Ukraine’s Zelensky in Saudi Arabia for Arab League summit Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who's also attending, is expected to discuss the drug trade and Syrian refugees at his first summit since Syria was readmitted to the Arab League. Saudi Arabia
Analysis Israel's Netanyahu willing to pay 'heavy price' for normalization with Saudi Arabia A day after the visit of Israel's Foreign Ministry Director General Ronen Levy to Washington, Al-Monitor has learned that the Negev Forum is expected to convene in a month, in Morocco, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken participating. By Ben Caspit In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense
Egypt’s mounting debt raises doubts amid stalled reforms and inflows High allocations and revenues tied to debt in the draft budget for the next fiscal year are causing concern at home and abroad. Egypt
LISTEN: Syrian Kurdish leader says Assad's return to Arab League welcome, but won't amount to much Co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Salih Muslim speaks to Amberin Zaman for "On the Middle East" podcast about the latest efforts to re-integrate Damascus into the Arab fold and what that means for Syria's Kurds. Syria
Iran threatens 'pressure' on Taliban amid deepening water row The warning marked the most serious episode in Iran-Taliban ties since the extremist group's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Iran
Morocco’s economy to benefit as EU drops it from money laundering list The North African country was removed from the list of high-risk countries for money laundering and terrorism financing in a decision announced by the European Commission on Wednesday. Morocco
Turkey Elections: Erdogan rival ups nationalist tone, vows to send refugees home Casting for nationalist votes in the presidential election runoff, opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu takes a sharpened tone on refugees. Turkey
Israeli Jews, Palestinians clash at Flag March in Jerusalem Several clashes erupted between Israeli Jews and Palestinians as thousands of people marched from central Jerusalem to the Western Wall. Israel
Iran hangs 3 protesters in Isfahan as executions soar Iran rebuffed calls by rights groups to prevent the execution of three protesters who were reportedly forced into confessions. Iran
Turkey Election: Foreign allies prematurely rush to congratulate Erdogan In a split from standard diplomatic practices, the Turkish President’s foreign allies openly voiced their support of Erdogan ahead of a critical runoff poll. Turkey
Syria's Assad lands in Saudi Arabia seeking financial incentives at Arab summit Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, said the Jeddah summit will likely end with “nice promises” in front of the cameras but a different outcome in reality as normalization with Assad, overriding sanctions and the return of refugees face mounting hurdles. Saudi Arabia
