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  • ‘Maximum pressure’ returns as Iran reacts to Trump’s offer of talks

    Iran has reacted to US President Donald Trump’s move to “reinstate” his “maximum pressure” campaign by insisting that it will not yield the intended result. Still, both Tehran and Washington are displaying a willingness to reach a peaceful settlement over the myriad contentions at hand—including the future of Iran’s nuclear program. This dynamic may pave the way for the first overt direct engagement between the two sides in years. Trump signed a memorandum on Feb. 4 to “reinstate” the "maximum pressure" policy that marked his policy toward Iran during his first 2017-21 term in office.

  • China’s delicate balancing act in Yemen

    Despite an optimistic start, the Mar. 2023 China-brokered agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties faces an uncertain future. Anticipating potential setbacks, Beijing has ramped up its diplomatic engagement in the region, particularly in Yemen—a critical flashpoint that has been stuck in a fragile stalemate for close to three years. China’s key objectives are to preserve the progress achieved through the Beijing Accord, sustain the Iranian-Saudi detente, and prevent a renewed escalation in Yemen—which risks drawing Riyadh and Tehran back into confrontation.

  • Syria’s new ruler tours region as Iranians debate shifting sands

    Syria’s de facto leader and now interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has hosted scores of foreign delegations since seizing power. Visitors to Damascus have included western officials, regional leaders, and even Russian diplomats—but Iranians are nowhere to be seen. As some in Tehran lament being left out, hardline voices mock Sharaa—once a senior Al-Qaida figure—for his effort to gain legitimacy, and dismiss the longevity of his rule. This comes as Saudi Arabia and Turkey are the first foreign destinations of Syria’s new ruler.

  • Characterization of paleodrainages in desert regions of Saudi Arabia multisatellite images with field based study

    In Saudi Arabia, a number of linear geomorphological features with uncertain origin have been observed from space, but they do not belong to any existed drainage systems. They are ancient watercourses carried water in the past during the Holocene deluge, and they were affected by global climate change and geological processes turning them into dry and buried channels filled by sediments, and these are described as “Paleodrainages”.

  • Trump imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court

    U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel, drawing condemnation - but also some praise - abroad. The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other EU leaders said on Friday that Trump was wrong to impose sanctions on the ICC. "Sanctions are the wrong tool," said Scholz. "They jeopardize an institution that is supposed to ensure that the dictators of this world cannot simply persecute people and start wars, and that is very important."

  • Art Week Riyadh 2025: A New Era for Saudi Arabia’s Thriving Art Scene

    The Visual Arts Commission of Saudi Arabia proudly announces the inaugural edition of Art Week Riyadh, a groundbreaking initiative celebrating the Kingdom’s dynamic art scene. Taking place from 6 to 13 April 2025, this event will bring together leading local and international galleries, cultural institutions, artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts under the theme “At The Edge.” As a non-commercial initiative, Art Week Riyadh is designed to foster collaboration, exchange, and innovation within Saudi Arabia’s growing art ecosystem. With programming that honors the past, celebrates the present, and invests in the future, the event will highlight the depth and breadth of Saudi’s artistic landscape.

  • Meet the Power Players Leading Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Boom

    Dozens of new art institutions are in the works as part of Vision 2030, a sweeping trillion-dollar initiative to reduce oil dependence by expanding tourism, entertainment, and technology. Among these is the recently opened Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), a digital-art focused institution that is part of the $63 billion Diriyah Gate project, which aims to transform the heritage site on the outskirts of the kingdom’s capital city, Riyadh, into a cultural tourist destination. Meanwhile, in the ancient desert region of AlUla, the Contemporary Art Museum, which is being developed in partnership with Paris’s Centre Pompidou, set to open in 2027. On the west coast, the Red Sea Museum in Jeddah, slated to open before 2030, will showcase historical and contemporary works of art.

  • Halt in US aid cripples global efforts to relieve hunger

    Struggling to manage hunger crises sweeping the developing world even before U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the international famine monitoring and relief system has suffered multiple blows from a sudden cessation of U.S. foreign aid. The spending freeze, which Trump ordered upon taking office Jan. 20, is supposed to last 90 days while his administration reviews all foreign-aid programs. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said an exception allows emergency food assistance to continue. But much of that emergency aid is at least temporarily halted as humanitarian organizations seek clarity about what relief programs are allowed to continue. Compounding the problem is Trump’s move this week to shut the U.S. government’s top relief provider, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

  • Saudi Arabia Bans 1-Year Visit Visa for 14 Countries to Curb Illegal Hajj Pilgrims

    Saudi Arabia has introduced a new visa policy restricting travelers from 14 countries to single-entry visas. The decision, effective February 1, 2025, aims to curb unauthorized Hajj pilgrims entering through long-term visit visas. The affected countries include Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen. The move suspends the 1-year multiple-entry visa indefinitely for tourism, business, and family visits. Under the new rules, visitors from these 14 countries can only apply for single-entry visas. These visas will have a 30-day validity with a maximum stay of 30 days. The government has clarified that this policy does not affect Hajj, Umrah, diplomatic, or residency visas.

  • Trump’s Gaza plan derails Saudi-Israel ties: analysts

    Trump's proposal to redevelop Gaza and oust the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory prompted a global backlash and enraged the Arab world, making it difficult for the Saudis to consider normalisation. "If this is going to be his policy, he shut the door on Saudi recognition of Israel," James Dorsey, researcher at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told AFP.  They reacted with unusual speed to Trump's proposal, made during an appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington. About an hour after his comments, at around 4:00 am Saudi time, the foreign ministry posted a statement on X that "reaffirms its unequivocal rejection of... attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land". In the same statement, the Saudis rejected Netanyahu's comment that normalisation was "going to happen", repeating their insistence there would be no ties without a Palestinian state.