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After decades spent pruning thorny bushes and working arduous harvests, Khalaf Allah al-Talhi has perfected the art of capturing the fragrant aroma of the desert rose in a bottle.”I love roses and take care of them more than I care for my own children,” the 80-year-old told AFP from his flower farm in western Saudi Arabia’s Taif.Known as “the city of roses”, the hills of Taif produce around 300 million of the area’s signature pink roses annually at 800 flower farms.By his own estimates, Talhi grows around five to six million of those. The arrival of spring’s mild climate is met with the blooming of roses that carpet the vast, rolling desert landscapes with vibrant shades of pink.The blooms are then hand-picked from daybreak to late in the evening by an army of labourers.The petals are soaked and boiled for hours in vats, where the rose’s scent is extracted through an intricate process capturing the steam that is then distilled into aromatic oil.The flowers have long been used to make rose water to wash the walls of the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and perfumes made from Taif roses are popular with pilgrims visiting the kingdom. – ‘Many rose lovers’ -“The quantity of Taif roses is small, so only limited amounts are exported because it’s not enough to meet local demand. Here in Saudi Arabia, we have many rose lovers who only prefer rose perfume,” Talhi said.A modest quantity of oil is exported to craft perfumes or to be added to cosmetic products such as moisturisers and soaps.According to the economic database TrendEconomy, Saudi Arabia in 2023 exported just $141 million worth of perfume products, which includes rosewater.At harvest time, workers on Talhi’s farm pick tens of thousands of flowers daily.”We were born on farms and have always worked in agriculture,” said Talhi, wearing a white robe and a red checkered headscarf.But now the greater frequency of erratic weather — including searing summer heat, frigid winters and unexpected flooding — presents a potent threat to Taif’s famed roses.- ‘My soul’ -Climate scientists have issued regular warnings that every fraction of a degree of global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.Saudi Arabia, with its arid climate and vast deserts, is particularly vulnerable.”Climate change accelerates soil degradation in processes such as salinisation, erosion, and desertification, which diminishes the quality and productivity of arable land in Saudi Arabia,” read a report published by the Atlantic Council.The think tank estimated that wheat yields were expected to decline by 20 to 30 percent by 2050 in Saudi Arabia because of heat stress and not enough irrigation water, while reductions are also expected for date palms and other staple crops.The weather in the deserts around Taif has been no exception, according to Talhi. “Last year and the year before, it was extremely cold. Some farmers didn’t harvest a single flower from their fields.”Thankfully, this season has been more forgiving.”There are weather changes, but this year the conditions have been very mild,” he said.While the weather may now be less reliable, Talhi himself has proven to be a source of stability.Despite his advancing years, the octogenarian rises every day before sunrise to work the fields alongside his staff, and he often labours away until late into the night.”This farm is my soul and beating heart,” he told AFP.”God willing, nothing will separate me from it, except death.”

US President Donald Trump’s return to power has emboldened Israeli leaders’ push to increase military presence in Gaza and reinvigorated right-wing ambitions to annex the occupied West Bank, experts say.After a phone call Tuesday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said on social media: “We are on the same side of every issue.”In Gaza, where the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel has raged for more than 18 months, Trump’s comeback meant “big changes” for Israel, said Asher Fredman, director of Israeli think-tank Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.”The arms embargo imposed by (former President Joe) Biden’s administration has essentially been lifted,” Fredman said.”That, together with the fact the northern front (Lebanon and Syria) now is quiet and we have a new defence minister and a new (army) chief of staff, is allowing Israel to move forward in achieving its military goals in Gaza.”Fredman said Trump has a good grasp of the situation in Gaza and understands Israel’s fight against Hamas.”If Israel decides to stop the war and have a ceasefire with Hamas, he’ll support it… but he also listened closely to released hostages who told him how terrible Hamas treated them, and his instinct is to get rid of Hamas,” Fredman said.Trump has made clear statements on Gaza, demanding the release of Israeli hostages and making plans for the territory, but he has remained silent on Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, which have escalated since the war in Gaza began.- Annexation -Just days after taking office, Trump proposed removing Gaza’s 2.4 million Palestinian residents to Jordan or Egypt, drawing international outrage.Although he has since appeared to backtrack, the remarks emboldened Netanyahu and Israeli far-right ministers who continue to advocate implementing the plan.Analysts say Trump’s silence on the West Bank has encouraged hardline ministers who openly dream of annexing the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967 and Palestinians see as part of their future state.In March, Israel’s cabinet approved the construction of a road project near the Maale Adumim settlement that would separate traffic for Israelis and Palestinians, a move Israeli NGO Peace Now likened to “apartheid”.Shortly afterward, in a joint statement, Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described Palestinian construction in the West Bank as a “strategic threat to the settlements”.Smotrich, calling the area by its biblical name, hailed a record year for “demolishing illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria” and said the government was working to expand Israeli settlements — which are illegal under international law.”Since Trump’s election in November, we’ve started to hear more and more rhetoric about annexation in the West Bank, and seen more and more actions on the ground,” said Mairav Zonszein, an analyst from the International Crisis Group.It is a “combination of Trump’s specific approach and the people that he’s chosen to be around him that have led Smotrich, Katz and others in the Israeli right to be confident that they can move forward with annexation,” she told AFP, mentioning for example the new US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who has openly backed Israeli settlements.- ‘Free rein’ -Sanam Vakil of Chatham House said that while Trump “has said he wants to end conflicts, there’s not one plan underway. I think there’s maybe multiple conflicting agendas.””There’s no criticism, there’s no condemnation of Israel’s activities, and I think that gives it free rein and confidence to continue its expansionist agenda” in the West Bank, Vakil said.On Gaza, Vakil said Trump was “giving Netanyahu and his hardliners a very long runway to get the job done”.Israel says it now controls 30 percent of Gaza’s territory, while AFP’s calculations based on maps provided by the military, suggests it controls more than 50 percent.While Trump and his administration have openly supported many of Israel’s policies, particularly regarding the Palestinians, sharp differences are emerging on another key issue, Iran.Vakil said that by being flexible on the Palestinian issue, Trump was likely “trying to buy himself some room to manage the Iran file”.The Trump administration has been engaged in indirect talks with Israel’s arch-foe Iran on its nuclear programme, a clear departure from Netanyahu’s long-standing policy, calling to address the threat through military means.”The president is making it clear that the military strategy isn’t going to be the first way to address the Iran crisis,” Vakil said, adding this has Israelis deeply worried.On Saturday, Netanyahu appeared to push back against Trump’s diplomatic initiative, saying in a statement that he remained “committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons”. 

The United Nations on Tuesday appointed an envoy to complete a “strategic assessment” of the agency charged with aiding Palestinians, a spokesman said.UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Ian Martin of the United Kingdom to review the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, to gauge the “political, financial, security” constraints the agency faces.The organization, broadly considered to be the backbone of humanitarian aid delivery for embattled Palestinians, has withstood a barrage of criticism and accusations from Israel since Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel and the devastating war in Gaza that followed.Israel cut all contact with UNRWA at the end of January, and has accused 19 of its 13,000 employees in Gaza of being directly involved in the October 7 attacks.”We’re trying to see how in this very complex environment, UNRWA can best deliver for the Palestine refugees it serves. For the communities it serves, they deserve to be assisted by an organization, by an UNRWA that can work in the best possible manner,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.The review is being carried out as part of the UN80 initiative launched last month to address chronic financial difficulties, which are being exacerbated by US budget cuts to international aid programs.Not all agencies will undergo a strategic assessment, but UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are unique, Dujarric said. “We will not question UNRWA’s mandate. We will see how UNRWA can better operate and better serve the communities that rely on” it, Dujarric added.The agency was created by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949, in the wake of the first Israeli-Arab conflict, shortly after the creation of Israel in 1948.Throughout decades of sporadic but ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, UNRWA has provided essential humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.Educated at Cambridge and Harvard universities, Martin has previously served the UN on missions in Somalia, Libya, Timor-Leste, Nepal, Eritrea, Rwanda and Haiti.

The trade standoff between Washington and Beijing is not sustainable, the US Treasury chief said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump predicted sky-high tariffs on many Chinese imports would come down “substantially.”Speaking at a closed-door event hosted by JPMorgan Chase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the enormous tariffs the world’s two biggest economies placed on each other’s …

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A leader from Hamas-aligned Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya was among two people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, the group and Israel’s military said.Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November truce with militant group Hezbollah that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the foes including two months of all-out war.Lebanon’s civil defence said “an Israeli drone targeted a car” near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man’s body.An AFP photographer saw the charred wreckage of a car at the scene. The Lebanese army cordoned off the area and forensic teams conducted an inspection.Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya in a statement announced the death of Hussein Atwi, calling him “an academic leader and university professor” and saying an Israeli drone strike “targeted his car as he was travelling to his workplace in Beirut”.The Israeli army said the air force had “eliminated” Atwi, describing him as “a significant terrorist in the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organisation”.A Lebanese security official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Atwi was a leader of Jamaa Islamiya’s armed wing, the Al-Fajr Forces.The official said Israel had previously targeted Atwi during its recent war with Hezbollah.Jamaa Islamiya, closely linked to both Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for multiple attacks against Israel before the November 27 ceasefire.- Local ‘commander’ -Also on Tuesday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy” strike in south Lebanon’s Tyre district killed one person.The Israeli military said the air force “eliminated” a local Hezbollah “commander” in the same area.The Israeli army said Jamaa Islamiya’s Atwi had been “involved in planning and advancing terrorist activity from Lebanon into Israeli territory” and had operated “in coordination with Hamas in Lebanon”.It said he had “carried out rocket attacks, coordinated terrorist infrastructure… and advanced attempts to infiltrate into Israeli territory”.Hamas in a statement condemned the “criminal Zionist strike” that killed Atwi and extended its condolences to the Jamaa Islamiya leadership.Hezbollah in a statement condemned the strike, without saying whether one of its members was killed in the second raid, also criticising the “failure of countries sponsoring the ceasefire deal”.The United States chairs a committee, which also includes France, tasked with overseeing the truce.Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.Israel was to withdraw all its forces from south Lebanon, but troops remain in five positions that it deems “strategic”.Lebanese authorities have said Israeli fire has killed some 190 people since the ceasefire.After unclaimed rocket launches at Israel in late March, Lebanon’s army said last week it had arrested several Lebanese and Palestinian suspects, while a security official said they included three Hamas members.