MUST-READS

• Afghanistan
  The Capabilities of the Afghan Military Are Suddenly a Secret

  For years, American taxpayers have been able to chart how well the Afghanistan security forces they’re funding are faring, because “capability assessments” detailing their progress have been routinely released. MORE Hagel Orders 21-Day Ebola Quarantine for Returning U.S. Troops What the Failure of ISIS to Take Kobani Means Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I'm Proud to Be Gay' NBC News Brrrrr-ace Yourself: Arctic Blast Set to Chill Millions NBC News Did Race Play a Role in Sayreville Hazing Case? NBC News Not anymore. POPULAR AMONG SUBSCRIBERS The War on Teacher Tenure Subscribe 12 Answers to Ebola’s Hard Questions Why Kobani Matters As the U.S. military prepares to withdraw most of its 34,000 troops still in Afghanistan by the end of this year, the American-led command there has suddenly made such information secret.

• Financing
  Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh Said to Seek $8 Billion Funding

  A joint venture of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. (4005) is seeking about $8 billion of loans to fund expansion, two people familiar with the plan said.

• Gulf Arab Capital Outflows
  Gulf Arab states saw $780 mln in fund outflows due to Fed taper-IMF

  Capital outflows from Gulf Arab states have totalled only about $780 million since the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled its plan to wind down asset purchases in May last year, a small fraction of the money leaving other emerging markets, according to a study by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF study, published on Monday, appears to confirm that because of their large current account and state budget surpluses, the Gulf oil exporters are seen by international investors as better equipped to handle a period of rising interest rates than most areas of the world.

• Extremism
  Opinion: Stop these preachers of hate!

  Sadly over the past 25 years extremism in all its ugly forms has spread in every strata of society. These self-appointed guardians of religion have become a “state within a state”. They have infiltrated all professions and many of us have tolerated them thinking it was a passing phase that posed no serious harm. Today, we are paying a serious price for having neglected to address what was clearly a recipe for disaster. We have allowed these agents of obscurantism and perverted ideology to spread like cancer. We cannot continue to be passive bystanders any longer.  We should speak louder with our own narrative. They have hijacked our religion and preyed upon the minds of our innocent youth.

• Syrian Kurds
  Meet America’s newest allies: Syria’s Kurdish minority

  But as much of the rest of Syria ripped itself apart in a vicious civil war, Syria's Kurdish minority spent three years quietly building a series of mini-states in the north of the country. They refer to these three enclaves as Rojava. Until recently, some outside observers saw them as something of a success.

• Saudi-Egypt
  Masked men burn 2 Saudi Arabia consulate cars in Egypt

  Masked men set fire to two cars belonging to the consulate of Saudi Arabia in the Egyptian city of Suez on Friday morning, local security sources and the state news agency reported.

• Cost of Anti-ISIS Campaign
  Pentagon: ISIS campaign costing $8.3M per day

  The Pentagon on Monday raised its cost estimate of the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to $8.3 million per day. The new daily estimate would bring the total cost of the war, between Aug. 8 and Oct. 16, to $580 million, according to Reuters.

  • Daily Beast - The Secret Life of an ISIS Warlord
• Israeli Settlements
  Israel advances building plans in east Jerusalem

  The housing announcement could flare already soaring tensions in east Jerusalem, which has been the scene of violent unrest for months, including near-nightly clashes between police and Palestinian youths who have thrown rocks, firecrackers and sometimes fire bombs at passing vehicles and at Israelis living nearby.

• William Burns
  Exit Interview: William J. Burns – Video

  ay, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State William J. Burns retires after one of the most distinguished tenures as a career foreign service officer in memory. Only the second career diplomat in history to ascend to the No. 2 job at the State Department, he served during over three decades as undersecretary of state for political affairs, ambassador to Russia, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, and ambassador to Jordan. He has also worked as a senior director on the National Security Council staff, as executive secretary to Secretaries of State Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright, and has won an array of departmental awards in recognition of his service.

• Demographics
  Understanding Saudi demography

  Many Saudi-related issues came under discussion but to me the most important was about Saudi demographics because it is one of the most important reasons behind unemployment in the Kingdom.

  • SUSRIS - C3 Arab-US Business Summit and Saudi-US Commerce – Wilson
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