US military chief tours arms plants with GOP lawmakers to show that Ukraine aid boosts jobs at home CAMDEN, Arkansas: As they stood before massive rocket launchers built in part by their Arkansas constituents, Republican lawmakers were getting an unambiguous message Thursday from America’s top military officer: A Ukraine aid package that’s stalled in Congress … Read more
Why Syrian refugees are returning from host countries — despite fear of persecution LONDON: Faced with a multitude of economic, safety and regulatory challenges in neighboring countries, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who fled the civil war have returned home, despite the grim security and humanitarian situation that awaits them. For many, this decision … Read more
ANKARA: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will visit Turkiye on Tuesday for talks about the Gaza war and reconciliation efforts between Palestinian factions, the Turkish foreign minister said. The visit comes as intensive diplomacy is underway to pause the fighting in the almost five-month-old war between Israel and Hamas sparked by the Oct. 7 attacks. Turkiye’s … Read more
ALULA: Positioned outside Madrasat Addeera — a former girls’ school in AlUla that has been turned into a creative arts center — are creations by five design practices, the results of the first AlUla Design Residency. Hall Haus, a creative collective from France, took inspiration from the traditional Arabic majlis for its giant modular sand-colored … Read more
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Visual Arts Commission launched “AlHasa Hassana,” a photography exhibition curated by Mohamed Somji, at Hayy Jameel in Jeddah on Sunday. The exhibition, showcasing winning entrants to the Kingdom Photography Award, as well as newly commissioned pieces by professional photographers, runs from Feb. 11 to March 2. For the second consecutive year, professional photographers from … Read more
JERUSALEM/LONDON: Some hostage relatives have political appeal, according to a recent survey.When pollsters asked a representative sample of the Israeli public in January to name anyone they would like to see entering politics, relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were among the names that cropped up most often.The previously unreported survey shows the … Read more
Startup Wrap — regional venture landscape kicks off 2024 with a flurry of deals CAIRO: Startups in the Middle East and North Africa are leaving no stone unturned at the beginning of 2024, with a flurry of deals in the second week of the year. Saudi health tech startup Clinicy has secured substantial investment through … Read more