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US Treasury Starts Implementing CAATSA

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
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US Treasury Starts Implementing CAATSA

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari speaks with journalists after he addressed a conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017. AP

The US Treasury Department announced Tuesday the expansion of sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), under the pretext of the implementation of the US Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

CAATSA is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. The bill was passed in the Senate on August 2, 2017, and was signed by President Trump.

The law requires the US government to implement sanctions on Iran within 90 days after the bill is passed. In the list released by the US Department of Treasury, 41 individuals and companies were included.

The new sanctions apply to the IRGC Air Force, the Al-Ghadir Missile Command, the Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization and the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, as well as IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, Head of Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Hussein Taib, top military adviser to Ali Khamenei Yahya Rahim Safavi and former chief of staff Mohammad Reza Naqdi.

Properties of these individuals and companies in the USA are blocked, US citizens are not allowed to have any kind of deal with them and they don’t have the permission to enter the USA, according to CAASTA law.
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari hinted again that his country would target US forces in the region and increase the range of its ballistic missiles to more than 2,000 Kilometers if Washington starts implementing CAATSA.

Meanwhile, following a closed meeting with Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Sadeq Larijani, President Hassan Rouhani announced Iranian scenarios to face these sanctions.

Addressing a conference entitled “A World Free of Terror” in Tehran on Tuesday, Major General Jafari said, “The Americans are trying to implement the plan against the IRGC under the pretext of Iran’s missile power.”
However, this plan is targeting the Iranian economy in nature, he said, adding that the IRGC and missile capabilities of the Islamic republic are only pretexts for the US sanctions.

Iran has no need to extend the current 2,000 km range of its ballistic missiles as they can already strike enemy targets in case of aggression, the head of the Revolutionary Guard has said.

Jafari told reporters that the missile range can cover "most of American interest and forces" within the region, even as he underlined the program's defensive purpose.

Jafari said the ballistic missile range is based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but he warned Iran's enemies of the "high costs" of provoking his country.

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Gulf

Malaysia, MWL to Organize International Conference of Asian Religious Leaders

Titled "Promoting Harmony Among Followers of Religions," the conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur. (MWL)
Titled "Promoting Harmony Among Followers of Religions," the conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur. (MWL)
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Malaysia, MWL to Organize International Conference of Asian Religious Leaders

Titled "Promoting Harmony Among Followers of Religions," the conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur. (MWL)
Titled "Promoting Harmony Among Followers of Religions," the conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur. (MWL)

The Malaysian premiership, in partnership with the Mekkah-based Muslim World League (MWL), is set to host on Tuesday the largest international conference for religious leaders in Asia.

Titled "Promoting Harmony Among Followers of Religions," the event, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, is expected to welcome about 2,000 religious and intellectual figures from 57 countries.

Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Bin Ibrahim and MWL Secretary-General and Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa will sponsor and participate in the event.

The conference will focus on several themes such as pluralism, tolerance, moderation, education, building bridges, and inclusive commonalities.

It aims to highlight the role of religion in promoting worldwide peace, enhancing solidarity among peoples, and exploring ways of civilizational cooperation. It will also launch initiatives based on the "Makkah Declaration" and promote religious values.

World

Rains in Southern Brazil Kill at Least 37

General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
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Rains in Southern Brazil Kill at Least 37

General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS
General view shows an area affected by the floods in Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. Jeff Botega/Agencia RBS via REUTERS

Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul killed 37 people, with another 74 still missing, the state civil defense agency said Friday, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.
It was the fourth such environmental disaster in a year, following floods in July, September and November 2023 that killed 75 people in total.
The flooding statewide has surpassed that seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. In some cities, water levels were at their highest since records began nearly 150 years ago, the agency said.
On Thursday, a dam at a hydroelectric plant between the cities of Bento Goncalves and Cotipora partially collapsed and entire cities in the Taquari River valley, like Lajeado and Estrela, were completely overtaken by water. In the town of Feliz, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the state capital, Porto Alegre, a massively swollen river swept away a bridge that connected it with the neighboring city of Linha Nova.
Operators reported electricity, communications and water cuts across the state. More than 23,000 people had to leave their homes, according to the civil defense agency.
Without internet, telephone service or electricity, residents struggled to provide updates or information to their relatives living in other states. Helicopters flew continually over the cities while stranded families with children awaited rescue on the rooftops.
The downpour started Monday and is expected to last at least through Saturday, Marcelo Seluchi, chief meteorologist at the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts of Natural Disasters, told Brazil's public television network Friday.
On Thursday night, Gov. Eduardo Leite alerted the state's population — known as gauchos — about the persistence of rains and floods. The situation was expected to worsen in Porto Alegre, he said, according to The Associated Press.
“As a human being, I am devastated inside, just like every gaucho is," he said. "But as governor, I am here steadfast and I guarantee that we will not falter. We are doing everything with focus, attention, discipline, and outrage, to ensure that everything within our reach is done.”

Varieties

Face of Neanderthal Woman Buried in Iraq Cave Revealed

The recreated head of Neanderthal woman ‘Shanidar Z’ (Jamie Simonds)
The recreated head of Neanderthal woman ‘Shanidar Z’ (Jamie Simonds)
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Face of Neanderthal Woman Buried in Iraq Cave Revealed

The recreated head of Neanderthal woman ‘Shanidar Z’ (Jamie Simonds)
The recreated head of Neanderthal woman ‘Shanidar Z’ (Jamie Simonds)

Archaeologists have reconstructed the human-like face of a Neanderthal woman who lived 75,000 years ago in a cave in northern Iraq where the extinct species may have conducted unique funerary rituals, Britain’s The Independent reported.

Bone fragments of the Neanderthal woman, named Shanidar Z, were first unearthed in 2018 from a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where her people may have repeatedly returned to lay their dead to rest, said the report.

Although Neanderthal people, who are thought to have died out 40,000 years ago, had skulls quite different from those of humans, the rebuilt face of this Neanderthal woman – thought to have been in her forties when she died – shows that their appearance was human-like.

The findings are revealed in a new documentary, Secrets of the Neanderthals, produced by the BBC and released on Netflix worldwide.

“Neanderthal skulls have huge brow ridges and lack chins, with a projecting midface that results in more prominent noses,” said Dr. Emma Pomeroy, from Cambridge University’s archaeology department. “But the recreated face suggests those differences were not so stark in life.”

She continued: “It’s perhaps easier to see how interbreeding occurred between our species, to the extent that almost everyone alive today still has Neanderthal DNA.”

The woman’s remains, including a skull flattened to around 2cm thick, are some of the best-preserved Neanderthal fossils found this century, The Independent quoted researchers as saying.

Her head is thought to have been crushed, possibly by rockfall, soon after her death, likely after her brain decomposed but before her skull filled with dirt.

After carefully exposing the remains, including her skeleton almost to the waist, Cambridge researchers used a glue-like consolidant to strengthen the bones and surrounding sediment.

They removed Shanidar Z in small foil-wrapped blocks from under 7.5 meters of soil and rock within the heart of the “flower funeral” cave.

They then pieced together more than 200 pieces of her skull to return it to its original shape, including her upper and lower jaws.

“It’s like a high-stakes 3D jigsaw puzzle. A single block can take over a fortnight to process,” said Pomeroy, who features in the new documentary.

The researchers surface-scanned the reconstructed skull and 3D-printed it, further adding layers of fabricated muscle and skin to reveal her face.

Varieties

China Launches First Probe to Collect Samples from Far Side of Moon

A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
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China Launches First Probe to Collect Samples from Far Side of Moon

A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

China launched a probe on Friday to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a world first as Beijing pushes ahead with an ambitious program that aims to send a crewed lunar mission by 2030.

A rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 lunar probe blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province just before 5:30 pm (0930 GMT), AFP journalists near the site said.

Heavy rain engulfed the site just minutes before the launch began, they said, with hundreds of onlookers gathered nearby to witness the latest leap for China's decades-long space program.

Washington has warned that the program is being used to mask military objectives and an effort to establish dominance in space.

The Chang'e-6 aims to collect around two kilograms of lunar samples from the far side of the Moon and bring them back to Earth for analysis.

State news agency Xinhua hailed it as "the first endeavor of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration".

It is a technically complex 53-day mission that will also see it attempt an unprecedented launch from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth.

"The whole mission is fraught with numerous challenges, with each step interconnected and nerve-wracking," Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, told Xinhua.

The probe is set to land in the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system.

Once there, it will scoop up lunar soil and rocks, and carry out other experiments in the landing zone.

It must then lift off from the Moon's surface and retrace its steps back home.

Varieties

Nepal Court Orders Limit on Everest Climbing Permits

(FILES) Tents of mountaineers are pictured at the Everest base camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district on May 3, 2021. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
(FILES) Tents of mountaineers are pictured at the Everest base camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district on May 3, 2021. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
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Nepal Court Orders Limit on Everest Climbing Permits

(FILES) Tents of mountaineers are pictured at the Everest base camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district on May 3, 2021. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
(FILES) Tents of mountaineers are pictured at the Everest base camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district on May 3, 2021. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)

Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to limit the number of mountaineering permits issued for Everest and other peaks, a lawyer confirmed Friday, just as expeditions prepare for the spring climbing season.

The Himalayan republic is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.

The verdict was issued in late April but a summary was only published this week, Agence France Presse reported.

Lawyer Deepak Bikram Mishra, who had filed a petition urging permits to be curtailed, told AFP that the court had responded to public concerns about Nepal's mountains and its environment.

"It has ordered a limit to the number of climbers... and also given measures for waste management and preservation of the mountain's environment," Mishra said.

The verdict's summary said that the mountains' capacity "must be respected" and an appropriate maximum number of permits should be determined.

The full text of the verdict has not been published and the summary does not mention any specific limit to the number of permits issued.

Nepal currently grants permits to all who apply and are willing to pay $11,000 to scale Everest, the world's highest peak at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) above sea level.

Last year, the country issued 478 permits for Everest, a record high.

A massive human traffic jam on Everest in 2019 forced teams to wait hours at the summit in freezing temperatures, risking depleted oxygen levels that can lead to sickness and exhaustion.

At least four of the 11 deaths on the peak that year were blamed on overcrowding.

Arab World

ISIS Carries Out Deadly Attacks on Pro-government Forces in East Syria

An aerial picture shows farmers harvesting strawberries in a field in Bidama village in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
An aerial picture shows farmers harvesting strawberries in a field in Bidama village in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
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ISIS Carries Out Deadly Attacks on Pro-government Forces in East Syria

An aerial picture shows farmers harvesting strawberries in a field in Bidama village in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)
An aerial picture shows farmers harvesting strawberries in a field in Bidama village in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP)

Suspected members of ISIS attacked three posts for Syrian government forces and pro-government gunmen early Friday killing at least 13, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media reported.

The attack wounded others who were taken to hospitals in the central province of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said 15 were killed in the attacks on three posts near the central town of Sukhna and blamed ISIS.
The conflicting casualty counts could not immediately be reconciled.
Pro-government media outlets said 13 soldiers and pro-government gunmen were killed in the attacks and that ISIS gunmen were behind it. They gave no further details.

Local sources later said that the death toll rose to 17.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks but the area was once a stronghold of the extremist group that was officially defeated in Syria in March 2019.
However, ISIS sleeper cells have been blamed for deadly attacks against both Syrian government forces and against members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria.

World

Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia warned on Friday it would launch a "devastating revenge strike" if Ukraine, backed by the West, strikes Crimea or the Crimean Bridge which links southern Russia to the Black Sea peninsula and has been targeted by Kyiv twice before.
Moscow said it believed that Ukraine, which has recently taken delivery of long-range ATACM guided missile systems from the United States, was plotting to attack the bridge ahead of or on May 9, the day when Russia marks the Soviet Union's World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv has repeatedly said it deems as illegal the construction of the road and rail bridge, which has been used in the past to move troops and weaponry. Ukraine says it wants Crimea back.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, listed statements and social media posts by officials from Ukraine and European Union member states that she said suggested the bridge was in Kyiv's sights, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya on May 1 posted on X what he called a "2024 list of 6 Main Types of Bridges" with a set of images.
The final image, labelled "Kerch", the name of the Crimean town at one end of the Crimean Bridge, was left blank, perhaps suggesting it would be destroyed.
Some East European diplomats and officials have posted similar content.
"The Crimean Bridge is once again in the crosshairs," Zakharova told a news briefing.
"Preparations for an attack on it, which is hard to believe, are now being carried out openly, with ostentatious bravado and with the absolute direct and shameless support of the collective West.
"I would like to warn Washington and Brussels that any aggressive actions against Crimea are not only doomed to fail, but will also be met with a devastating revenge strike," she said.
Zakharova noted that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday that Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by Britain to hit targets inside Russia, something she said was proof the West was waging a hybrid war against Moscow.
Crimea was part of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1783 till 1954 when Moscow gifted it to what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, when both were part of the Soviet Union.
Moscow now says that decision was a mistake.

Arab World

Violence Shuts Crucial Aid Corridor into Sudan's Darfur

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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Violence Shuts Crucial Aid Corridor into Sudan's Darfur

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Violence around the city of al-Fashir in Darfur, Sudan, has blocked a recently opened humanitarian corridor from Chad and time is running out to prevent starvation in the vast region, the UN World Food Program said on Friday, according to Reuters.

Attacks around al-Fashir, the Sudanese army's last holdout in Darfur and home to some 1.6 million residents, have led to dire warnings of a new wave of mass displacement and inter-communal conflict in Sudan's year-old war.

The conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has also led to worsening hunger, with some people eating soil or leaves as famine looms.

Aid officials say both sides have been looting aid or blocking it from reaching areas where starvation is taking hold, contributing to a humanitarian crisis.

The latest violence around al-Fashir halted aid convoys coming through Chad's Tine border crossing, while restrictions by authorities aligned with the army were preventing deliveries of assistance through the only other aid corridor from Chad at Adre, WFP said.

Only small quantities of aid have entered al-Fashir during the war, the sole army-approved conduit for shipments to other parts of Darfur.

Since the end of March, 23 villages near al-Fashir have been razed, potentially by the RSF, according to a study of satellite imagery by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab published on Thursday.

In the city itself, more than 600 buildings have been damaged by burning during the same period, including in areas where the army is reportedly carrying out bombardments, the study said.

Analysis of whether the RSF was responsible for widespread damage inflicted on a single area on April 28-29 was ongoing, it added.

In the Zamzam refugee camp in North Darfur, where there have been no official food distributions since May 2023, 30% of at least 46,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition "revealing a massive crisis in the making", medical charity MSF said on Thursday.

"Despite being aware of the severity of the situation, and despite famine alerts coming from UN agencies themselves, the UN are doing far too little to prevent the malnutrition crisis in Zamzam from falling further into catastrophe," MSF said in a statement.

At least 1,000 Sudanese refugees have fled a camp run by the United Nations in northern Ethiopia following a series of shootings and robberies, three of the refugees and the United Nations said.
The refugees said about 7,000 of the 8,000 residents of the Kumer camp left on foot early on Wednesday morning after they were attacked and robbed by local militiamen.
They said they were detained by the police shortly after leaving the camp, which is 70 km (43 miles) from the Sudanese border in Ethiopia's Amhara region. They asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said it was aware that 1,000 people had left Kumer on Wednesday because they felt unsafe after a series of security incidents.
Spokespeople for the Ethiopian government, the Amhara regional administration, the federal police and the national refugee agency did not respond to requests for comment.
More than 1.6 million Sudanese people have fled their country since civil war broke out in April 2023 between the army and the RSF. About 33,000 have crossed into Ethiopia, according to UNHCR.

Culture

Spain Abolishes National Bullfighting Award in Cultural Shift

Spanish bullfighter Juan Ortega fights the 528kg bull 'Vivaracho' bull during a bullfight in the Plaza Monumental of Aguascalientes, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, 28 April 2024. EPA/Tadeo Alcina
Spanish bullfighter Juan Ortega fights the 528kg bull 'Vivaracho' bull during a bullfight in the Plaza Monumental of Aguascalientes, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, 28 April 2024. EPA/Tadeo Alcina
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Spain Abolishes National Bullfighting Award in Cultural Shift

Spanish bullfighter Juan Ortega fights the 528kg bull 'Vivaracho' bull during a bullfight in the Plaza Monumental of Aguascalientes, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, 28 April 2024. EPA/Tadeo Alcina
Spanish bullfighter Juan Ortega fights the 528kg bull 'Vivaracho' bull during a bullfight in the Plaza Monumental of Aguascalientes, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, 28 April 2024. EPA/Tadeo Alcina

Spain scrapped an annual bullfighting award on Friday, prompting a rebuke from conservatives over a backlash against a centuries-old tradition they see as an art form but which has run into growing concern for animal welfare.
Spanish-style bullfighting, in which the animal usually ends up killed by a sword thrust by a matador in shining garb, is for supporters a cultural tradition to be preserved, while critics call it a cruel ritual with no place in modern society, Reuters reported.
The Culture Ministry said it based its decision to abolish the award on the "new social and cultural reality in Spain" where worries about animal welfare have risen while attendance at most bullrings has declined.
"I think that's the feeling of a majority of Spaniards who can understand less and less why animal torture is practiced in our country..., and much less why that torture gets awarded with public money," Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun said on X.
The national award came in the form of a 30,000-euro ($32,217) government check and has been bestowed on famous bullfighters such as Julian Lopez, known as "El Juli", or cultural associations related to the bullfighting tradition.
It has recently become a defining issue in Spain's culture wars, pitting left-wing parties such as Sumar, to which Urtasun belongs, against right-wing conservatives who support the tradition.
Borja Semper, spokesperson for the opposition conservative People's Party, told reporters the government move showed that it "does not believe in cultural diversity or liberty", and that his party would reinstate the award whenever it regained power.
The PP leader of the Aragon region, Jorge Azcon, said it would introduce another award. "Tradition should be something that unites us rather than divides," he said.
Opposition to bullfighting has also grown in Latin America, where the tradition was exported in the 16th century, and in southern France, where it spread in the 19th century.
In Spain, the average bullfighting aficionado has gotten older and the number of bullfighting festivals dropped by a third between 2010 and 2023.

Business

Saudi Red Sea Authority, NEOM Sign MoU to Improve Visitor Experience

The MoU, signed by SRSA Acting CEO Mohammed Al-Nasser and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, reflects SRSA's commitment to encouraging and attracting investment in coastal tourism activities. SPA
The MoU, signed by SRSA Acting CEO Mohammed Al-Nasser and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, reflects SRSA's commitment to encouraging and attracting investment in coastal tourism activities. SPA
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Saudi Red Sea Authority, NEOM Sign MoU to Improve Visitor Experience

The MoU, signed by SRSA Acting CEO Mohammed Al-Nasser and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, reflects SRSA's commitment to encouraging and attracting investment in coastal tourism activities. SPA
The MoU, signed by SRSA Acting CEO Mohammed Al-Nasser and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, reflects SRSA's commitment to encouraging and attracting investment in coastal tourism activities. SPA

Saudi Red Sea Authority (SRSA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NEOM to collaborate on developing legislation, regulations, and technology in marine tourism.
The partnership will promote the sharing of expertise and enable the implementation and activation of joint initiatives. The aim is to enhance research, deliver innovation, and improve the visitor experience for tourists in Saudi Arabia's existing, emerging, and future Red Sea coastal destinations.
The MoU, signed by SRSA Acting CEO Mohammed Al-Nasser and NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, reflects SRSA's commitment to encouraging and attracting investment in coastal tourism activities. It also assists small and medium enterprises, including administrative, technical, and advisory support.
Through this partnership, SRSA aims to integrate with relevant entities from the public, private, and third sectors to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which is to activate the role of coastal tourism as one of the promising and valuable sectors of the national economy.
The agreement specified several areas of cooperation, such as supporting opportunities available to investors in coastal tourism and water activities, as well as planning and implementing other joint initiatives as agreed upon by the two parties.
The MoU reflects SRSA's efforts to expand its strategic partnerships and explore best practices to regulate navigational and marine tourism activities, all while ensuring sustainability and care for the environment.