Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the future of U.S.-Saudi relations, a diplomatic clash between China and Japan, and a deadly stabbing in the West Bank.

U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with pomp and pageantry on Tuesday, as part of a White House effort to treat Riyadh less like a problematic but important regional player in the Middle East and more like a treasured ally and business partner. But despite Trump’s attempt to focus on the country’s U.S. investment pledges, Saudi Arabia’s abysmal human rights record and the Trump family’s financial ties to the country have brought heavy scrutiny to the historic visit.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the future of U.S.-Saudi relations, a diplomatic clash between China and Japan, and a deadly stabbing in the West Bank.

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U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with pomp and pageantry on Tuesday, as part of a White House effort to treat Riyadh less like a problematic but important regional player in the Middle East and more like a treasured ally and business partner. But despite Trump’s attempt to focus on the country’s U.S. investment pledges, Saudi Arabia’s abysmal human rights record and the Trump family’s financial ties to the country have brought heavy scrutiny to the historic visit.

Tuesday was Mohammed bin Salman’s first trip to Washington since 2018, the same year that the crown prince is believed to have ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump and the crown prince both deny the latter’s involvement, contradicting U.S. intelligence.

“No amount of White House pomp or glitz can erase MBS’s culpability in the premeditated torture, killing, and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, one of the most brazen acts of transnational repression in recent memory,” said Uzra Zeya, the president of international organization Human Rights First.

Under Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has accelerated its brutal crackdown on dissent, and this year alone, the country has dramatically increased the number of executions that it has carried out. Yet, Trump heralded the Saudi crown prince on Tuesday, saying, “What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”

When an ABC journalist asked the pair about Khashoggi, Trump berated the reporter before responding: “A........

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