Belated thank you to the @FT for putting “Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria” on the list of best 12 books “shedding light on the conflict in #Syria & its place in the wider power struggles across the Middle East”

Naming & shaming: “Mr. Trump & his key lieutenant, Elon Musk, who has been empowered to run what they call the Department of Government Efficiency, have attacked journalists by name in recent days on the social media platforms they own: Truth Social and X”

EXCLUSIVE: After #Trump’s proposal to take over #Gaza & drive out nearly 2 million Palestinians from the enclave, #Israel has drafted a plan that identifies a seaport and airport from where Palestinians can depart, ⁦@DanWilliams⁩ reports. A must read

RT @PaulWallace123: #MBS's dilemma. #SaudiArabia's crown prince wants a defence & nuclear-energy deal with the US. But would he risk his po…

NEW: MBS Torn Between Trump and Saudi People on Potential Israel Deal

Sunrise in #Dubai which Trump and his son -in-law Jared Kushner have always spoken about replicating in #Gaza if there’s comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace one day. Now Trump wants to just take over Gaza

American Airlines Plane Collision Leaves No Hope for Survivors

“Democratic governors pressed Sen. Chuck Schumer of NY during a tense call to be more aggressive in fighting back against Trump’s nominees & agenda, all but begging the minority leader to persuade Senate Democrats to block whatever they could” @nytimes⁩

RT @PaulWallace123: It's not just Egypt, Jordan and Palestinian authorities that are against Trump's suggestion. So are the Gulf states, wh…

Turkey Detains Journalists as Opposition Crackdown Intensifies

Greenlanders Reject Trump With 85% Majority Against Joining US

Very useful: The Israel-Hamas war in maps and charts via @FT

Russia’s Hopes to Keep Syria Bases Fade With Talks Stalled

Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd, son of the late King Fahd and an influential figure in the Saudi royal family, just died. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is paying his condolences to his cousin’s sons.

Interesting headline in the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat: “Gaza…the Returning Masses Upset the Expulsion Plot,” referring to the call by Trump and far right Israeli officials for Palestinians in Gaza to be relocated to #Jordan and #Egypt

Saudi Arabia Opens Foreign Property Investments in Holy Cities by ⁦@cmarie_burke⁩ and ⁦@ZainabFattah⁩

“A suggestion by President Trump to ‘clean out’ the Gaza Strip and ask Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians…drew flat rejections from two of its most important allies in the Middle East” via @NYTimes

Riad Sattouf on change in #Syria: He warned that he tended to see things “extremely pessimistically.” “I keep my fingers crossed,” he said, “that a terrible dictatorship won’t be replaced by another dictatorship.” via @NYTimes

“Hamas on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in a choreographed ceremony that was the latest sign of the group’s effort to project power despite Israel’s 470-day military campaign to dislodge them” via @NYTimes

And there’s also #Turkey: Erdogan Seeks Trump’s Support to Shape Middle East How He Wants by ⁦@SelcanHacaoglu⁩

One of the stories curated by editors for the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg News: Saudi Crown Prince MBS Moves to Exploit #Iran’s Weakness in Region