Ten Saudi artists will be among 365 others from around the world who will be part of an attempt at creating the world’s largest painting in Morocco later this year. Artists from 26 countries will travel to Morocco on June 29 to take part in brainstorming sessions and discussions about the proposed painting, which will run until July 7. The Saudi artists are being sponsored by Arabian Wings in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI).

DUBAI --- During two trips to the Middle East within the past two weeks, I have found nearly universal hopelessness about the situation in Syria and what it means for the larger region. Proposed peace talks are considered a sham, just a ploy to convince distant publics that their governments are “doing something.” No one thinks that Basher Assad, as long as he is still breathing, will relinquish power in Syria. Everyone agrees that the slaughter will continue indefinitely.

Despite its wealth, Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is “inward looking.” Gerges also described Iran as a failed model and a dysfunctional system both ideologically and politically.
According to Gerges, for the countries in the Arab world, the only two models are the governance of the AK Party and Europe. Turkey can do “a great deal” with its soft power, he believes.

The agreement is aimed at preventing exploitation of Filipina maids such as confiscation of their passports to control them, overworking them with no rest days and preventing them from returning home.

The trade between Portugal and Saudi Arabia is still low, but last year’s results showed a 43 percent growth of Portuguese exports to the Kingdom, Portugal’s Minister of Health Paulo Moita de Maceda has said. “Portugal remains committed to free-trade agreement between the European Union and the GCC,” the minister told Arab News.

Highlighting a divide with the United States over whether to arm the Syrian rebels, Saudi Arabia’s chief diplomat said Monday there is a moral responsibility to speed an end to the civil war, including by helping Syrians fight the regime’s “vicious killing machine.”

America has two distinguishable Muslim allies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. These two Muslim allies can play a pivotal role in helping eliminate Al-Shabaab through soft and hard power, respectively...Saudi Arabia can flex is soft-power muscle in Somalia by doing two things: (1) using their Ulama to discredit the religious sway of Al-Shabaab, and (2) use its extensive experience in de-radicalizing its youth.

Contemporary cities, in particular, can offer a unique vantage point capable of producing critical knowledge not only about the urbanized condition of humanity but also about major social, economic, and cultural revolutions in our society. The politics of governance and accountability in these closed regimes are not free from this pervasiveness.