively).

• Iran Talks
  Iran nuclear talks to resume Sept. 18

  Plans to resume talks come as the parties seek to reach a comprehensive Iran nuclear accord by the extended deadline of Nov. 24, after failure to reach a deal in July. While the talks in New York are expected to convene at the political director level, foreign ministers from the P5+1 and Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are also expected to meet together in New York during the UNGA events, officials said.

• Islamic State
  At last, some good news in the fight against the Islamic State

  The Mosul dam, a vital asset, has been wrested back from IS control. In Amerli, a small town where residents held out against an IS onslaught for weeks on end, the siege has been broken. In both instances, Iraqi forces—regular and irregular—were backed by American air support. And now, Iraqi soldiers are advancing on Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, where IS has for several weeks seemed solidly entrenched. Caution is appropriate, caveats necessary—and I will come to those. But small as they may appear, these victories are of vital importance, for several reasons.

  • Washington Post - Rise of Islamic State tests GOP anti-interventionists
  • CSM - What has been the impact of US airstrikes on the Islamic State?
  • AP - Global drive to stop jihadis going to Syria, Iraq
  • Reuters - In Northeast Syria, ISIS Builds a Government
  • Guardian - ISIS Not Comparable to al-Qaida Pre-9/11, U.S. Intelligence Officials Say
  • National Journal - Chuck Hagel: The U.S. Isn't Trying to Contain ISIS. It's Trying to Destroy It.
• Saudis Abroad
  Opinion: Punish Saudis who misbehave abroad

• Yemen
  Yemen president dismisses government to end stand-off

  Yemen's president has dismissed his government and promised to review fuel subsidy cuts in a bid to end a stand-off with Zaidi Shia rebels. Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi would name a new prime minister to form a national unity administration, state media reported. However, the initiative was rejected by the rebels, who are known as Houthis.

• Norway Model
  Opinion: Saudi energy experts, read my lips

  Oil and gas is very important for Saudi Arabia and now we are simply burning it to cool our homes and buildings and we subsidize many strategic commodities such as electricity, fuel at the pump and the highly expensive desalinated water. In Norway, they pay ten times what we pay at the gas pump. At the end, Saudi energy experts, please read my lips. Look at Norway and do it their way. Oil will not be here forever and we have future generations to look after.

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