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  • Gulf-Southeast Asian Ties: Expectations Still Outpacing Progress – For Now

    The pursuit of economic diversification and innovation, along with a mutual aim to buffer against escalating U.S.-China rivalry, is encouraging stronger collaboration between Gulf and Southeast Asian governments, investors, and companies. By signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on July 12, 2023, Saudi Arabia demonstrated its resolve to deepen interregional ties. This interest is reciprocated by Southeast Asian countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the relationship with the kingdom as undergoing a “phenomenal advance,” and Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin heralded a “new era” in bilateral relations. Yet, while progress has been significant, it has not fully met these enthusiastic expectations and promising forecasts. 

  • Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for bomb blast in Tel Aviv

    The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack. A man who was carrying the bomb was killed and a passerby was injured in the incident late on Sunday, according to police at the scene in Israel's commercial capital. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said the man was carrying a backpack loaded with explosives that detonated "before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area".

  • Blinken says Israel OKs a plan to break the cease-fire impasse and urges Hamas to do the same

    Blinken spoke after holding a 2 1/2 hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day, and will travel to Egypt and Qatar for further negotiations. The three mediators have spent months trying to end the war in Gaza, with the talks repeatedly stalling.

  • Who is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar?

    David Remnick is the editor of The New Yorker, and he recently wrote a profile of Sinwar. To get a clearer picture of the forces that shaped him, Remnick went to Israel and the West Bank and spoke to people who have known Sinwar as a comrade and a combatant. In his profile, Remnick writes that Sinwar, who spent years incarcerated in Israeli prisons, thought of his time in prison as an academy.

  • Syrian elections ended. What have we learned from the results?

    Syrians voted in 8,151 polling stations that opened across the country, with the exception of areas not controlled by the Assad regime. To cater to residents displaced from opposition-held areas, the government established special polling stations scattered throughout the country. For example, stations were set up for Raqqa residents in the Hama, Damascus, Hasakah, Homs, Latakia, and Tartous governorates. For Quneitra residents, more than 111 out of 175 stations were located outside the governorate.

  • Russian-Iranian military cooperation: How much can they depend on each other?

    Despite their differences, Russian-Iranian military cooperation will likely continue—and increase. But with both now on the back foot, the question is just how useful their cooperation is. Moscow is urging Iranian restraint in responding to Israel over the death of Haniyeh in Tehran not because of any inherent peace-loving nature, but because the Kremlin understands that, with its forces tied down in Ukraine, it is not in a position to do much to protect Iran in a wider conflict with Israel—especially if the Jewish state receives US military support.

  • PIF creates over 730,000 new jobs

    According to the report, PIF has been instrumental in driving economic growth and job creation through its various initiatives and investments. As the sixth-largest sovereign wealth fund globally, with SAR2.87 trillion (approximately $765 billion) in assets under management, the fund has been actively investing in high-impact projects and companies that are reshaping Saudi Arabia’s economic landscape.

  • Saudi wealth fund PIF’s asset base grew 29% in 2023 on continued investment momentum

    Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s sovereign investment arm, said its assets under management jumped 29 per cent to 2.87 trillion Saudi riyals ($765 billion) in 2023 as it continues to build its Saudi holdings and diversify its international portfolio of assets. The annualised returns for the sovereign wealth fund since 2017 rose to 8.7 per cent in 2023, up from 8 per cent a year earlier, the PIF said in its annual report published on Monday.

  • Saudi’s Neom mega-project hails a fleet of electric foiling water taxis

    Though Neom is looking to place key neighborhood amenities within reach of pedestrians and cyclists, electric shuttles and underground transit systems will transport citizens and tourists farther afield. Where getting around involves crossing waterways, folks may well fly above the surface courtesy of a Candela P-12 electric hydrofoiling taxi.

  • Mystery shopper program helps uncover IP violations across Saudi Arabia

    The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property has issued its annual report for preserving intellectual property rights for 2023, showing that it received over 2,680 complaints related to copyrights, including trademarks. The growing awareness of the need to adhere to laws and regulations that govern the ownership, use and protection of intellectual property contributed to a 50 percent increase in the total number of complaints in 2023, the authority said.