This is my second monthly selection of news, reports, and articles covering  the Middle East (except Egypt). I hope you find useful.

Main Headlines

 Iran

• Iran FM Zarif outlines ideas to exit nuclear dispute
• Hard bargaining in Geneva on Iran nuclear deal
• Breakthrough deal curbs Iran’s nuclear activity
• Nuclear deal seen reducing bomb risk despite Israeli criticism
• Region will lose sleep over Iran deal: Saudi advisor
• Gulf states urge Iran to cooperate fully on nuclear deal
• Iran sees nuclear deal implementation starting by early January
• Iran says to continue building at Arak nuclear site despite deal
• Iran hardliners mark 1979 hostage crisis
• Iran Revolutionary Guards commander killed in Syria
• Iran parliament threatens to remove Rouhani’s science minister
• FIFA chief urges Iran to admit women to stadiums
• Iran unveils Sayyad-2 missile production line
• Iran’s deputy minister of industries shot dead in Tehran
• Iran to ban morality police from targeting women
• Iran’s Khamenei calls Israel “a rabid dog” in the region
• Rouhani delivers optimistic 100-day progress report
• Iran’s female musicians hope for more freedom under Hassan Rouhani

Turkey

• Turkey is going through a period of normalization: PM Erdoğan
• Turkish PM backs single-sex dorms
• Student housing controversy causes rift in rift in Turkish ruling AK party
• Prep school draft likely to come to parliament in January
• Islamic scholar Gulen urges Hizmet members to defend prep schools in civilized way
• Turkish PM aims to end mixed sex education: Main opposition leader
• Turkey commemorates 75th anniversary of Ataturk death
• Turkey’s Kemalists see secularist legacy under threat
• Kurds protest against wall along Turkey’s border with Syria
• Turkish military very unhappy with the Chinese missiles
• Erdogan: Turkey fights al-Qaeda like it fights the PKK
• Turkey’s Online “halal” sex shop draws ridicule, and criticism –
• Gulen says he would free coup convicts if he had the means
• Turkish parliament committee gives up on new constitution
• Turkish intelligence wiretapped journalists with PM’s approval

 Israel/Palestine

• Iran nuclear deal currently being negotiated in Geneva would be historic mistake, Israeli PM
• Obama calls Netanyahu after criticism of Iran nuclear plan
• Israeli leaders insist the Iran agreement is a ‘bad deal’
• France assures Israel it will stand firm on Iran deal
• Netanyahu calls on Abbas to address Israeli parliament
• Kerry: Israeli settlements are illegitimate
• Netanyahu halts plans to build 24,ooo more settler homes
• Israel agrees to recognize EU ban  on funding institutions in settlements
• Israel’s Livni pushing for civil union law
• Former Israeli FM Lieberman acquitted of fraud charges
• EBay removes Holocaust memorabilia listings
• Evidence supports Arafat poisoning theory
• Israel says, it did not poison Arafat
• Shin Bet shuts down 2 Hamas’s offices in East Jerusalem
• Dahlan-Abbas reconciliation, no certain fix for Fatah’s rift
• Tamarod protest fails in Gaza
• PA security forces continue crime crackdown in Area C village
• Sewage floods Gaza’s streets as lack of fuel plunges strip into darkness
• Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat: Israel is destroying the peace process
• Human tragedy unfolds as Gaza runs empty

 Syria

• U.S., and Russia fail to agree on Syria peace talks date
• Syria Kurds expelled Jihadists from border area with Turkey
• Syrian army breaks rebel hold on southern Damascus suburbs
• Syrian opposition group backs out of talks with government officials
• Al-Qaeda reshuffles command of Syria operations
• Kurds declare an interim administration in northern Syria
• Assad’s forces make further gains around Damascus
• Poisonous rivalries between commanders end in defeat for the Free Syrian Army
• Assad’s forces advance in northern Syria towards Aleppo
• Syrian PM, visiting ally Iran, says government winning civil war
• Chemical watchdog says U.S. to destroy Syria weapon stockpile at sea:

 Lebanon

• Jumblatt sends conciliatory letter to Assad.
• Jumblatt says ties with Arslan help protect Syria’s Druze community
• Pro-Assad Ali Eid summonsed to appear in court
• Director says won’t apologize for Nasrallah skit
• Pro-Hezbollah Tripoli Sheikh shot dead shot dead
• Nasrallah: Understanding between Iran and West, or regional war
• Suicide bombing kill 23 near Iranian embassy in Beirut
• Lebanese Officials from across political spectrum slam embassy blasts
• Iran and Hezbollah refuse retaliation after deadly suicide attacks in Beirut
• Six dead in sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s Tripoli

Libya/Tunisia

• At least 27 killed, 230 injured in Tripoli clashes
• Women-friendly cafe bombed in Benghazi
• Libyan air force locates 48 migrants in the desert
• Libya warns against buying oil from militias
• Libya ex-rebels lift blockade of oil refinery
• Top intelligence chief abducted in Libya
• Tunisian protests by Islamist and Secular groups delay talks on Constitution
• Tunisia ruling Islamists, opposition deadlocked over PM
• Tunisia signs $500 million loan deal with Qatar
• Tunisia suspended from Davis Cup for shunning Israeli tennis player
• Sugar dolls: the new target of Tunisia’s religious hardliners
• Environmental crimes run rampant in Tunisia

 Gulf states

• Bahrain summons head of Shi’ite opposition for questioning
• Pakistan rejects BBC story alleging nuclear sales with Saudi Arabia
• UN urges Qatar to improve migrant labor conditions
• Al-Qaeda-linked rebels apologize after cutting-off head of wrong person
• Sunday Times: Israel, and Saudi Arabia are cooperating to plan possible Iran attack
• UAE man “jailed for trial tweet”
• Qatar stadium design critics: “It look like a vagina”
• Qatar announces third MERS death
• Bahrain court upholds jail terms for 17 Shiites
• Kuwaiti officials deny funds from Kuwait flow to Syria
• Saudi Arabia describes Iran nuclear deal as possible “initial step.”
• U.S. arms maker Raytheon Co. in final talks on Qatar patriot deal
• Thousands rally to demand a return of independence of South Yemen 

 Iraq

• Iraq’s violent year shows no signs of slowing
• Iraq keeps eye on Kurd-Jihadist battle in Syria
• Iraq’s Kurdish region pursues ties with Turkey
• Wave of bombing in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad kill dozens
• Iraqi oil sales recover from lows, but still below peak

Jordan

• Jordan has selected Russia to build the country’s nuclear plant
• Iran deal to have positive impact on Jordan’s fuel market
• Fate of Jordan’s Security Council bid to be decided on Dec 6
• Two pro-Assad Jordanian delegates injured in Syrian blast

 Algeria

• Algeria’s Bouteflika nominated for 4th term
• Two Guantanamo prisoners refuse release to Algeria

Mauritania

Islamists poised to win seats in the Mauritanian elections

Reports:

The Iranian Nuclear deal:

• Iran’s nuclear activities from 1957 to today
• US-Iran timeline since 1979
• Key points of Iran nuclear deal
• The science at the heart of the Iranian nuclear talks. Max Fisher
• Fact Check: A look at Israel’s claims about Iran’s nuclear program. Brian Murphy. AP

 Other Reports

• Out of Syria, and into a European Maze. Jim Yardley
• Tunisia’s borders: Jihadism and Contraband. Crisis group
• Tunisia stumbles to democracy in a troubled neighborhood. Reuters
• Iran’s nuclear deal: Israel heads for a terrifying split .The Economist
• Hamas is creating its own new, controversial textbooks.  Fares Akram and Judi Rudoren
• Inside Syrian town living under Al-Qaeda. CNN
• Far from Qatar’s bling, foreign workers say they’re living a nightmare. Abigail Hauslohner
• Kiss sparks a debate in Iraqi Kurdistan

Good Read

• The price of smart power. Susan Glasser
• Rouhani’s  Gorbachev Moment. Stephen Kotkin
• Why the Iran deal scares Saudi Arabia. Gregory Gause
• Tunisia’s terms of abuse. Asma Ghribi
• US and Saudis in growing rift as power shifts. Robert Worth
• Turkey: Hello, I must be going. Steven Cook
• Erdogan’s illiberal democracy. Mustafa Akyol
• The Entrepreneurs of cynical sectarianism. Marc Lynch
• A strange kind of victory. Michael Weiss
• Turkey and the U.S. – Hearing but not listening. Michael Koplow
• The hidden cost of the Iranian nuclear deal. Michael Doran
• To reach Iran deal, secret diplomacy that worked. David Ignatius
• Iran Is Playing Obama, says savvy Saudi Prince . Jeffrey Goldberg
• The AKP, Gulen and Feb. 28 coup. Ihsan Yilmaz
• Why hawks should love the #Iran Deal the Iran deal. David RothKopf
• Turkey finds a new solution to Kurdish Independence. Hussein Ibish

Photo Gallery

• Snipers’ life in Aleppo. Stanley Greene

Poll

• Reuters/ Ipsos survey: Americans support Iran deal by 2-to-1 margin
• ABC poll: Wide support for nuclear agreement
• Muslim Holiday of Ashura brings into focus Shia-Sunni differences. Pew Research

Documentary

• Syria: Iran’s secret army. BBC
• British nationals fight with Al-Qaeda in Syria. VICE