Gulf

1. Kuwait reforms rewarded
2. Bahrain in the doldrums
3. Gulf tops safety index
4. Abu Dhabi’s Adriatic resort
5. Qatar’s charity telethon

Kuwaiti official accused of fixing raffles.

Kuwait’s reform fuel its revival

There’s optimism in Kuwait, buoyed by a sweeping legal and regulatory overhaul since Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad dissolved Parliament in May. Stocks are up 10% this year, the sovereign wealth fund has surpassed the $1 trillion mark in assets under management, and crucial economic laws — debated for decades — are being enacted. Investors seem to be betting that autocracy might deliver what nascent democratic institutions couldn’t: stable growth.

This week, Kuwait passed a debt law allowing it to raise up to $97 billion over 50 years — an important tool as it expects fiscal deficits to continue after two years of contraction. Bank stocks also got a boost on expectations that mortgage lending will finally be allowed. Until now, home loans weren’t offered by banks: Married citizens applied to a government program that has a backlog of 103,000 requests, translating to a 10-year wait, according to Bloomberg.

Critics warn, however, of an erosion of freedoms. Human rights groups say political opponents are being swept up in a purge targeting 42,000 Kuwaitis accused of obtaining nationality illegally.

Bahrain faces economic reckoning

The price per square meter for office space in Bahrain. It’s a relative bargain, half of what the same workspace would cost in Jeddah and a third of the price in Abu Dhabi, according to real estate services firm Savills Middle East. Weak demand belies broader ills: “Bahrain is facing a series of unenviable choices,” wrote AGBI editor-in-chief James Drummond. The government is mulling new levies as debt has surged past 130% of GDP. A tax on companies’ carbon emissions — the first of its kind in the Gulf — is on the table, as are new corporate taxes and so-called “sin” taxes on energy drinks and tobacco.

The proposed levies come after a blockbuster merger between Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the country’s champions, and Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden was called off this year. “The talk in Manama is that it fell through over the valuation of Alba — ie, the Saudis were not prepared to pay enough. Others say it may be that the UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium is interested in the smelter,” Drummond wrote.

Survey says: the Gulf is safe

The UAE, Qatar, and Oman are among the top 5 safest countries in the world, according to a new crowdsourced survey. Saudi Arabia was the 14th safest place in the world — climbing from 26th last year, while Kuwait had the lowest ranking in the Gulf at 38th overall. The survey by Numbeo, an online database that tracks cost of living and quality of life around the world, amounts to a vibe check, asking visitors to its website for how safe they feel where they live and in countries they’ve visited, and perceived levels of crime. Official crime and safety indexes also suffer from bias such as underreporting or exclusion. Numbeo says its crowdsourcing method is a more transparent and accessible way to gather data.

Alabbar eyes Montenegro next

Mohamed Alabbar — the Dubai billionaire behind Emaar Properties and the Burj Khalifa — has Montenegro in his sights. Under a new five-year economic agreement that will see the Balkan country welcome Emirati investment for two new tourism hubs, his Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills Properties has submitted the highest bids for leases on a stretch of southern coastline.

Locals are pushing back on leasing the project to a foreign company. This wouldn’t be the first time Alabbar has met with resistance: A plan to develop a district in Budapest — dubbed “mini Dubai” — was shelved after the city council bought the land and earmarked it for affordable housing instead. Alabbar, a key figure in the UAE’s global real estate expansion, recently partnered with Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners on a luxury project in Belgrade and has a $6 billion development underway in Tbilisi, Georgia.

$60 million raised for Gaza, Syria

Charity is big during Ramadan, and in recent years, fundraising has shifted to telethons. On Wednesday, Qatar TV hosted Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent Society to raise funds for food, shelter, medical care, and reconstruction in Gaza and Syria. More than 220 million riyals ($60 million) was raised in just three hours, including 30 million riyals from a single donor. Islamic clerics joined the broadcast to encourage giving and discussed projects like repairing 500 apartments in Gaza and 1,500 buildings in Syria.

Finance

• Seviora, a unit of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, is opening an office in Abu Dhabi Global Market, its first in the Middle East. The move by the $54 billion asset manager follows a co-investment agreement signed with Mubadala a few months ago.

People

• Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has tapped Saif Saeed Ghobash to chair the Crown Prince’s Court. Ghobash will remain as secretary-general of Abu Dhabi Executive Council and on the board of Mubadala.

Religious tourism

• The Grand Mosque in Mecca welcomed 4.2 million worshippers on Wednesday, setting a new record for Islam’s holiest site. Laylat Al-Qadr — the Night of Power, believed to fall on the eve of 27th day of Ramadan — is considered more spiritually rewarding than a thousand months of worship. — Arab News

One woman’s streak of four luxury car wins in Kuwaiti televised raffles was too good to be true. Videos show a government official running the draws with an approach we will charitably call… unorthodox. He allegedly slipped the winning tickets from his sleeve after clumsily shaking off a pile of others.

The Ya Hala Kuwait Shopping Festival, which organized the raffle, has paused draws while authorities investigate a three-year scam allegedly involving up to 20 people. The raffle should have been beyond reproach: It was overseen by the so-called Permanent Committee for Celebrating National Holidays and Occasions and staffed by Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Trade officials. A deputy minister offered his resignation.

Donald Trump has famously traded on the phrase, “you’re fired.” 

But he’s held off on that remark in his White House this time — even for things that might have led to sackings during his first term, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett report.

Trump ally Steve Bannon believes the president has learned some lessons since then, describing a “no scalps policy” that’s in part fueled by the ghosts of term one. Trump is partly reluctant to fire folks — even Mike Waltz, who’s at the center of the Signal drama — because he doesn’t want to be seen as giving opponents a win.