4+ min ago  (173+ words) The fact that any Iranians are being allowed this year reaffirms Riyadh's policy of not politicizing its guardianship of Islam's holiest sites. The Iran war is reshaping who performs Hajj this year, and how they get there: Iran's allocation was…...

5+ min ago  (181+ words) Saudi Arabia has modernized some of the structures to accommodate more pilgrims and lower the heat, which can reach more than 50 degrees Celsius. On Monday, millions of pilgrims begin arriving in Mina, a small valley five kilometers east of the…...

6+ min ago  (193+ words) Qatar's Ali Al Thawadi is a minister without his own department, but he's become an important cog in the Gulf's diplomatic machinery. When US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a deal with Iran had been "largely negotiated," he…...

49+ min ago  (170+ words) Romauld Wadagni, the former finance minister, promised to ensure citizens benefit from the growing strength of the country's economy. Benin's new president promised to ensure citizens benefitted from the growing strength of the economy. Romauld Wadagni, 49, was sworn in on…...

43+ min ago  (344+ words) Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye decision to fire his popular prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, has sparked a political crisis. Alexis's view Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye set off a political avalanche by firing his popular prime minister, Ousmane Sonko Faye…...

55+ min ago  (187+ words) South African officials warned that short extensions of the free trade deal undermine investor confidence and disrupt regional manufacturing plans. South Africa made critical minerals the cornerstone of a push for a 15-year extension of the US African Growth and…...

1+ hour, 1+ min ago  (181+ words) The week-long gathering is the first since Sidi Ould Tah, Mauritania's former Finance Minister, was elected the lender's president a year ago. The African Development Bank began its annual meeting today in Brazzaville under the cloud of an Ebola outbreak…...

1+ hour, 52+ min ago  (668+ words) Kenya's proposed new taxes risk hampering the growth of fintechs and mobile money services, with Safaricom's M-Pesa likely to be the worst hit, experts told Semafor. Kenya President William Ruto's administration is seeking to impose a new 16% value-added tax on…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (24+ words) The Patriot missiles used to shoot down Iranian strikes are akin to "using a bazooka to kill a fly," The New York Times wrote....

2+ hour, 27+ min ago  (385+ words) A joint venture between a US defense startup and a Saudi firm is building a factory near Riyadh to manufacture combat drones modelled on Iran's Shahed system, which has been used to pummell Gulf countries over the past few months....