Saudi Arabia Executes 8 In A Day Amid Spike In Drug-Related Death Sentences
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that four Somalis and three Ethiopians were executed on Saturday in the southern region of Najran "for smuggling hashish into the kingdom".
One Saudi man was executed for the murder of his mother, SPA said.
Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has executed 230 people, according to an AFP tally of official reports.
Most of those executions -- 154 people -- were on drug-related charges.
The pace of executions puts the kingdom on track to surpass last year's record of 338 instances of capital punishment.
Analysts link the spike to the kingdom's "war on drugs" launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested only now being executed following their legal proceedings and convictions.
Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the use of the death penalty in narcotics cases for around three years.
It executed 19 people in 2022, two in 2023, and 117 in 2024 for narcotics-related crimes, according to the AFP tally.
Activists say the kingdom's continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform agenda.
Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.
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For decades, leaders across party lines in both India and the US have worked to shed the baggage of the Cold War to cultivate bilateral ties. With a full-scale economic war and an alliance with India's adversaries, US President Donald Trump is undoing that progress and setting the relationship back to the distrust of the Cold War. read more US President Donald Trump speaks with the press as he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 13, 2025. (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP) For more than three decades, Indian and American leaders pursued a mutually beneficial relationship that built upon common grounds and sought middle grounds in case of divergences. But the principle of mutuality that underpinned the India-US relationship has now ended. With 50 per cent tariffs, unending verbal attacks, unleashing his minions to insinuations lacking factual bases, and a burgeoning alliance with India's adversaries, Trump has made it clear that he is not seeking a negotiated trade agreement but wants India to accept his diktats without question — and that he is up for getting his hands dirty in this pressure campaign. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is this approach, and not any unmanageable differences on trade or foreign policy, that has driven the India-US relationship to the lowest point in decades. Firstpost has learnt that India-US trade talks were going well until Trump abruptly dumped the progress and ramped up his demands to unrealistic levels. Even as Trump has claimed himself to be a master dealmaker, Firstpost has learnt that he has been a fickle in trade talks and has not been consistent in his terms. India-US trade talks were going well — then came Trump In July, Indian and American negotiators were close to finalising a draft for a trade agreement well ahead of the August 1 deadline, but Trump ramped up his demands out of nowhere and blew up the progress, Firstpost has learnt. It is not clear if it was a draft for the final trade deal or a 'mini deal' that negotiators were said to be looking forward to at the time. Firstpost learnt that India offered certain relaxations in trade talks, which would have helped American businesses, but that was not enough for Trump. It is understood that these relaxations concerned regulatory and compliance matters that would have created an enabling environment for American businesses looking to enter India. It is not understood to be acceptance of American demands on contentious issues like agriculture, dairy, and genetically modified (GM) crops. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Firstpost has also learnt that Trump was fickle in trade talks, offering India tariff rates of 10 per cent, 15 per cent, and 19 per cent at various points. ALSO READ: With tariffs & threats, Trump dashes hope of being India's top partner Such an unpredictable manner in serious bilateral trade pact talks suggests that President Trump is not negotiating in good faith and wants all gains from a deal for himself instead of a win-win deal, according to Ram Singh, a professor of international trade and business at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). 'India has always valued its autonomy. India will not agree to an unequal trade deal like Japan or South Korea, which are dependent on the United States for security. The current trade tensions and the way US officials have conducted themselves in unprecedented. Previously, they understood Indian positions. Now, they have a 'my way or the highway' approach and want everything for themselves,' Singh tells Firstpost. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump risks decades of progress in India-US ties In India, Trump is already being compared to late Richard Nixon, the disgraced Cold War-era President of the United States who sided with Pakistan and deployed the 7th Fleet of the US Navy to intervene in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 on the side of Pakistan. That episode is seared into the Indian public memory and continues to serve as a reminder that the India-US relationship, which has become central to India's foreign policy, is not as old as it might appear. Instead, it is quite young — just over three decades old. With his tariff war and systematic undermining of India, Trump has put at risk the progress made post-1990s by all the presidents and prime ministers. President Trump has broken the trust in the India-US relationship, and it will take time and efforts on part of the Americans to rebuild trust, and the responsibility would likely fall on the next administration, says Yusuf Unjhawala, a scholar of geopolitics at the Takshashila Institute. 'For now, the India-US relationship appears to be frozen and that is expected to deal a blow to collaborations such as the Quad. However, this situation also brings opportunities for middle powers, including in the Indo-Pacific, to come together. I have long believed that India, Japan, and Australia should have a much closer partnership,' says Unjhawala. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As tariffs are just one way of needling India, Trump has strengthened the anti-India sentiment in the country and the government. Beyond tariffs, Trump has interfered in Jammu and Kashmir, undermined India on Operation Sindoor, equated Pakistan to India, aligned with Pakistan, and partnered with Islamist regimes of Syria and Turkey. This has reignited Cold War-era fears that the United States essentially wants to check India's rise. At least in the immediate future, there is merit in such fears. Some of the most vulnerable sectors from Trump's tariffs in the immediate futures are some of the most labour-intensive and politically sensitive, such as the marine sector (shrimp, prawn, etc), textile sector, and edibles (fruits, pickle), according to Singh, the international trade and business professor at IIFT. Any disruption in these sectors could have serious sociopolitical consequences.
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Trump's trade counsellor Navarro a convicted felon: His claim 'India uses US dollars to buy Russian oil' called out
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Armenia, Azerbaijan sign Trump-brokered peace deal where US gains exclusive access to key transit corridor
In a bid to win a Nobel Peace Prize, US President Donald Trump has clinched a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the truce came with perks for the US as Trump gets access to a transit corridor, which will be named after him read more US President Donald Trump joins hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, left, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, right, during a ceremony signing and agreement to end the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijani, in the State Dining Room of the White House on Friday. AFP With a Nobel Peace Prize in his mind, US President Donald Trump hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House on Friday, where the two nations finalised a peace agreement. However, that deal would also grant the United States exclusive development access to a critical transit corridor in the South Caucasus. Interestingly, the corridor is even expected to be named after Trump. The deal signed on Friday is aimed at quelling long-simmering tensions between the two nations, while opening up both nations for greater economic development. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But what garnered attention was the fact that the deal granted the US long-term, exclusive rights to carve a new transportation route through Armenian territory. 'Many tried to find a resolution,' Trump said on Friday alongside Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. 'But with this accord, we've finally succeeded in making peace," he boasted. TRIPP: The 'global peacemaker' with vested interests The deal is sure to delight Trump because, in return, he is getting the right to form a corridor which will be called the TRIPP — the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. It is pertinent to note that in his first six months in the office, Trump has branded himself as a so-called 'global peacemaker'. However, many warned that the deal comes with a cost. According to CNN, the project will operate under Armenian legal jurisdiction, and the United States will, in turn, lease the land to a consortium responsible for construction and management. 'This declaration establishes what they are calling a great honour for me — I didn't ask for this,' Trump said of the decision to name the corridor after him. The deal came days after the White House administered a ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia. The deal between the two Asian nations was reached last month after Trump threatened to cut off trade talks with both countries if they continued to fight each other. 'I was talking to one of the two nations on trade, and I said, 'I'm not going to sign a trade deal if you guys are going to fight,'' Trump said. 'We got it stopped.' Meanwhile, the White House officials have prioritised the diplomatic efforts in a bid to follow through on Trump's campaign pledge to end wars around the world. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Trump's hopes for a Nobel The administration kept on boasting about their work even on smaller-scale conflicts, while Trump struggles to resolve two of the biggest wars in recent history - Israel's war in Gaza and Russia's incursion into Ukraine. However, Trump has a vested interest in these peace deals. A White House official said that Trump believes that each peace deal should bring him closer to winning the Nobel Peace Prize that he's coveted for years. In the past, Trump has often cribbed about the decision to award former US President Barack Obama the prize in 2009, at the start of his first term. Keeping Trump's hopes and aspirations in mind, multiple foreign leaders have nominated the president for the Peace Prize to curry favour with him — the Armenian prime minister and Azerbaijani president on Friday became the latest to endorse his candidacy for the award. 'Who, if not President Trump, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?' Aliyev said, as Trump looked on. 'President Trump, in six months, did a miracle.' Another crucial part of the deal was that the heads of both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to endorse a formal request to disband the Minsk Group. It is pertinent to note that the group was established in 1992 and co-chaired by France, Russia and the US and has long been tasked with mediating the dispute between the two nations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Thirty-five years of death and hatred — and now it's going to be love and respect and success together,' Trump said of the pact between Armenia and Azerbaijan, beaming as the foreign leaders shook hands in front of him.
