MUST-READS

• Why Egypt Didn’t Profit From Peace With Israel As the UAE Will

  For those with a long memory, this all sounds very familiar. Egypt’s 1979 treaty with Israel was also attended by questions over weapons purchases. Indeed, President Anwar Sadat’s decision to make peace helped pave Egyptian access to American arms and military aid after he had downgraded ties with the Soviet Union and expelled Soviet military advisors. The two deals have something else in common: They have reduced pressure for a peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

• Lebanon: Huge fire breaks out at Beirut port

  A warehouse at Beirut port caught fire on Thursday, sending plumes of black smoke into the air and spurring panic among residents. "A fire broke out at a warehouse for oils and tires at the Free Zone of Beirut's Port, and operations to extinguish it have begun; army helicopters will take part in extinguishing it," the army said in a statement. Live footage showed one helicopter flying to the area with a water container underneath.

  • CNN - Beirut port ablaze, weeks after massive blast
• Why not add Israel to this year’s US-UAE Iron Union exercise?

  Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached an historic agreement last month, making the UAE only the third Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state. Washington and Jerusalem hope that other Arab states will follow the UAE’s example and extend the olive branch to Israel too. But that may depend, in part, on whether the U.S. and Israel act quickly to demonstrate tangible benefits for the UAE in taking this step toward lasting peace. To be sure, peace should be its own reward.

  • AP - Congress questions sale of US residence in Israel to Trump donor Adelson
• Covid-19 Interrupts Flow of Foreign Students to U.S. Colleges

  Since 2016, the U.S. has been seeing declines in the number of new foreign students coming to study at colleges and universities here. Likely culprits include currency fluctuations, stronger competition from other English-speaking countries, big cutbacks to Saudi Arabia’s once-huge study-abroad program and, yes, the foreigner-unfriendly policies and rhetoric of President Donald Trump.

• Middle East funds eye stakes in retail arm of India’s Reliance, FT reports

  Middle East sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), are in talks to buy stakes in the retail arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. ADIA is in discussions to invest about $750 million at a valuation of roughly $57 billion, while PIF could funnel as much as $1.5 billion into Reliance Retail, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter.

• Progress in resolving Gulf Arab rift could come within weeks, U.S. official says

  There could be some progress within weeks in resolving a three year-long rift between Gulf Arab states, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday, citing signs of “flexibility” in negotiations. David Schenker, the department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, was quick to urge caution however, because there hasn’t been any fundamental shift in talks that would quickly lead to a resolution.

• Saudi Arabia King Salman and German Chancellor Merkel discuss G20 over the phone: SPA

  Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz called German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed the G20 efforts to overcome the coronavirus pandemic consequences, the state news agency reported on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia is the current G20 chair.

• Saudi finance minister rejects IMF prediction of economic gloom

  The Fund’s gloomy forecast for the Kingdom has been criticized before by senior officials. The IMF significantly downgraded Saudi growth prospects in its last World Outlook Forecast in June, from a 2.3 per cent decline to 6.8 per cent as the fall in oil revenue and the COVID pandemic hit the economy.

• Yemen Houthis say they attacked ‘important target’ in Riyadh with missile, drones

  Yemen’s Houthis said they had attacked an “important target” in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday using a ballistic missile and drones. The Saudi-led coalition, which has been at war with the Iran-aligned group since 2015, did not immediately confirm the attacks.

• Lucid Air, Saudi-backed Tesla rival’s first car revealed

  Lucid Motors, an upstart EV brand backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund has revealed its first production electric vehicle, the Lucid Air. The brand, headquartered in Silicon Valley much like Elon Musk’s pioneering brand, seeks to challenge Tesla’s line-up of luxury EVs with the new Air saloon.

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