MUST-READS

• Secondary school graduates can get enrolled in universities across all Saudi regions

  The Saudi Council of Universities Affairs issued a decision to open admission for government secondary school graduates in universities across all regions of Saudi Arabia, effective from the next academic year 1446.

  The council stated that the prerequisite to limit the admission to students from the administrative region to which the university is affiliated will no longer be applicable. The council’s decision aims to enable male and female students to search for the appropriate academic paths for them, and to provide opportunities for fair competition for university seats in all government universities throughout Saudi Arabia.

• Saudi Arabia launches Nusuk pilgrim card for the Hajj of 2024

  The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has launched the Nusuk pilgrim card, which will be in use for the forthcoming annual pilgrimage of Hajj 2024.

  Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah released the Nusuk card by presenting its copy to Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 30, during his official visit to Indonesia.

• Axis of Resistance Continues its Battle

  or the six months following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the region appeared to settle into a predictable, if volatile, pattern in which Iran acted indirectly, through its so-called “Axis of Resistance” partners, to strike against Israel, Israel’s main backer, the United States, and global commerce transiting the Red Sea, as a means of exerting pressure on Israel to end its offensive against Hamas.

• US needs cheaper ways to shoot down drones, Pentagon acquisition chief says

  After months of shooting down drones over the Middle East, the cost of those interceptions is getting too high. That’s according to the Pentagon’s chief of weapons procurement, who said that efforts to take out uncrewed aerial systems are now exceeding $100,000 per shot.

• Will Iran’s supreme leader revise his ‘nuclear fatwa’?

  Following Iran's Apr. 14 military action against Israel in response to the Apr. 1 bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) explicitly suggested the possibility of a revision to Tehran’s objection to atomic weapons. The suggestion may only be a part of the war of words between Iran and Israel. However, the fact that such discourse is rapidly becoming mainstream in Iran raises questions of what may lie ahead—including whether a shift may take place under Khamenei, who has long opposed atomic weapons on a religious basis.

• Fresh chaos, arrests on US college campuses as police flatten camp at UCLA
  Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week.
  In the pre-dawn hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.

• Missile defence successes in Gulf, Ukraine fuel global urgency to acquire systems
  The success of ballistic missile defences facing their first complex, high-stakes combat scenarios in Israel, the Red Sea and Ukraine will encourage militaries globally to invest in the pricey systems, experts say - and intensify missile arms races.
  Iran launched as many as 120 intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Israel on April 13, U.S. and Israeli officials say. U.S. SM-3 and Israeli Arrow interceptors destroyed nearly all of them, leaving drones and smaller threats to the Iron Dome system.

• Nearly 2,200 people have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses

  Police have arrested nearly 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities said.

• ‘None go forward without the others.’ US mega-deal would tie together the futures of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Gaza

  Saudi Arabia and the United States are finalizing the details of a landmark deal to strengthen bilateral trade and defense – but an agreement will not be reached if the kingdom and Israel do not establish diplomatic relations, US officials said.

• US ‘very close’ to bilateral deal with Saudi Arabia as part of Israel normalization

  The US said on Thursday that it was “very close” to reaching an agreement on the bilateral piece of a potential package deal with Saudi Arabia, which would need to include normalization with Israel.

  “The Secretary did meet with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia this week when he was in Riyadh… and we are very close to reaching an agreement on the bilateral pieces of a normalization agreement,” State Department Spokesman Matt Miller said after the top US diplomat’s weekend trip to Saudi Arabia.

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