Middle East

Twitter took down thousands of accounts linked to Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Serbia on Thursday for either taking directions from the governments or promoting pro-government content. Twitter and other social media companies are under pressure to clean up misinformation and hateful content on their platforms, while abuse related …

Trade ministers from the Group of 20 major economies on Monday agreed to step up cooperation and coordination to ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies and equipment and other essentials in the face of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. In a joint statement, the ministers said they would take …

Sudan’s minister of defense, Jamaleldin Omar, died of a heart attack on Wednesday in South Sudan’s capital Juba, where he was taking part in peace talks with rebel groups, the army said. Omar was a member of the military council that took over after toppling veteran ruler Omar al-Bashir last …

A dozen countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have asked the International Monetary Fund for financial support in dealing with the coronavirus, and the Kyrgyz Republic is likely to receive the first emergency disbursement, the fund said. Governments should spare no expense to help their health systems and …

Qatar announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months, to support United Nations humanitarian programs in the Palestinian territory and efforts to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza said Monday on Twitter. Source: Reuters

Qatar closed part of the Industrial Area for 14 days over fears of coronavirus spread, with salaries being paid for employees working in the closed part, Qatar’s high committee for crisis management said in a press conference aired on state TV on Tuesday. Qatar also closed all shops except for …

The Sudanese prosecutor’s office on Tuesday ordered the arrest of former foreign minister Ali Karti for his role in the 1989 coup which brought Omar al-Bashir to power. It also said in a statement that his assets would be frozen and that arrest warrants had been issued for five other …

Sudan’s ruling council said on Tuesday it would step up its drive to remove loyalists of former president Omar al-Bashir, a day after the prime minister of the transitional government escaped an assassination attempt unscathed. A branch of Sudan’s security services that was closely linked to Bashir will be brought …

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok has survived an assassination attempt targeting his convoy in the capital Khartoum, state television and a cabinet source said on Monday. Hamdok, who was appointed to head a transitional government after the overthrow of long-time President Omar al-Bashir last year, has been moved to a …

Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Monday it had removed two networks of fake accounts linked to digital marketing firms in Egypt and India which were pushing dueling narratives about countries in the Gulf on the Facebook and Instagram platforms. Facebook, in its first monthly report on information operations, said both …

Qatar’s Dimdex defense exhibition due to be held this month has been canceled as the coronavirus outbreak spreads throughout the Gulf and wider Middle East. There have been at least 1,641 cases of the virus in the Gulf region, mostly in Iran where 66 people have died. The March 16-18 …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Qatar on Saturday to witness the signing of a historic deal with Taliban insurgents that could represent a step toward ending the 18-year-war in Afghanistan. While the agreement paves the way for the United States to gradually withdraw its troops from a …

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak – ousted by the military in 2011 – has died in Cairo at the age of 91. Mubarak spent three decades in office before a popular uprising swept Egypt. He was found guilty of complicity in the killing of protesters during the revolution. That conviction …

Since before Trump was even elected, experts have openly worried that his skepticism of NATO could lead to its dissolution. Russia would take advantage of that weakness, and the security guarantees America has given its European allies for decades would fade away. But Trump in recent days has seemingly become a NATO …

By Emad Aysha According to a recently published report, ‘Middle East and Africa Solar Panel Market, 2019-2027’, the Middle East region had witnessed an increase in the total primary energy production from 77.964 quadrillion Btu in the year 2013 to 87.839 quadrillion Btu in the year 2016. The Middle East …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Oman on Friday and will meet with Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq al-Said, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Pompeo, who has been traveling overseas including a stop in Saudi Arabia, will also pay respects to the family of Sultan Qaboos …

Qatar has accused Saudi Arabia of allowing a protracted dispute to hinder Gulf Arab coordination over the coronavirus outbreak by denying the Qatari health minister timely access to a meeting of regional health ministers in Riyadh. Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a post on its official Twitter account that Saudi …

Egypt has reached initial agreements with five major energy firms to explore for oil and gas in deep waters in off its western coast on the Mediterranean, the petroleum minister said, the first such deals in that offshore region. The five companies are Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP, Total and …

Sudan has agreed to compensate the families of sailors killed in an al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole warship 20 years ago, state news agency SUNA said on Thursday, part of government efforts to remove the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The report said the …

Sudan’s government and rebel groups in Darfur agreed on Tuesday that all those wanted by the International Criminal Court should appear before the tribunal, a list that includes ousted president Omar al-Bashir. Bashir, who has been jailed in Khartoum since he was toppled after mass protests last year, is wanted …

The United Arab Emirates has resumed postal services to Qatar nearly three years after they were suspended due to a Gulf Arab political dispute. The move followed a meeting of parties involved in the dispute with the United Nations postal agency. Indirect services began on Feb. 9 with mail transported …

Qatargas signed a new long-term sale and purchase agreement with Shell to deliver 1 million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas to Kuwait, starting this year, the company said in a press release on Sunday. Source: Reuters

Think Tanks Activity Summary The Heritage Foundation looks at Trump’s State of the Union Speech and his defense and foreign policy comments.  The Middle East was prominently featured in Trump’s State of the Union speech. The president noted that his administration had made a priority of “combating radical Islamic terrorism” and …

Oman’s oil minister said on Saturday that his country supports the recommendations made by an OPEC+ technical panel for a short, deeper oil output cut until the end of June. “Oman supports the recommendation of OPEC+ JTC for a potential short, deeper cut agreement, where OPEC+ would reduce oil output …

President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, Jared Kushner, will brief U.N. Security Council ambassadors on Thursday about the Middle East peace plan that Trump unveiled last week, a U.S. official said on Monday. The plan has had a mixed reception, with Palestinians rejecting it but Israel welcoming the president’s decision to …

Armed men attacked a gas pipeline in the north of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula late on Sunday, security sources and witnesses said, but imports of gas through North Sinai from Israel were unaffected. Egyptian security forces have been battling an Islamist insurgency that is concentrated in North Sinai and escalated after …

Jordan has signed a new $1.3 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the state news agency Petra said on Thursday. Petra said it was a four-year programme, but it gave no further details. In December, the country’s finance minister said a new IMF deal would secure lower servicing …

Egypt is considering exporting gas to Lebanon using an offshore pipeline, Egyptian Petrol Minister Tarek al-Molla told Al-Arabiya in an interview published Monday. “Unfortunately, the pipeline for importing Egyptian gas to Lebanon passes through Syria. The current circumstances in Syria mean we cannot deliver gas,” Molla said on the sidelines …

Jordan said on Tuesday the only path to a comprehensive and lasting Middle East peace was the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on land captured by Israel in a 1967 war, and with East Jerusalem as its capital. “Jordan supports every genuine effort aimed at achieving just and …

South Korea’s military said on Tuesday it plans to expand the deployment of an anti-piracy unit now operating off the coast of Africa to the area around the Strait of Hormuz, after the United States pressed for help to guard oil tankers. Attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of …

Oil and gas companies must boost investment in low carbon energies or face an increasing backlash that could threaten their long-term profits and social acceptance, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday. In a report with the World Economic Forum presented in Davos, the IEA said oil and gas …

The Heritage Foundation says US-Oman relations must improve in 2020 with the new Sultan Haitham.  They note, “The United States and Oman share many geopolitical challenges and have had good relations dating back two centuries. Under the leadership of Sultan Haitham, U.S.–Omani relations will be entering a new chapter. The …

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region. “We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries to think about collective security mechanisms … starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other to military exercises,” …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet decided on Tuesday to use about 507 million yen ($4.6 million) from this fiscal year’s budget reserves for the Self-Defense Forces in the Middle East, the finance ministry said. The move is aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East and the …

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear Sudan’s bid to avoid paying $3.8 billion in damages to family members of people killed or injured in al Qaeda’s 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania after a lower court found Sudan complicit. Those damages are only …

Egypt wants to create an investment arm to channel funds to projects along the Suez Canal to take advantage of proximity to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the chairman of The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) said. The government has been directing billions of dollars of investment over …

A Russian navy ship “aggressively approached” a U.S. Navy destroyer in the North Arabian Sea on Thursday, the U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said in a statement on Friday. The Fifth Fleet said the U.S. destroyer USS Farragut sounded five short blasts and requested the Russian ship alter course. “The …

Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said, one of the Middle East’s longest serving rulers who maintained the country’s neutrality in regional struggles, died on Friday and state media said his cousin Haitham bin Tariq al-Said was named his successor. Oman declared three days of official mourning with flags to be flown …

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan remained deadlocked after two days of talks in their disputes over a giant hydropower dam on the Nile though Cairo said it hoped the issues would be resolved by Jan. 15 in line with a deadline agreed with Washington. “We did not reach an agreement today …

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is proceeding as planned with a trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman from the weekend, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. Media had reported this week the trip could be canceled amid heightened tensions in the …

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he supported expanding the North American Treaty Organization to include Middle Eastern nations, as the United States seeks to limit its troop footprint globally. “I think that NATO should be expanded and we should include the Middle East, absolutely,” Trump told reporters at …

Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa discussed by phone on Monday with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper the importance of maintaining regional security and stability, state news agency BNA reported. Their conversation followed the killing of a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike …

Britain’s navy will accompany UK-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz to provide protection after the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani inflamed tensions in the region. Britain’s defence minister, Ben Wallace, ordered the HMS Montrose and HMS Defender to prepare to return to escort duties in the …

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has devised technology to restrict the use of anti-aircraft missiles after they leave American hands, a researcher said, a move that experts say could persuade the United States that it would be safe to disseminate powerful weapons more frequently. The new technology is intended for …