Initiative will help over 90 gifted students from across Saudi Arabia
Amani bint Mohammed Al-Shawi, CEO of Academy 32 at KACST, highlighted the program’s pivotal role in nurturing young talents
Updated 01 July 2024
Arab News
RIYADH: The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology launched on Monday the 2024 Generation Research and Innovation Enrichment Program.
This initiative, organized by the organization’s Academy 32 in collaboration with the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, also known as Mawhiba, will help over 90 gifted students from across Saudi Arabia cultivate their skills.
In her opening remarks, Amani bint Mohammed Al-Shawi, CEO of Academy 32 at KACST, highlighted the program’s pivotal role in nurturing young talents and preparing them for local, regional, and international competitions.
She cited the outstanding achievements of last year’s participants, who won nine awards at the International Science and Engineering Fair in the US, 13 medals and special awards at the International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition in Malaysia, and 25 special awards and eight grand prizes at the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity.
Trump and Musk’s move to dismantle USAID ignites battle with Democratic lawmakers
USAID should have been shut “done a long time ago,” said Trump, whose freeze order on foreign aid in 120 countries has led thousands of people to lose their jobs
Created in 1961 at the height of the Cold War, USAID humanitarian programs had been credited for saving more than millions of lives worldwide
Democrats accuse Trump of causing a constitutional crisis and Elon Musk of acting like a fourth branch of government in the US
Updated 8 min 35 sec ago
AP
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk's move to eradicate the agency that provides crucial aid that funds education and fights starvation, epidemic and poverty overseas, has sparked a showdown with congressional Democrats, who blasted the effort as illegal and vowed a court fight.
In one of the most dramatic efforts to push back on President Donald Trump’s bid to slash and reshape the federal government, some Democrats sought Monday to enter the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development. They were blocked by officers from even broaching the lobby, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was the acting administrator of the agency despite it being an independent body for six decades.
While Trump has spent the first three weeks of his new presidency making broad changes to the federal government, the fast-moving developments at USAID have emerged as a particularly controversial flashpoint with Democrats who argue it symbolizes the massive power Musk is wielding over Washington.
“Spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” Musk boasted on X.
In the space of a few weeks, in fact, much of the agency was dismantled — work and spending ordered stopped, leadership and staff gutted by furloughs, firings and disciplinary leaves, and the website taken offline. Lawmakers said the agency’s computer servers were carted away.
Trump told reporters Monday that shutting down USAID “should have been done a long time ago.” Asked whether he needs Congress to approve such a measure, the president said he did not think so.
Congressional Democrats, cheered by a few hundred supporters, vowed to act outside USAID headquarters, where federal officers and yellow tape blocked both employees and lawmakers from entering hours after Musk declared, “We’re shutting it down.”
“This is a constitutional crisis we are in today,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said.
Added Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin: “We don’t have a fourth branch of government called Elon Musk. And that’s going to become real clear.”
Showing the extraordinary power of Musk and his budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, thousands of USAID employees have been laid off and programs shut down around the world in the two weeks since Trump became president and imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance.
The US is the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid, and the moves have upended decades of US policy that put humanitarian, development and security assistance in the center of efforts to build alliances and counter adversaries such as China and Russia. Trump, Musk and Republicans in Congress have made the US foreign assistance program a special target, accusing it of waste and advancing liberal social programs.
The US spends less than 1 percent of its budget on foreign assistance, a smaller share overall than some other countries. Trump accused the Biden administration of fraud, without giving any evidence and only promising a report later on.
“They went totally crazy, what they were doing and the money they were giving to people that shouldn’t be getting it and to agencies and others that shouldn’t be getting it, it was a shame, so a tremendous fraud,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Democrats push back
Lawmakers sought to enter USAID offices in Washington, saying they wanted to speak to any staffers remaining about the dismantling of the agency. Department of Homeland Security officers and men identifying themselves as USAID employees blocked them. “Elon Musk’s not here,” one told the lawmakers.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland called it an “illegal power grab” and said it was “a corrupt abuse of power that is going on.”
“It’s not only a gift to our adversaries, but trying to shut down the Agency for International Development by executive order is plain illegal,” he said.
Democrats said court challenges already were in the works and pledged to try to block approval of Trump’s State Department nominations until the shutdown is reversed. Democrats are in the minority in the House and Senate after last November’s elections, leaving them with reduced leverage.
Musk announced the closing of the agency early Monday as Rubio was out of the country on a trip to Central America.
Rubio told reporters in San Salvador that he was now the acting administrator of USAID but had delegated his authority to someone else. In a letter to lawmakers obtained by The Associated Press, Rubio designated Peter Marocco, a political appointee whose short stint at USAID in the first Trump administration generated unusual staff protests for pushing program cuts and investigations that ambassadors and other senior officials complained slowed work to a crawl.
In his remarks, Rubio stressed that some and perhaps many USAID programs would continue in the new configuration but that the switch was necessary because the agency had become unaccountable to the executive branch and Congress. USAID’s work worldwide
Conservative Republicans have long sought to roll back USAID’s status as an independent agency, while Democrats traditionally back its status as an independent agency. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 at the height of the United States’ Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union, seeking a more efficient way to counter Soviet influence abroad through foreign assistance, and viewing the State Department as frustratingly bureaucratic at that.
The Trump freeze on foreign assistance and targeting of USAID, which oversees humanitarian, development and security programs in some 120 countries, has forced US and international companies to shut down tens of thousands of programs globally, leading to furloughs, layoffs and financial crises.
That includes an HIV/AIDS program started by Republican President George W. Bush credited with saving more than 20 million lives in Africa and elsewhere. Aid contractors spoke of millions of dollars in medication and other goods now stuck in port that they were forbidden to deliver.
Other programs that would shut down provided education to schoolgirls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and monitored an Ebola outbreak spreading in Uganda. A USAID-supported crisis monitoring program, which was credited for helping prevent repeats of the 1980s famine in Uganda that killed up to 1.2 million people, has gone offline.
Other organizations have filed for bankruptcy or are facing it after being told USAID would not be paying its invoices for projects that have already been approved and implemented around the world.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said USAID is not just about saving other countries from starvation and disease. “There is a reason that USAID is an arm of American foreign policy, and it is because we understand that a stable world means a stable America,” he said. Latest hit to USAID
USAID staffers said more than 600 additional employees had reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.” The agency’s website vanished Saturday without explanation.
Musk is leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with Trump’s agreement. The day began with Musk announcing on a live session of X Spaces that he had spoken with Trump at length about the agency and “he agreed we should shut it down.”
“It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk said in a live session on X Spaces early Monday. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”
Since Trump took office, appointees brought in from his first term like Marocco placed more than 50 senior officials on leave for investigation without public explanation, gutting the agency’s leadership. When the agency’s personnel chief announced that the allegations against them were groundless and tried to reinstate them, he was placed on leave as well.
Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former US official said.
Musk’s DOGE earlier carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems. The Washington Post reported that a senior Treasury official had resigned over Musk’s team accessing sensitive information.
From urban bars to country weddings, Moroccan folk singers break barriers and keep traditions alive
Those who come to hear them sing say cheikha can serve as a community’s truth-tellers, singing about often unspoken dynamics related to marriage, agriculture or, historically, colonial resistance
Morocco’s music scene is increasingly embracing Middle Eastern pop and rap by North African artists from throughout the diaspora
Updated 24 min 18 sec ago
AP
SIDI YAHYA ZAER, Morocco: Mbarka Moullablad’s family frowned when she first told them she planned to make a living as a cheikha, singing about love, pain, and societal change to the melodies of her ancestors under the stage name “Thouria.”
Women like her are the stewards of one of Morocco’s most cherished oral traditions: a form of folk singing known as aita, which means a “cry” or “lament” in Arabic. From smoky bars and cabarets in Morocco’s largest cities to the gatherings in the country’s rural regions, they croon at weddings, festivals and private events and pub nights, hypnotizing audiences both humble and wealthy.
Girls dance during a traditional performance known as Aita, in Tamesna, south of the capital Rabat, Morocco, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
But despite aita’s position in Moroccan culture, the genre’s popularity does not always translate into acceptance for those who perform it. Cheikha are often stigmatized, eroticized, and pushed to society’s margins. That was once a fear for Moullablad, but she says her community in Sidi Yahya Zaer, a farming town on Morocco’s Atlantic plains, has mostly accepted her.
“My family did not agree at first and I used to suffer from society’s judgment, but now everything is good,” Moullablad said on the sidelines of a recent performance south of Morocco’s capital, Rabat. “I do it in order to earn money for my children.”
Cheikha folk singer Mbarka "Thouria" Moullablad applies makeup as she prepares for a traditional performance known as Aita, in Sidi Yahya Zaer, south of the capital Rabat, Morocco, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
A form of sung poetry, aita has long explored themes of societal triumphs, ironies, and unspoken struggles, including those related to relationships and economic hardship. Cheikha don heavy stage makeup, silk caftans, and golden takchita belts as they sing about their community’s agonies and triumphs. They sway their hips to amplify emotion, dancing seductively or cheerfully depending on the context.
When Moullablad performs, men and women lean in as her voice softens, captivated as she climbs octaves into a full-throated howl. The beads wrapped around her sister Fatiha’s belly shake as she dances. The band leader, another singer, backs her with his own poetry while a drummer keeps the beat, a guitarist strums, and a violinist drags his bow in sync.
A music band prepares for a traditional performance known as Aita, in Sidi Yahya Zaer, south of the capital Rabat, Morocco, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Those who come to hear them sing say cheikha can serve as a community’s truth-tellers, singing about often unspoken dynamics related to marriage, agriculture or, historically, colonial resistance. Moullablad sings in Moroccan Arabic, embodying traditions specific to her community. But cheikha across the North African Kingdom also perform in the indigenous Amazigh language, adapting the music and lyrics to reflect their region.
The art form has inspired contemporary acts like the electro-infused “Aita, Mon Amour” and Kabareh Cheikhats, a troupe of male actors who pay homage, dress and sing in the tune of Morocco’s most celebrated 20th century women folk singers. It is also the subject of Morocco’s submission for this year’s Academy Awards, “Everybody Loves Touda,” which follows a single mother who leaves her town in the Atlas Mountains to pursue her dream of singing in bars, cabarets, and hotels in Casablanca.
Moroccan tea is distributed during a traditional performance known as Aita, in Tamesna, south of the capital Rabat, Morocco, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
“I was always amazed by their strength and the power that they have toward people when they open their mouths. Whether they are modern or conservative people, they all stand up and get into a kind of trance like gospel,” Nabil Ayouch, the film’s director, said in an interview when the film premiered at the Marrakech Film Festival last year.
Morocco’s music scene is increasingly embracing Middle Eastern pop and rap by North African artists from throughout the diaspora. And rural communities are shrinking amid the country’s rapid development and urbanization. But though the future of aita may seem uncertain, its musicians and listeners remain confident that it will endure.
“Aita will not die because it is renewed by young people. Aita will remain in all times and is loved by old people and young people as well. It is developed and improved, but they preserve its origins,” said Rachid Kadari, a Cheikh who also sings aita.
Trump trade threats overshadow European defense meet
The trade threats from the White House add an unwelcome new layer to the already complex challenge of bolstering European defenses — faced with a menacing Russia and the spectre of Washington pulling back
Trump has vowed to bring a quick end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, leaving Europeans fearful he could sideline them and force Kyiv into a bad deal
Updated 04 February 2025
AFP
BRUSSELS, Belgium: The threat of a transatlantic trade war loomed large Monday over a gathering of European leaders aimed at boosting the continent’s defenses in the face of an aggressive Russia.
The EU’s 27 leaders, Britain’s prime minister and the head of NATO were in Brussels to brainstorm ways to ramp up European defense spending — a key demand that President Donald Trump has made to America’s allies.
But it was Trump’s repeated threat to target Europe “soon” — after having ordered tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China — that set the meeting’s tone.
“If we are attacked in terms of trade, Europe — as a true power — will have to stand up for itself and therefore react,” French President Emmanuel Macron warned.
The tough talk — which came before Trump temporarily backed down after talks with Canada and Mexico — mirrored the message from the European Commission, which said the EU would “respond firmly” to any US tariffs.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, labelled trade wars “totally unnecessary and stupid.”
“There are no winners in trade wars,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
Trade aside, Trump has rattled US allies with a series of direct threats — not least his insistence that he wants to acquire strategically important Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, reiterated in Brussels that the Arctic island was “not for sale.”
The trade threats from the White House add an unwelcome new layer to the already complex challenge of bolstering European defenses — faced with a menacing Russia and the spectre of Washington pulling back.
Trump has made clear Europe can no longer take US protection for granted, insisting that NATO countries more than double their defense spending target to five percent of their total economic output — a goal out of reach for many.
He has also vowed to bring a quick end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, leaving Europeans fearful he could sideline them and force Kyiv into a bad deal.
NATO chief Mark Rutte insisted the trade tensions would not weaken the alliance’s collective deterrence.
“There are always issues between allies — it is never always tranquil and happy going,” he said.
European nations have ramped up their military budgets since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the all-out invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
But EU officials concede they are still not arming themselves fast enough as warnings grow that Moscow could attack one of their own in the coming years.
There is widespread consensus across Europe on the need to spend more on defense, with Brussels estimating the needs at 500 billion euros ($510 billion) over a decade.
But the question remains how to do it.
Key dividing lines revolve around the way to fund investments, whether EU cash should be spent only on EU arms, and NATO’s role.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen after the talks suggested relaxing EU budget rules for defense and getting the bloc’s lending arm to work more with weapons producers.
On the crunch issue of calls for possible joint borrowing, there appeared no clear movement.
But von der Leyen indicated the EU could potentially look to use it to fund common projects in crucial areas such as air defense.
The leaders’ discussion is now set to feed into proposals being drawn up by Brussels next month on the future of EU defense — before another round of talks on the issue in June.
As doubts swirl over the transatlantic relationship, many were keen to step up ties with an old friend: Britain.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was back in the fold — at least for one dinner — as the first UK leader to attend a European Council gathering since the country withdrew from the EU five years ago.
Starmer said he wanted to work with EU leaders to “crush Putin’s war machine” by further targeting Russia’s economy.
The British leader, who has sought to reset relations after the rancour of Brexit, said he wanted to strike a “ambitious” security partnership with the EU.
That could bring Britain, with its potent military and large defense industry, a little closer — with security cooperation to top the agenda at an EU-UK summit planned for May.
But the bitter legacy of Brexit remains.
Numerous EU diplomats said there cannot be progress until a dispute over fishing rights is resolved and London drops its opposition to a youth mobility scheme proposed by Brussels.
Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but not China
Mexico agreed to reinforce its northern border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of illegal migration and drugs
Trump suggested on Sunday the 27-nation European Union would be his next target, but did not say when
Updated 04 February 2025
Reuters
MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA: US President Donald Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighboring countries.
US tariffs on China are still due to take effect within hours.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump’s demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling. That would pause 25 percent tariffs due to take effect on Tuesday for 30 days.
Canada agreed to deploy new technology and personnel along its border with the United States and launch cooperative efforts to fight organized crime, fentanyl smuggling and money laundering.
Mexico agreed to reinforce its northern border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of illegal migration and drugs.
The United States also made a commitment to prevent trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico, Sheinbaum said.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico and Canada
• Mexico, Canada to bolster border enforcement
• EU leaders meet to discuss tariff threat response
“As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that. I am very pleased with this initial outcome,” Trump said on social media.
The agreements forestall, for now, the onset of a trade war that economists predicted would damage the economies of all involved and usher in higher prices for consumers.
After speaking by phone with both leaders, Trump said he would try to negotiate economic agreements over the coming month with the two largest US trading partners, whose economies have become tightly intertwined with the United States since a landmark free-trade deal was struck in the 1990s.
CHINA TARIFFS STILL PLANNED
No such deal has emerged for China, which faces across-the-board tariffs of 10 percent that are poised to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday (0501 GMT). A White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
Trump warned he might increase tariffs on Beijing further.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” he said.
China has called fentanyl America’s problem and said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and take other countermeasures, but also left the door open for talks.
The latest twist in the saga sent the Canadian dollar soaring after slumping to its lowest in more than two decades. The news also gave US stock index futures a lift after a day of losses on Wall Street.
Industry groups, fearful of disrupted supply chains, welcomed the pause.
“That’s very encouraging news,” said Chris Davison, who heads a trade group of Canadian canola producers. “We have a highly integrated industry that benefits both countries.”
Trump suggested on Sunday the 27-nation European Union would be his next target, but did not say when.
EU leaders at an informal summit in Brussels on Monday said Europe would be prepared to fight back if the US imposes tariffs, but also called for reason and negotiation. The US is the EU’s largest trade and investment partner.
Trump hinted that Britain, which left the EU in 2020, might be spared tariffs.
Trump acknowledged over the weekend that his tariffs could cause some short-term pain for US consumers, but says they are needed to curb immigration and narcotics trafficking and spur domestic industries.
The tariffs as originally planned would cover almost half of all US imports and would require the United States to more than double its own manufacturing output to cover the gap — an unfeasible task in the near term, ING analysts wrote.
Other analysts said the tariffs could throw Canada and Mexico into recession and trigger “stagflation” — high inflation, stagnant growth and elevated unemployment — at home.
Saudi Arabia conducts military exercises with 15 countries at Air Warfare Center
Forces from Presidency of State Security, Saudi Arabian National Guard taking part
Military drills called Spears of Victory 2025
Updated 04 February 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is conducting military exercises called Spears of Victory 2025 at the Air Warfare Center, involving forces from 15 countries.
Some of the Kingdom’s prominent military branches are participating in the drills, including forces from the Presidency of State Security and the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
The drills started this week at the Air Warfare Center, a military air facility located at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Maj. Gen. Pilot Mohammed bin Ali Al-Omari, the exercise commander, said that the drills would consist of lectures and missions for air, technical, and support crews, to improve readiness and combat capability.
Al-Omari added that Spears of Victory 2025 will enhance the planning and implementation skills of participating forces, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
It involves 10 days of conducting combat maneuvers and flights, as well as mixed tactical operations, some of which are conducted jointly with the forces of other countries to enhance cooperation, the SPA added.
