Al-Monitor Daily Briefing: How Khashoggi’s disappearance is upending the $50 million Gulf lobby

[logo]( [fb_icon]( [twitter_icon]( EDITOR'S PICKS Wednesday, October 17 | Daily Briefing [editor_pic]( 1 [How Khashoggi’s disappearance is upending the $50 million Gulf lobby]( Saudi Arabia’s alleged murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi is causing it to hemorrhage Washington lobbyists. Turkey 2 [Is Erdogan aiming to end Turkey’s dream of EU membership?]( Calling for a referendum on whether Ankara should end its bid for EU membership could shore up domestic political support for Erdogan ahead of crucial local elections in March 2019. Iran 3 [IRGC masses troops on Iraq border amid rising tensions with Kurdish groups]( The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is beefing up its control of Iran’s border with Iraqi Kurdistan a month after its missile strike on the headquarters of the main armed Iranian Kurdish opposition group. Israel 4 [Liberman pushes for Hebron construction as party numbers flag]( Yisrael Beitenu's grim polling is prodding Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman further into dangerous militancy and allegiance to far-right nationalist interests. Palestine 5 [Why Palestinians put money in banks instead of investing]( The Palestinian Monetary Authority recently announced that customer deposits in local banks have reached $12.2 billion, a large amount that some economists question, given the deteriorating economy in the Palestinian territories. 6 [Tunisia’s bold move to end racial discrimination]( Activists hailed the Tunisian parliament’s recent approval of a law criminalizing racial discrimination, although they believe the road is still long to completely eliminate racism that is deeply rooted in Tunisian society. Palestine 7 [Liberman halts Qatar's $60 million fuel flow to Gaza Strip]( Qatar's efforts to supply the fuel-starved Gaza Strip with diesel oil have been stymied, at least temporarily. Egypt 8 [Young Egyptian engineers race ahead in electric vehicles]( Nine teams of Egyptian engineering students qualified for a mentorship program and funding to build their own designs and compete in Egypt's first electric vehicle competition. STAY CONNECTED [fb_icon_footer]( [twitter_icon_footer]( [instagram_icon_footer]( [rss_icon_footer]( CONTACT US [Support & Contact]( [Advertise](mailto:advertise@al-monitor.com) NEWSLETTERS [Subscribe]( TERMS OF USE [Visitor Agreement]( [Privacy Policy]( © 2018 Al-Monitor. All Rights Reserved. If you no longer wish to receive these emails you may [unsubscribe or manage your preferences]( at any time. Al-Monitor · 1850 K St NW · Suite 1225 · Washington, DC 20006 · USA