Comment on Trump’s Mideast team gets close-up view of peace obstacles

Late last year, over 50 African leaders gathered in Riyadh for the first ever Saudi-Africa summit. Convened by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it brought together a mélange of democrats and dictators, reformers and kleptocrats, young go-getters and long-ruling dinosaurs. Their objective? To wangle a slice of the $40 billion Saudi Arabia plans to invest in Africa. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] For the African leaders in attendance, the summit was a golden opportunity to obtain generous aid and inexpensive loans from one of the world’s richest countries.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the country’s prime minister after the previous stint on the job during which the low-key technocrat has shown a distinct lack of political ambitions. In line with Russian law, Mishustin, 58, who held the job for the past four years, submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Tuesday when Putin began his fifth presidential term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Mishustin’s reappointment was widely expected by political observers, who noted that Putin has appreciated his skills and low political profile.

Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of the unit that protects Ukraine’s top officials following the arrest of two colonels who were allegedly involved in a Russian plot to assassinate the president. Serhiy Rud, who was fired by a decree signed Thursday evening by Zelensky, had been in his post since 2019 and previously led the president’s personal security unit.

Thailand’s move to reclassify cannabis as a narcotic threatens to trigger street protests and class-action suits by owners of thousands of dispensaries which sprung across the country in the wake of decriminalization two years ago. A complete re-criminalization ordered by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday will also push the cannabis trade underground, said Rattapon Sanrak, owner of Bangkok-based dispensary Highland Cafe.

Mexico is fighting 159 active wildfires across the country amid the year’s second heat wave that has also put the nation’s power grid under stress. Mexico’s national weather service issued an alert that at least 12 states would experience temperatures higher than 45°C (113°F), with large swathes of the rest of the country expected to see temperatures higher than 30°C. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The heat wave has increased demand for power, prompting the country’s grid operator to declare the system in a state of emergency on Thursday evening for the second time this week.

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — As Cary Fowler and Geoffrey Hawtin began thinking about ways to prevent starvation and protect the world’s food supply, they came up with what Fowler called “the craziest idea anybody ever had” — a global seed vault built into the side of an Arctic mountain. About 20 years ago, Fowler, now the U.