November 1st Morning Readbook

FACTBOX-How Obama's Afghan strategy is shaping up
U.S. President Barack Obama's advisers appear to be laying the ground for a hybrid war strategy combining both counterinsurgency with counterterrorism in Afghanistan that would entail a troop increase next year.


Analysis: With few options, US accepts Karzai
President Hamid Karzai's leadership is weak, his government corrupt and nearly a third of the votes he won in the August election were thrown out as fakes. But in the end, the Obama administration is sticking by the Afghan president — because it has few other good options.


Pakistan zeroes in on major Taliban bases
Pakistani forces are zeroing in on two major Taliban bases in South Waziristan region as their offensive pushes deeper into militant bastion on the Afghan border, the military said on Sunday.


Scattering of Attacks in Iraq
Though violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since 2007, many Iraqis fear an escalation before parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 16. Since the Oct. 25 attacks that killed 155 and destroyed three government buildings, authorities have arrested dozens of suspects and security officers, and critics have lashed the government for failing to provide security.


Kirkuk at the heart of Iraq election law deadlock
Iraqi politicians are dueling with new hostility over the fate of Kirkuk, the oil-rich city that both self-ruled Kurds in the north and Iraq's central government want to control. The dispute has caused a deadlock over an election law, threatening to delay Iraq's nationwide elections set for mid-January. Any vote setback could, in turn, disrupt American plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, scheduled to ramp up after the vote.


Frustrated in Iraq, U.S. troops eye Afghan action
Frustrated by their decreasing military role in Iraq as they hand over to Iraqi security forces, many U.S. soldiers are itching to join the war in Afghanistan. When they get there, though, some are shocked by the escalating violence and relatively spartan conditions.


Saudis find 'al-Qaeda' arms cache
Saudi officials say they have found a large arms cache near Riyadh, linking it to a dismantled al-Qaeda cell.


The latest news from Al Jazeera.