MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia’s $131 Billion Pledge: A Beacon of Hope for Millions

  Between 1975 and 2024, Saudi Arabia generously provided approximately $131 billion in development aid to 171 countries, implementing over 7,090 humanitarian, relief, and development projects. This unparalleled commitment has solidified, by the end of 2023, the Kingdom's position as the fourth-largest donor of humanitarian and relief aid globally, with assistance of $1.2 billion, equivalent to 3.6% of the aid provided by donor countries to developing countries and countries suffering from disasters and crises, according to the United Nations Financial Tracking Service (FTS).

• Saudi Arabia spends $986mln to support employment and training during first half of 2024

  More than 100,000 establishments have benefited from these programs and over 153,000 citizens were employed in private sector establishments, he said during the ceremony of launching ‘Jadarat,’ the Unified National Employment Platform on Sunday. “The goal of the platform, under the slogan “Ambition and Empowerment,” is to unify employment efforts and data of job seekers in the public and private sectors, and to raise the quality and reliability of data,” he said.

• Saudi Arabia launches new unified national employment platform ‘Jadarat’

  This initiative supports efforts to develop the local labour market strategy and achieve national targets in line with Saudi Vision 2030. HADAF Director General Turki Al-Jawini reported that approximately 70,000 job vacancies are currently listed on Jadarat across various specialisations and sectors. He explained that the platform was launched to facilitate the job search journey and explore all job opportunities, becoming the main enabler for employing citizens

• Iran’s New President Takes the Oath With Promise of Reform and Outreach

  The new president has promised a more inclusive government and more moderate foreign policy, but he is likely to be distracted by more pressing matters at home and abroad early in his presidency. On the day of his inauguration, Pezeshkian was made aware of the challenge he faces in assuming the presidency at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel. No sooner had he been sworn in than Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran, where he had been among guests at the ceremony. Iran blamed Israel, though the Israeli government has not taken responsibility for the strike in the heart of the Iranian capital.

• 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.

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