The United Arab Emirates denied last week Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that he made a secret trip to the Gulf state during the Iran war to meet its president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. But reports that the UAE has carried out its own strikes on Iran have renewed scrutiny of the Abraham Accords.

What are the Abraham Accords?
This series of peace and cooperation agreements normalized relations between Israel and several Arab neighbors. The UAE and Bahrain signed the initial agreements, mediated by the U.S. on Sept. 15, 2020. And three months later, Sudan and Morocco joined the pact.

The UAE and Bahrain saw the Accords as strategically useful, but Arab public opinion remains strongly pro-Palestinian and opposed to closer relations with Israel. The Gaza war only exacerbated this, and then the Iran war created a sense that Israel was dragging the region into further instability.

Tehran’s “narrative” became that it could target countries that had signed the Accords “at will,” said The Jerusalem Post. This reinforced fears in Saudi Arabia, in particular, that alignment with Israel could make the kingdom a target.

Arab governments face a dilemma. Maintaining ties with Israel and its key ally, the U.S., risks a domestic backlash, but breaking ties could damage their security and economic interests.

How might they be updated?
The original vision of the Abraham Accords — an expanding, economically integrated bloc across the Middle East — has become a significantly weaker prospect. Future agreements could involve cooler normalization, selective security cooperation and a slower expansion.

The rise of China has also encouraged players to consider other options. Expanding and strengthening the Accords creates a “network rooted in shared security interests and American sponsorship,” said conservative think tank the Hudson Institute. But Beijing has “spent the better part of two decades cultivating Middle Eastern influence,” with infrastructure finance, arms sales and “diplomatic mediation.”

What would an update look like?
The Accords have “demonstrated resilience,” despite the “turbulence” of the recent years, including “growing criticism of Israel,” said Roy Binyamini, a former National Security Council official, at Ynet.

The U.S. and its Accords partners could offer a “vision for regional stability, economic growth, inter-faith tolerance and the containment of extremist influences.” Meanwhile, Israel could “leverage its experience” to help regional partners in “strengthening civilian defense systems.”

Reading test scores have been on the decline since the mid-2010s, then the pandemic made recovery that much more difficult. And the proliferation of screens, student absenteeism and a push away from phonics-based teaching has further led to the reduction in scores.

Contributing factors 
The U.S. entered a “learning recession” in 2013 as “student progress in math and reading stalled and began to decline,” said Education Scorecard. Reading scores were “down last year in 83% of school districts where data was available,” while “math scores were down in 70%,” compared to a decade ago, said The New York Times. And these declines have “affected both rich and poor districts and crossed racial and geographic divides.”

The reduced scores “coincided with a dismantling of test-based accountability in schools and a dramatic rise in social media use among young people,” said Education Scorecard. While it “remains unclear whether and how much each factor caused the decline in scores, both are likely candidates.” 

For years, schools “taught reading using approaches that deemphasized phonics and encouraged strategies such as guessing words based on context clues,” said The Associated Press. And the pandemic “accelerated learning declines, especially for the poorest students,” said the Times. 

Over the past decade, screen time has also increased exponentially. There’s “no question” that “swiping has decreased students’ focus and persistence,” said the Times, and “time on devices has displaced time spent reading or studying.”

Little recovery
“Scores inched upward in reading last year and have climbed more steadily in math since 2022,” said the Times. But they have been “nowhere near enough to make up for lost ground.” 

The country has also seen a U-shaped recovery, which suggests the “middle has been left behind,” said Education Scorecard. There have been “larger improvements among the highest-income and the lowest-income school districts in the country,” while “middle-income districts (those with between 30% and 70% of students receiving federally subsidized lunches) have seen the least improvement on average.” 

Ronda Rousey defeats Gina Carano with her signature armbar move just 17 seconds into their mixed martial arts match. The headline fight of Netflix’s broadcast at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, brought “Rowdy” Rousey, 39, for her first fight in a decade.
Sarah Stier / Netflix / Getty Images

Food markets are a gift for travelers. Many of the tastes and flavors of a region are conveniently in one spot, the produce is often as fresh as it gets, and you can meet the farmers, butchers, cheesemakers, fishmongers and chefs. These markets offer visitors a crash course in their region’s local cuisine, one delicious stall at a time.

Borough Market, London
The “sprawling” Borough Market (pictured above) was established in 1756, making it the “mother of all artisan foodie markets in London,” said Time Out. You can stroll by more than100 stalls. You won’t want to miss bites of soft cheese, flaky pastries and fresh fruit. 

Chatuchak Market, Bangkok
Adventure awaits at the gigantic Chatuchak Market. There’s no way to see it all — there are a “whopping” 15,000 stalls across 35 acres — but what you do experience will be memorable, said Food & Wine. The weekend market sells just about everything and is split into 26 sections.
If you go with a group, try to stay together, as the market is so big that “even locals get lost.”

Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver
Once an industrial area, Granville Island has transformed over the years into a “paradise” of “incredible” food with the Public Market the “star of the show,” said Vancouver Magazine. For a more substantial meal, sit down at Sen Pad Thai, where chef Angus An takes Thailand’s most famous dishes and “absolutely knocks each familiar favorite out of the park.”