UAE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran on Monday for an explosion aboard an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week, an accusation rejected by Tehran. The vehicle-carrier MV Helios Ray was hit between Thursday night and Friday morning by a blast above the water line that a …

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took the stage at the world’s largest energy conference in 2019 to declare an age of U.S. dominance after a decade of rapid shale development made the United States the world’s top oil and gas producer. Two years later, the oil industry is …

A haven for humans craving furry feline company, a cat cafe in Dubai also doubles as an adoption centre for some of the United Arab Emirates’ many strays. The Ailuromania Cat Cafe, which was the Middle East’s first cat cafe when it opened in 2015, hopes the relaxing properties of …

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, announced the addition of Moon Retreat to their eco-luxury tourism destinations, state news agency SPA reported. The retreat will open to guests during the first quarter of 2021 in the archaeological area of Mleiha. Moon Retreat will offer visitors stargazing activities as there is …

Abu Dhabi ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan affirmed the UAE’s support for the Lebanese people during a meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri. The Abu Dhabi ruler said that the UAE supported the ambitions of the Lebanese people for “unity, stability and development,” state news agency WAM reported. During …

he United Arab Emirates said on Friday that Sheikha Latifa, one of the ruler of Dubai’s daughters, was being cared for at home as the U.N. human rights watchdog asked the UAE for proof that she is alive amid growing international concern about her fate. The BBC’s investigative news programme …

Saudi Arabian companies are preparing to participate in the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX 2021) in Abu Dhabi next week. The investment ministry, along with other Saudi bodies and firms will be taking part under the slogan “Invest in Saudi Arabia”. The Kingdom will participate in the event, which starts on …

Israel has cancelled plans to participate in a major defence expo in the United Arab Emirates next week due to COVID-19 curbs on air travel, Israeli officials said on Monday. Dozens of Israeli defence firms had been due to take part in the IDEX conference in Abu Dhabi from Feb. …

The UAE made history on Tuesday evening when it joined an elite club of five nations that have sent a spacecraft to the Red Planet. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and …

The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister affirmed his country’s commitment to working closely with the Biden administration to reduce regional tensions during a phone call with the United States’ special envoy for Iran, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Saturday. In the phone call with special envoy Rob Malley, Sheikh …

Iraq’s prime minister and the GCC secretary general held talks  on Monday to boost trade and supply electricity from the Gulf. Iraqi leader Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and Nayef Al-Hajraf also discussed rebuilding Iraq after the war with Daesh. Iraq has been blighted by a woeful power supply in recent years which feeds …

The United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Washington said he was confident the sale of F-35 jets to his country would go through after a review by President Joe Biden’s administration of some pending arms sales to U.S. allies. The UAE had during Donald Trump’s last day in office signed agreements …

The United Arab Emirates has adopted amendments that would allow the Gulf state to grant citizenship to investors and other professionals including scientists, doctors and their families, the government said on Saturday. “The UAE cabinet, local Emiri courts and executive councils will nominate those eligible for the citizenship under clear …

Italy has halted the sale of thousands of missiles to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday, citing Rome’s commitment to restoring peace in war-ravaged Yemen and protecting human rights. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of an Arab coalition that …

Israeli leaders played down on Thursday a possible Biden administration review of U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates that girded the Gulf power’s rapprochement with Israel. Washington said on Wednesday it had temporarily paused some pending arms sales to U.S. allies. The Trump administration, having brokered formal Israel-UAE …

Indonesia said its coast guard seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters on Sunday. Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, have been escorted to Batam island in Riau Island …

They say that history repeats itself. The political turmoil in Lebanon and the ongoing civil war in Syria have led to an alarming exodus of thousands of young, educated Arabs seeking safety and better opportunities abroad. It’s a familiar pattern; a similar mass migration from the Levant took place a …

The United Arab Emirates has signed an agreement with the United States to purchase 50 F-35 jets and up to 18 armed drones, people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday. Although the UAE and the United States were working to ink a deal before President Joseph Biden took …

Egypt and Qatar have agreed to resume diplomatic relations, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The move follows an agreement between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt earlier this month to end their boycott of Qatar – which began in 2017 over allegations it supported terrorism, …

Iranian army commandos and paratroopers started exercises near the mouth of the Gulf on Tuesday, the last full day of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. State television showed paratroopers landing behind mock enemy lines near the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman and preparing attacks with missile launchers. …

The US called Bahrain and the UAE “major security partners” early on Saturday, a previously unheard of designation for the two countries home to major American military operations. A White House statement tied the designation to Bahrain and the UAE normalizing ties to Israel, saying it “reflects their extraordinary courage, …

Global pop group Now United has filmed its music video for “Lean on Me” at Abu Dhabi’s five-star Emirates Palace hotel. The video starts with a sweeping view of the hotel, before showing band members performing choreographed dance moves in its plush corridors and outside terrace. The band, made up …

The US Defense Department announced Friday that it would include close ally Israel in the area covered by its Middle East-focused Central Command. In another sign of the rapprochement brokered by President Donald Trump between Israel and Arab countries, the Pentagon said US military dealings with Israel would no longer …

The UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash has told Arab News that the GCC is “collectively in agreement with any threat towards its security” from Iran. In a virtual press conference on Thursday, the minister addressed the 41st GCC summit held in AlUla where an agreement was signed …

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards unveiled an underground missile base at an undisclosed Gulf location on Friday, Iranian state media reported, at a time of heightened tension between Tehran and the United States. “The base is one of several bases housing the Guards’ Navy’s strategic missiles,” the state media quoted the …

Iran dialed up tensions in the Gulf this week when its troops stormed a South Korean-flagged tanker as it transited through the strategic Strait of Hormuz — a choke point through which a fifth of world oil output passes. The incident is only the latest in a long line of …

Saudi Arabia reopened its airspace and land and sea borders with Qatar on Monday, in a breakthrough agreement aimed at ending the three-year diplomatic dispute with Doha. The full deal is expected to be signed on Tuesday at the annual summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders in the northwestern …

South Korea’s foreign ministry is reviewing whether a senior diplomat would be visiting Tehran on Sunday as planned, an official said, after Iranian forces seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew. The incident comes amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen …

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew, Iranian media said on Monday, amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions. Seoul confirmed the seizure of a South Korean chemical tanker by …

Israel and Saudi Arabia have been urging the administration of US President Donald Trump to strike Iran ahead of the inauguration of the presumptive US President-elect Joe Biden, London-based Dar Al-Hayat reported Thursday. According to the report, which cites unnamed US sources, the two nations seek a surgical US strike …

The deadly terrorist attack on the airport of the southern Yemeni city of Aden is a result of the foreign occupation of the country, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said. “Continued foreign aggression and occupation of Yemeni soil are the key contributors to instability as well as a lack …

The US state department has approved the sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia as part of a flurry of arms deals with Middle Eastern dictatorships in the last weeks of the Trump administration. Critics of the sales say they are being rushed through despite broad congressional and public …

An array of Palestinian militant groups launched rockets into the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at the start of what they called their first-ever joint exercise, which Israeli media described as a show of force organised by Iran. Gaza is run by Hamas and also home to …

In June, the United States imposed sanctions on half a dozen oil tankers managed by established shipping firms. It was a major escalation of American attempts to choke off Venezuela’s oil trade. Within weeks, a little-known company based in the United Arab Emirates took over management of several tankers that …

Tech giants including Microsoft and Google on Monday joined Facebook’s legal battle against hacking company NSO, filing an amicus brief in federal court that warned that the Israeli firm’s tools were “powerful, and dangerous.” The brief, filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, opens up a …

The UAE Prosecution has released a video explaining the penalty for possession and distribution of documents, publications and recordings for provoking hate speech. In a tweet by barq, the video explains that provoking hate speech is a crime punishable by law. According to Article 12 of the Federal Decree Law …

Following the recent launch of a new, fair-trade, green and roasted coffee trading company People’s Coffee, Sheikh Dr Majid Al Qassimi and Emirati entrepreneur Ali Mansoor hosted Yemeni farmers in an informal stakeholder meeting through video conferencing this weekend in Dubai. By the Levant News Newsdesk Building on the company’s …

The newfound peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was celebrated on Wednesday with a ceremony in which white doves were released heavenward by three rabbis and two imams. By the Levant News Newsdesk The ceremony took place at the Israel Dubai Business Forum, a conference at the Marriott …

The peace accords that Israel has signed with the UAE and Bahrain will serve as a foundation to expand energy trade, US Energy Secretary Daniel Brouillette said on Tuesday. The Trump administration is moving quickly to invite other Arab nations — including Oman, Sudan, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia …

Eleven gold trading hubs including the United Arab Emirates have declared their support for an initiative by the world’s most influential bullion market authority to improve regulation on issues such as money laundering and unethical sourcing of gold. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Friday authorities in the …

An effort to stop President Donald Trump’s high-tech weapons deals with the United Arab Emirates fell short on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate as Trump’s fellow Republicans opposed resolutions of disapproval seeking to block the sale of drones and advanced F-35 fighter jets. The Senate voted 50-46 and 49-47, mostly …

Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states must play a key role in any talks between the US and Iran to revive the deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, the Kingdom’s foreign minister said on Saturday. Joe Biden has indicated that when he takes office as US president next month …

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 …