MUST-READS

• Blinken Meets Saudi Crown Prince on Mideast Push for Pause in Gaza War

  Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken began a diplomatic push in the Middle East on Monday for a deal that would pause the war in the Gaza Strip and release the hostages there, even as a drone struck a military base used by American troops and allied forces in eastern Syria. Mr. Blinken, making his fifth trip to the region since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, met in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the first stop on a trip that will also include meetings in Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.

• Top US consultancies face scrutiny over role in Saudi Arabia’s sports push

  Major US consultancies who have advised Saudi Arabia on its global sports spending spree – including its proposed takeover of golf’s PGA Tour – are coming under fire in Washington for possible violations of federal disclosure laws. Four prominent consulting firms, including McKinsey, have been accused of refusing to fully comply with subpoenas for information about their work for the oil-rich kingdom by the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations. The Senate panel has been conducting an inquiry into authoritarian governments’ efforts to deploy soft power and other influence strategies in the US.

• Saudi Tourism Fund Enlists Local Bank for $346.7 Million Project

  Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund will help finance a 1.3 billion-riyal ($346.7 million) project in the holy city of Medina together with Riyad Bank, as the kingdom steps up fundraising for a key part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s program to diversify the economy. The 15 billion-riyal TDF signed an agreement with Medina-based Knowledge Economic City Co. and Public Investment Fund-backed Riyad Bank to finance a hub it called “the biggest of its kind.” TDF and Riyad Bank will each provide 391 million riyals in funding, according to a statement Thursday.

• Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund ADIA Considers Stake in Wanda Mall Unit

  Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is considering buying a minority stake in Dalian Wanda Group Co.’s mall operator, people familiar with the matter said, as the unit revamps its shareholding structure. ADIA, as the Abu Dhabi wealth fund is known, has held initial discussions over the potential stake purchase in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., the people said. ADIA may buy shares from existing holders, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

• LuLu Seeks Pitches for $1 Billion IPO in Second Half of 2024

  LuLu Group International, which operates one of the Middle East’s largest hypermarket chains, has invited banks to pitch for roles on a potential initial public offering that could raise at least $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The conglomerate is considering plans for a dual listing in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

• Saudi Arabia’s investment ministry withdraws budget data

  Saudi Arabia's investment ministry removed fiscal data from a monthly bulletin published earlier on Monday on its website that showed the kingdom would record a budget surplus in 2023. There was no fiscal data in an updated version of the report on the website. A government official told Reuters that the numbers published earlier were not based on the latest 2023 fiscal data forecasts calculated by the finance ministry and were published in error.

• Djokovic, Nadal to headline ‘Six Kings Slam’ in Saudi Arabia

  Saudi Arabia will host a new elite tennis exhibition featuring Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal with three other Grand Slam winners in October, the country's General Entertainment Authority has announced. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune will also play at the 'Six Kings Slam', which will form part of the Saudi cultural and entertainment festival Riyadh Season, organisers said. With Sinner having recently won the Australian Open, Dane Rune is the only player on the six-man roster without a Grand Slam title. Spaniard Nadal, who signed up as an ambassador for the Saudi Arabian Tennis Federation last month, said he was looking forward to the event.

• Turkey earthquake survivors struggle to rebuild their lives one year on

  Abdullah Yanar planted flowers in front of his container home to make it feel more like a real home for his family, who have been living in temporary shelters in southern Turkey since last year's devastating earthquake. The 7.8-magnitude quake that struck last February, modern Turkey's deadliest, killed several of Yanar's relatives and damaged his apartment, forcing him and his wife, daughter and son to move first into a tent then to one container home after another.

• Saudi Arabia pushes for US defense pact as 2024 presidential election looms

  To create some wiggle room in talks about recognizing Israel and to get the U.S. pact back on track, Saudi officials have told their U.S. counterparts that Riyadh would not insist Israel take concrete steps to create a Palestinian state and would instead accept a political commitment to a two-state solution, two senior regional sources told Reuters.

• Turkey Names Fatih Karahan Central Bank Chief, Hafize Gaye Erkan Resigns

  Turkey’s central bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan abruptly resigned late Friday night, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly appointed Deputy Governor Fatih Karahan to replace her, signaling a continuation of the transition to more investor-friendly, orthodox economic policies that Erkan helped to spearhead. Karahan has been a member of the central bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee since July, and had previously worked at the New York Fed and as a principal economist at Amazon.com, according to his biography on the central bank website. Prior to the announcement, Bloomberg reported that he was being considered for the central bank’s top job. Erdogan’s decision was published in the Official Gazette at midnight.

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