MUST-READS

• Top Pompeo aides face U.S. House Democrats over Saudi weapons, official’s firing

  His firing was one of a series of Trump’s dismissals of officials responsible for preventing fraud and abuse at government agencies. The firings prompted concern among members of Congress, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, over whether Trump was interfering with legitimate oversight.

• Debt Maturities Loom As Gulf States Sell More Bonds

  High sovereign debt levels in Gulf Arab states are neither unprecedented nor necessarily unmanageable. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the ratio of the small Gulf Arab state’s central government debt to gross domestic product soared to 151%. Saudi Arabia’s debt-to-GDP ratio reached approximately 103% in 1999 but dropped to 1.56% in 2014.

  • Reuters - Gulf's fiscal diet risks deeper pain amid oil price uncertainty
• Trump Says He Wanted To Assassinate Syria’s Assad

  “I would have rather taken him out. I had him all set. Mattis didn't want to do it," Trump said in an interview on “Fox and Friends,” referring to then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. "Mattis was against most of that stuff."

• Opinion: Stumbling Out of the Middle East is No Better Than Stumbling In

  For the United States, the answer is to advance its broad interests in the region beyond the military links that have driven much of U.S. engagement for decades. That means enhancing economic and educational ties to draw the region closer to the United States. It means boosting efforts to promote local, bottom-up solutions to national challenges, and increasing partners’ receptivity to those solutions.

• U.S. Image Plummets Internationally as Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly

  As a new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey illustrates, America’s reputation has declined further over the past year among many key allies and partners. In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the U.S. is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago.

  • Washington Post - The U.S.’s global standing plummets, while Americans yearn for a restoration
• Two Gulf nations will recognize Israel at the White House. Here’s what’s in it for all sides

  Like the UAE, Bahrain also had covert ties with Israel stretching back years. In addition, Bahrain has a small but sustained Jewish community, with one of its members serving as the country's ambassador to the United States from 2008-2013.

  • BBC - Perspective: Five reasons why Israel's peace deals with the UAE and Bahrain matter
  • Reuters - As Arab Gulf starts opening to Israel, Palestinians face a reckoning
  • Bloomberg - Qatar Rules Out Establishing Ties With Israel, Official Says
• Libyan Prime Minister Sarraj to Resign Soon, Officials Say

  Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj plans to announce his resignation soon but will stay on in a caretaker capacity through negotiations for a new government in Geneva next month, according to officials familiar with his thinking. With Turkey’s help, the internationally recognized premier, whose government controls only parts of western Libya, in June quashed a yearlong offensive on the capital by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. But Tripoli has since descended into political infighting, and Sarraj has also faced pressure from a protest movement against corruption and poor services.

• Saudi Arabia to export up to 15,000 tonnes of fish after Russia deal

  The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has confirmed the approval of the Russian authorities for the entry of three Saudi aquaculture companies into the Russian market, local media reported. Saudi Arabia is is expected to export about 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of fish and shrimp, worth 293 million riyals annually, according to the report.

• SABB wins ‘Saudi Arabia’s Best Bank 2020’ award

  SABB has led the industry with a series of successes in recent months, including the issuance of a SR5 billion ($1.33 billion) Tier II sukuk, the joint largest in Saudi history and first transaction of the merged bank in the debt capital markets. Also this month, SABB’s Waafer savings account was voted “Product of the Year.” Waafer was launched last year as an alternative to traditional savings accounts.

• Saudi August inflation jumps to 6.2% on VAT increase

  Food and transport were major contributors to the increase, rising by 13.5% and 8.2% respectively. Tobacco prices jumped 13% while prices at restaurants and hotels rose 7.7% from their level a year ago, the General Authority for Statistics said.

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