President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US would now consider Saudi Arabia a major non-Nato ally and announced the two countries had signed a “historic” defence agreement.
The announcement came as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the White House. It will make it easier for the US to share military technology with Saudi Arabia and increase security co-operation. It is also used as symbol of close ties.
“We're taking our military co-operation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major, non-Nato ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Mr Trump said at a dinner with Prince Mohammed.
Only 19 other countries have been given the designation. Mr Trump's announcement came after he welcomed Prince Mohammed to the White House, where the President touted bilateral deals on nuclear energy and critical minerals.
Speaking alongside Mr Trump in the Oval Office earlier, Prince Mohammed also promised an increase in investment in the US to $1 trillion, up from a pledge in May of $600 billion.
Prince Mohammed was greeted with a display of pomp and ceremony, including a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a fly-past of US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets.
Mr Trump hailed Saudi Arabia “a great ally”. Prince Mohammed said there was “no limit” to the scope of business between the two countries.
The Crown Prince's visit to Washington cements a reset of the US-Saudi relationship, which soured under former president Joe Biden over human rights concerns. Mr Trump received an enthusiastic welcome in May during a trip to Saudi Arabia in which Riyadh committed to investing $600 billion in the US over four years.
The timeline for fulfilling that investment commitment, as well as other deals including the sale of F-35s, were among the main topics of discussion as Mr Trump works to persuade the Prince Mohammed to establish relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.
But despite the warm messaging, it appeared the Crown Prince was not yet ready to establish official ties with Israel.
Defence agreement
The White House said Mr Trump and Prince Mohammed had signed the “historic” US-Saudi Strategic Defence Agreement, which “strengthens our more than 80-year defence partnership and fortifies deterrence across the Middle East”. The deal makes it easier for US defence companies to operate in Saudi Arabia.
“The President secured agreements reinforcing America’s role as a regional security enabler, enhancing our US military partnerships to better allow partners to deter and defeat threats,” the White House said, adding that Mr Trump had also approved a major defence sale package.
On Monday, Mr Trump confirmed that the US would sell F-35s to Riyadh, challenging decades of American policy in the region and alarming Israel, Washington's closest ally in the Middle East. Israel has long demanded that it should maintain military superiority in the region and is against the idea of the US selling top-level weapons to friendly Arab states.
“Trump has elevated the role of Saudi Arabia,” said Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. “Saudi Arabia would like to be a regional hegemon, so for them, getting these weapons helps move them to the front of the line, at least in terms of weaponry, equivalent with Israel.”
Deals on AI and more
The White House said the US and Saudi Arabia had also signed a deal on nuclear co-operation, cementing a “decades-long, multibillion-dollar” energy partnership.
It emphasised that all co-operation would be “conducted in a manner consistent with strong non-proliferation standards”.
The two sides also signed a critical minerals agreement, furthering collaboration in diversifying supply chains.
“This agreement builds on similar deals President Trump secured with other trading partners to safeguard America’s supply chain resilience for essential minerals,” the White House said.
Mr Trump and Prince Mohammed also signed a “landmark” artificial intelligence agreement that gives Saudi Arabia access to “to world-leading American systems while protecting Us technology from foreign influence”.
Saudi Arabia is working to position itself as a global centre for AI.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement aimed at advancing the countries' priorities at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and G20. They also signed an agreement on improving efficiency of capital markets activity between the two, the Treasury Department said.
Abraham Accords
Mr Trump also wants to see Saudi Arabia establish ties with Israel, under the treaty he advanced during his first term, the Abraham Accords. Should Saudi Arabia agree to that, it would better integrate Israel politically and economically in the Middle East and probably drastically alter the region.
However, Saudi Arabia has long maintained that any progress towards normalisation would depend on tangible progress towards the creation of Palestinian state.
“We believe having a good relation with all the Middle Eastern countries is a good thing, and we want to be part of the Abraham Accord,” the Crown Prince said.
“But we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said.
The agreement would also be a legacy achievement for Mr Trump, who has long sought a Nobel Peace Prize.
“Trump sees himself as running the world,” Mr Bandow said. “He would like to manage the Middle East just like he wants to manage Latin America and elsewhere, so a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia, where he's able to push it into a relationship with Israel, that kind of thing, appeals to him.”
Jamal Khashoggi
Mr Trump dismissed a question about the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, calling him a controversial figure and saying Prince Mohammed had nothing to do with it.
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Khashoggi entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, but never left the building.
A CIA report implicated the Crown Prince in approving the killing, but no evidence was given to back up the claim. Prince Mohammed has long denied any involvement. A statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry soon after the report's release rejected the allegations.
Prince Mohammed said on Tuesday that the news of Mr Khashoggi's death had been painful.
“It’s really painful to hear anyone that been losing his life for no real purpose or not in a legal way, and it’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that Riyadh had carried out a thorough investigation.
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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Asia Cup Qualifier
Venue: Kuala Lumpur
Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6: Final
Asia Cup
Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Schedule: Sep 15-28
Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier
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What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
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