Syria and Saudi Arabia said Saturday they aim to boost economic cooperation to for their mutual benefit and create jobs for Syrians after Western sanctions imposed on the war-torn country were eased earlier this month. The announcement was made during a visit to Damascus by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and other Syrian officials. The easing of Western sanctions is likely to open the way for foreign investors into the country, where a civil war has been ongoing since March 2011. In early December, 54 years of Assad family rule came to an end, when gunmen opposed to then-president Bashar Assad captured his seat of power in Damascus.

Hundreds of foreign companies left Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major U.S. firms like Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Co. But after more than three years of war, President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of restoring U.S.-Russia trade if there’s ever a peace settlement. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has said foreign companies could come back under some circumstances. “Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree,” Trump said in a statement after a phone call with Putin. “There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth.

The U.S. approved a new COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna late Friday but with limits on who can use it — not a replacement for the company’s existing shot, but a second option. The new vaccine, mNexspike, is a step toward next-generation coronavirus vaccines. It’s made in a way that allows for a lower dose — a fifth of the dose of its current COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax — by refining its immune target. The approval “adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19,” Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO, said in a statement Saturday. The Food and Drug Administration approved the new vaccine for use in all adults 65 and older, and for people age 12 to 64 who have a least one health condition that puts them at increased risk from the coronavirus.

Iran has expanded its reserves of enriched uranium and continues to block access to its nuclear facilities for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to the agency’s latest quarterly assessment.
The report notes that Iran’s supply of uranium enriched to 60% has climbed to 133.8 kilograms, bringing the total amount of material at that level of enrichment to 408.6 kilograms. Meanwhile, the stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% has declined, dropping from 332.3 kilograms to 274.5 kilograms.
In a rare move, the Prime Minister’s Office of Israel issued an English-language statement on Shabbos, urging swift action from the global community to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

WATCH:

The United States delivered its initial official nuclear proposal to Iran today, just hours after UN nuclear watchdogs disclosed a significant uptick in Iran’s accumulation of highly enriched uranium, according to a report by The New York Times.
Rather than submitting a complete agreement, U.S. officials presented a set of key points. These included a call for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment efforts and participate in a regional nuclear energy initiative alongside the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and several other Arab nations.
The proposal was transmitted through Oman and acknowledged by both Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the White House as having been received.

In a damning new report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) revealed that Iran conducted secret nuclear activities using undeclared material at three long-suspected sites — confirming fears that Tehran was operating a clandestine nuclear weapons program. The confidential report, obtained by Reuters, was requested by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors and outlines decades of nuclear violations. It concludes that Iran operated a covert and structured nuclear weapons initiative until the early 2000s, and stored nuclear material and contaminated equipment at a fourth site, Turquzabad, between 2009 and 2018 — the same facility publicly exposed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in 2018.

[COMMUNICATED]
For Some, It’s Joy. For Others, It’s Just Pressure.
In thousands of homes across our community, Shavuos is being planned with excitement; menus, learning, flowers, guests… But in over 1,500 homes, what should be a Yom Tov of joy is instead a source of quiet stress.
They’re not thinking about which cheesecake to try or which appetizer to make. It’s not about extras. It’s about basics.Milk? Eggs? Chicken? Challah? Can they make Yom Tov at all?
And this year more than ever, those questions are real.In this economy, even basics feel out of reach for so many.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff slammed Hamas for its response to the latest ceasefire proposal, calling it “totally unacceptable” and a move that “only takes us backward.” According to an Israeli official familiar with the details, Hamas’s response to the proposal included demands for a seven-year ceasefire, a complete IDF withdrawal from all areas of Gaza captured since March, the cancellation of the new US-supported aid distribution system in Gaza, and a return to the previous system supported by the United Nations. “This isn’t a response — it’s a slammed door,” the official stated. Earlier on Shabbos, Hamas announced that it submitted a response to the proposal to Egyptian and Qatari mediators.