UAE

Twenty-nine arms control and human rights organizations have signed a letter opposing the sale of $23 billion worth of missiles, fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates and asking the U.S. Congress to block the deal. “The hope is to stop these sales altogether,” said Seth Binder, advocacy …

Saudi Arabia’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is complete. The six-storey building symbolizes the kingdom’s rich history, ancient culture and natural wonders. By the Levant News newsdesk A water feature alongside a 1,320 square metre inclined mirror screen is expected to be a major attraction. An art installation embedded with …

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday approved the establishment of a new national cybersecurity council, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Vice-President and ruler of Dubai, said on Twitter. The cabinet of the UAE government also appointed Industry and Advanced Technology Minister and head of Abu …

The deputy leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said on Friday that the response for the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was in Iran’s hands. “We condemn this heinous attack and see that the response to this crime is in the hands of those concerned in Iran,” Sheikh Naim …

An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday, likely to provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali …

A historic meeting between Israel’s prime minister and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has sent a strong signal to allies and enemies alike that the two countries remain deeply committed to containing their common foe Iran. Last Sunday’s covert meeting in the Saudi city of Neom, confirmed by Israeli officials but …

Leading Sudanese politician and former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi died from a coronavirus infection three weeks after being hospitalised in the United Arab Emirates, according to family sources and a party statement early on Thursday. Mahdi, 84, was Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 in …

The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park. A source briefed on the matter told Reuters the visas had temporarily stopped being issued to Afghans, Pakistanis …

Palestinian officials have downplayed the effectiveness of a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The statement included a move to allow products made in the occupied territories to be labeled “Made in Israel,” a clear contradiction to …

An onshore unconventional oil source with 22 billion recoverable barrels has been discovered, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced. The discovery of new oil sources “is a testament to ADNOC’s relentless efforts to unlock and maximize value from the UAE’s hydrocarbon reserves for the benefit of the …

Qatar’s foreign minister said on Monday Arab states that establish ties with Israel undermine efforts for Palestinian statehood, but it was in their own sovereign right to do so. Three Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan – set aside hostilities with Israel in recent months to …

Millions of men, women and children in war-torn Yemen are facing famine – again, top United Nations officials warned on Wednesday as they appealed for more money to prevent it – again. “We are on a countdown right now to a catastrophe,” U.N. food chief David Beasley told the U.N. …

The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday it was cancelling lenient penalties for so-called “honour killings” and amending inheritance laws for residents as part of a reform of personal and family laws in the Middle East trade hub. Human rights groups say thousands of women and girls are killed across …

The U.S. State Department gave Congress notification it plans to sell 18 sophisticated armed MQ-9B aerial drones to the United Arab Emirates in a deal worth as much as $2.9 billion, people briefed on the notification said. The move comes on the heels of last week’s notification of a potential …

The U.S. State Department notified Congress it approved the sale of 50 Lockheed Martin Co LMT.N F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates in a deal that could be worth $10 billion, sources said on Thursday, potentially setting up a showdown with lawmakers over the deal. The United States and …

One of the UK’s leading literary festivals has announced it will not be going back to Abu Dhabi after one of the event’s curators claimed she was sexually assaulted by the United Arab Emirates’ tolerance minister. Caitlin McNamara claimed a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, …

The first official delegation to Israel from the United Arab Emirates may remain at the airport and fly home the same day, rather than conduct a wider visit, due to coronavirus precautions, an Israeli minister said. Israel is under a second coronavirus lockdown, which it plans to begin easing next …

Israel’s cabinet approved a normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince had spoken and agreed to meet soon. The U.S.-brokered “treaty of peace” establishing full relations with the Gulf Arab country broke new diplomatic ground in …

Turkey’s army in Qatar is an element of instability in the Gulf region, a senior official of the United Arab Emirates has said, adding that it contributed to negative polarisation. The UAE and its Arab allies have imposed a boycott on Qatar since mid-2017 and had demanded that Doha close …

Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, slammed the Palestinian leadership for criticizing the decision of some Gulf states to normalise ties with Israel. In an interview with Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television aired on Monday, the prince labelled the Palestinian …

A top Palestinian business executive said on Monday that new Gulf Arab ties with Israel, condemned by Palestinian leaders, could also be an opportunity to apply fresh pressure to halt Jewish settlement in occupied land. Bashar Masri, a Palestinian-American who runs two of the Palestinians’ largest holding companies, said the …

Yemeni security forces, backed by the Arab coalition, killed three Al-Qaeda militants and captured two others in a raid on their hideout on Friday in Al-Ghaydah city, the capital of the western province of Mahra, local media and residents said. Large explosions rocked many districts in the city of Al-Ghaydah …

The energy ministers of the United Arab Emirates and Israel discussed possible cooperation and investment opportunities, including natural gas exports to Europe, in a video call on Wednesday, an Israeli statement said. Israel and the UAE signed an agreement on Sept. 15 to establish diplomatic relations, an accord that Energy …

The United States and the United Arab Emirates hope to have an initial agreement on the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Gulf state in place by December, as the Trump administration studies how to structure a deal without running afoul of Israel. Sources close to the negotiations …

Palestinian security forces arrested over half a dozen supporters of an exiled Palestinian politician who some have accused of involvement in the United Arab Emirates deal to forge ties with Israel, a spokesman for his faction said. Mohammed Dahlan has lived in the UAE since being driven out of the …

Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor – Founding Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group (AHG) – welcomed Shlomi Fogel – Ampa Group, Co-owner, Chairman and CEO – at the AHG headquarters in Dubai Sunday. The meeting coincided with the signing of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement signed in Washington DC between the …

Militants in Gaza launched rockets into Israel and Israeli aircraft hit targets in the Palestinian enclave in an explosive backdrop to the signing of pacts for formal ties between Israel and two Gulf Arab countries. The Israeli military said it launched about 10 air strikes in Hamas Islamist-run Gaza early …

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would be willing to sell other countries in the Middle East the same weapons systems sold to Israel, noting the region’s wealth and saying it would be good for the United States and U.S. jobs. “They’re very wealthy countries for the most …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressed on Monday for a solution to the three-year rift between the Gulf state of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, saying the Trump administration was eager to see it resolved. Speaking at a State Department meeting with Qatari …

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday will become the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo when they sign agreements toward normalizing relations with Israel in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump will host the White House ceremony at noon …

For two decades Palestinians have revered the founder of the United Arab Emirates for his generosity, especially those living on the Gaza housing estate that bears his name. The $62 million development was gifted to the Palestinians a decade and a half ago by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan …

Palestinians in Gaza burnt pictures of Israeli, U.S., Bahraini and United Arab Emirates leaders on Saturday in protest over the two Gulf countries’ moves to normalize ties with Israel. Bahrain on Friday joined the UAE in agreeing to normalize relations with Israel, a move forged partly through shared fears of …

Palestinian leaders won renewed Saudi support for Palestinian statehood at a Wednesday meeting, but did not persuade the Arab League to condemn last month’s normalisation deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. At a video conference of foreign ministers, the Palestinian leadership softened its own censure of the UAE …

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a Sept. 15 signing ceremony for a groundbreaking Middle East agreement normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, a senior White House official said on Tuesday. As part of the deal, announced at the White House on Aug. 13 following what officials …

Amid historic normalisation talks between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, American officials spent a morning at an Abu Dhabi air base housing U.S. stealth jets which the Gulf state hopes to buy despite Israeli objections. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner met Emirati military officials at the UAE’s Al …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held a rare meeting with rival factions on Thursday as they sought to present a united front over Israel and the United Arab Emirates’ deal to normalise ties. The meeting was held through video-conference between Ramallah in the West Bank and Beirut, where Hamas chief Ismail …

A difference between English and Arabic versions of a trilateral statement after an historic flight from Israel to the UAE has been seized upon by Palestinians to suggest the Gulf state has overstated Israeli readiness to drop West Bank annexation plans. The English version of a joint communiqué by the …

Palestinian militant groups and Israel agreed to end a weeks-long escalation of unrest along the Israel-Gaza border, Gaza’s ruling Islamist group Hamas and Israel said on Monday. Under the deal, brokered by a Qatari envoy, Hamas would end the launching of incendiary balloons, and Israel would end air strikes, said …

Three people were killed and several others were injured on Monday in two separate explosions in the United Arab Emirates’ capital Abu Dhabi and its tourism hub Dubai, the police and local media said. The Abu Dhabi government media office said two people were killed in the blast in the …

Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fly to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to put final touches on a pact establishing open relations between the Gulf power and Israel. Even before discussions start in Abu Dhabi, the delegates will have made aviation …

Israel hopes to hold a signing ceremony in Washington for its normalisation deal with the United Arab Emirates by mid-September, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet said on Sunday. The date for such an event could be decided by senior aides to Netanyahu and to U.S. President Donald …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met the Sultan of Oman on Thursday as part of a Middle East tour following a U.S.-brokered deal on normalising relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In a meeting with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, Pompeo said on Twitter he discussed “the …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the Gulf state of Bahrain on Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour following an accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalise relations. Israel and the United States have said they are pushing more Arab countries to follow …

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Dine El Otmani on Sunday rejected any normalization of relations with Israel. “We refuse any normalisation with the Zionist entity because this emboldens it to go further in breaching the rights of the Palestinian people,” El Otmani told his Islamist PJD party. The remarks came ahead …