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The Gulf is becoming one of gaming’s most lucrative markets

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt had a gaming market worth a combined $2 billion in 2024.

Saudi real estate market opens to foreigners

The aim is to attract international developers, lift the quality of projects, and stimulate the sector’s contribution to non-oil GDP.

Gulf countries double down on rail plans

Saudi authorities have revived plans for a Jeddah metro and started the bidding for a high-speed rail line in Riyadh, while Dubai continues to expand its metro network.

UAE to host more Ukraine-Russia peace talks

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has built credibility as a mediator and has been involved in facilitating the release of prisoners in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump Sends Border Czar to Minnesota as He Doubles Down After Shooting

Donald Trump is doubling down in Minnesota following the murder of nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on Saturday by sending his immigration czar to the state. In a Truth Social post Monday morning, Trump announced that he is sending Tom Homan to the state “tonight,” calling him “tough but fair” and saying he “will report directly to me.” The president made no mention of Pretti’s death, and instead repeated exaggerated claims of fraud in the state and attacked Representative Ilhan Omar.  Trump’s other Truth Social posts from the weekend refused to take responsibility for the shooting, or accept any wrongdoing from federal agents in Minnesota. He fueled right-wing talking points about Pretti’s gun (he was a licensed gun owner and was disarmed before he was shot), and posted a lengthy screed calling on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, “and EVERY Democrat Governor and Mayor in the United States of America to formally cooperate with the Trump Administration to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”He refused to take any responsibility for the escalating violence from federal agents, or the reports of racism and targeting of children in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, officials in Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security are growing frustrated with the lies coming from the Trump administration, and members of the president’s own party are beginning to speak out. Cooler heads aren’t prevailing. Hopefully, no more lives will be lost before things cool down, but there’s no telling when that will be.  This story has been updated. 

DHS Facing Internal Uproar After Minneapolis Shooting of Alex Pretti

Even the Department of Homeland Security’s own officials are growing frustrated with the slanderous, blatant lies that their leaders have told regarding the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis over the weekend. Fox News’s Bill Melugin spoke with more than a dozen sources working on immigration enforcement and reported that there is “extreme frustration” with people like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino doing countless media hits “claiming that Alex Pretti was intending to conduct a ‘massacre’ of federal agents or wanted to carry out ‘maximum damage,’ even after numerous videos appeared to show those claims were inaccurate.”“Sources say this messaging from DHS officials has been catastrophic from a P.R. and morale perspective, as it is eroding trust and credibility,” Melugin continued. “Some of these sources have described DHS’s response to the shooting as ‘a case study on how not to do crisis P.R.’; one said they are so ‘fed up’ that they wish they could retire; another said ‘DHS is making the situation worse,’ and another added that ‘DHS is wrong’ and ‘we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.’” Well no shit, Bill. All of America watched Border Patrol agents violently take down Pretti, remove his legal gun from his holster, and shoot him again and again while holding him down. That shooting came just weeks after agents shot Renee Good and called her a “fucking bitch” while she lay dying in her car. And then the likes of Bovino and Noem claimed that it was Pretti who was the terrorist, not the masked agents who killed him without a second thought.Melugin then went on to provide some classic Fox News pro-regime insight, claiming that his sources think that agents harassing and killing Pretti was just some “‘shitty’ situation that happened in seconds where agents likely heard ‘gun!’ then the disarmed firearm may have had an accidental discharge that spooked the agents, and they shot.” “The agents do not have the luxury of multiple slow-motion angles,” he continued, making more excuses for the masked, militant men who have been terrorizing Minnesota all month.