Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday hailed the departure of “tyrant” US counterpart Donald Trump, who is due to leave office later in the day. A “tyrant’s era came to an end and today is the final day of his ominous reign. Someone for whom all of his four years …
Read More »Zarif waylays French claims about Iran nuclear ambitions
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday dismissed a claim by France that Tehran was in the process of building up its nuclear weapons, calling it “absurd nonsense”. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche published on Saturday, said Iran was building …
Read More »Iran wants ‘snapback’ sanctions clause removed from nuclear deal
Iran demands the removal of the so-called snapback mechanism in its nuclear accord, which could revive all U.N. sanctions against Tehran, in the event of new talks with world powers, a senior aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said. Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear …
Read More »Turkish think tank accused of causing consternation by German intelligence
Germany’s internal intelligence service, BfV, has been investigating SETA’s activities in Germany for a while. Last month it published a report accusing SETA of pursuing the Turkish government’s agenda in Germany ANKARA: Germany has accused a Turkish think tank of being a front for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party and …
Read More »EU desperate to salvage nuclear deal in face of Iran enrichment plans
The European Commission said on Tuesday it regretted that Iran has resumed 20% uranium enrichment at an underground nuclear facility, breaching a 2015 nuclear pact, but believed that the accord was worth saving. “We are highly concerned by the measures taken by Iran. This action is in breach of Iran’s …
Read More »European banks have defied Trump’s anti-Iran sanctions
Germany, France and Britain urged the Trump administration in late October to reconsider broad, new sanctions against Iran’s banks, arguing that the move would deter legitimate humanitarian trade and hurt the allies’ common interests, diplomatic correspondence shows. Germany’s Bundesbank also kept a multi-billion-euro deposit facility open for Iranian banks, including …
Read More »EU, Macron move to punish Turkey over Cyprus
The European Parliament urged the EU on Thursday to impose sanctions on Turkey after President Tayyip Erdogan this month paid a visit to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus. With 631 votes in favour, three against and 59 abstentions, the parliament agreed a non-binding resolution in support of EU …
Read More »Germany wants Biden to reassert Iran nuclear deal, multilaterally
Germany sees a chance to return to a joint transatlantic approach in tackling Iran’s nuclear programme once the new U.S. administration under President-elect Joe Biden takes office, a German official said on Monday. In May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump quit a deal with Tehran that sought to limit Iran’s …
Read More »Uzbekistan is attracting investment
On October 24, a discussion was held in the format of a videoconference on the progress of the implementation of tasks to strengthen trade-economic, investment, financial-technical, transport-logistics and cultural-humanitarian cooperation with China and the Republic of Korea. Heads of ministries, departments and industry associations took part in the discussion, which …
Read More »Pompeo joins condemnation of Turkey in Azer-Armenian conflict
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday said Turkey’s involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has increased the risk in the region, reiterating his call for the issue to be resolved through diplomacy. Several hundred people have been killed in the deadliest flare-up of the decades-old conflict …
Read More »US ignores UN and sanctions dozens of Iran trade partners
The United States on Monday will sanction more than two dozen people and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear, missile and conventional arms programs, a senior U.S. official said, putting teeth behind U.N. sanctions on Tehran that Washington argues have resumed despite the opposition of allies and adversaries. Speaking on condition …
Read More »Iran up in arms over latest US sanctions-assets seizure
Iran’s central bank said on Saturday it was taking legal steps to counter a lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by creditors seeking to seize $1.7 billion of its assets held by Deutsche Boerse’s (DB1Gn.DE) Clearstream unit. The German stock exchange operator said earlier the creditors had filed the suit …
Read More »NATO to keep Greece, Turkey dispute spinning out of control
NATO is looking at ways to avoid accidental clashes in the Eastern Mediterranean while supporting German diplomatic efforts to defuse the worsening dispute over energy resources there, the alliance’s chief said on Thursday. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters the Western alliance was considering so-called deconfliction measures to prevent naval …
Read More »Europeans, Israelis fight over restoring sanctions on Iran
The United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday said they cannot support the U.S. move to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran, saying the action is incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal. “In order to preserve the agreement, we urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with …
Read More »Iran captures opposition terrorist living in US
Iran said on Saturday its intelligence services have detained a U.S.-based leader of a pro-monarchist group whom it accused of being behind a deadly 2008 bombing and of plotting other attacks, and that he is being held in Iran. An intelligence ministry statement cited by state television did not say …
Read More »Russians make second bid to block Syria cross-border aid
Russia on Thursday failed in a second U.N. Security Council bid to cut aid access to Syria from Turkey, diplomats said, and the council will now vote on a last-ditch attempt to extend approval for cross-border aid deliveries before it expires on Friday. The 15-member council has been split, with …
Read More »Covid-19 crisis affecting China influence in Europe
Just when China influence over Europe seemed to expand into full blast, the Covid-19 crisis seems to have put a serious stop to it. The biggest geopolitical prize in the raising USA – Chinese challenge is the European Union, formerly anchored securely in the Western side but in recent years …
Read More »Germany’s largest newspaper editor-in-chief to China’s president: You’re endangering the world
“You [Jinping], your government and your scientists had to know long ago that coronavirus is highly infectious, but you left the world in the dark about it.” Julian Reichelt, the editor-in-chief of Germany’s largest paper Bild on Thursday launched a full frontal attack on China’s communist President Xi Jinping for …
Read More »Gaps and Omissions in Europe’s New Memory Wars
In Russia, the proposed revision of the constitution has become a fight over history. One of the amendments on which Russians will vote at some point this year declares the right and obligation of the state to “protect historical truth.” It seems the establishment of a Russian equivalent of the …
Read More »G7 to develop coronavirus economic package
G7 finance officials will on Tuesday discuss ways to bolster their economies against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak, but are not expected to specifically call for new spending or coordinated interest rate cuts, a G7 official said. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the group will hold …
Read More »The Lies that Bind: When Science Fiction becomes Historical Fact, and Drowning becomes the Kiss of Life!
By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD Was watching an annoying science fiction movie the other day called variously The Holy Relic and The Hunt for the Hidden Relic (2002), and was struck by a number of things, good and bad. First, the bad. The movie is German, adapted from a novel …
Read More »Germany calls for reaffirmation of Iran nuclear deal
German chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday repeated a call for all parties to respect the Iranian nuclear accord, despite Iran’s decision to intensify its enrichment of uranium and moves by the United States to impose economic sanctions. Under a deal brokered in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of …
Read More »Dubai Business Women Council recieves European delegation
The Dubai Business Women Council, DBWC, and a high-level European delegation yesterday discussed ways to foster cooperation and develop networking mechanisms with business communities. The business delegation, comprising 11 businesspersons representing some of the most prominent start-ups in Europe, including France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Italy, was …
Read More »Defence talks between UAE and Germany
Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, today received Ernst Peter Fischer, Ambassador of Germany to the UAE, to exchange views on a number of regional and international issues of common concern. Al Bowardi welcomed Fischer, hailing the strong ties of friendship between the two countries …
Read More »Merkel rejects Trump’s call for groundtroops in Syria
Germany on Monday rejected demands by the United States to deploy ground troops in Syria, a stance likely to anger President Donald Trump who wants Chancellor Angela Merkel to commit to a bigger military role in the Middle East. “When I say the government envisages sticking to the current measures …
Read More »First Climate and Health Ministers’ Meeting held in Abu Dhabi
The First Climate and Health Ministers’ Meeting, hosted today in partnership with the World Health Organization,WHO, and the UN as part of the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting, highlighted the serious impact of climate change on people as well as the environment. Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of …
Read More »High profile meeting between Merkel and UAE
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces meeting with Angela Merkel sends important message to the world, opines the UAE English language daily ‘The National’. In its today’s editorial, the newspaper said: Two of the …
Read More »Etihad Airways celebrate its years in Germany
As the UAE and Germany intensify bilateral cooperation following the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Germany this week, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is celebrating 15 years …
Read More »US evidence not enough to convict Iran, says Germans
A video provided by the United States is not sufficient to prove that Iran is behind the attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday. Washington released a video that it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind Thursday’s attacks on …
Read More »German economics ministers holds high-level talks in UAE
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received at his residence in Berlin Wednesday Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs. During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed and Altmaier discussed bilateral ties of friendship and …
Read More »High profile UAE visit to Germany begins
The official visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Germany that started on Tuesday is expected to strengthen joint diplomatic efforts to find solutions to several regional and international issues, according to …
Read More »Another German bid to ease tensions with Iran
Germany’s foreign minister will meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Monday, a German diplomatic source said, as part of a concerted European effort to preserve Iran’s nuclear pact with world powers and defuse rising U.S.-Iranian tensions. A cautious thaw in long antagonistic relations between Tehran and Washington set …
Read More »Germans to hold nuclear talks with Iran
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will visit Iran as part of a three-country Middle East tour next week, during which he will explore options for preserving a fraying nuclear non-proliferation pact, a ministry spokeswoman said. The trip, timed to coincide with the end of the Muslim festival of Ramadan, will …
Read More »Germany bars Khashoggi suspects from entry
Germany has issued entry bans for 18 Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Riyadh’s Istanbul consulate, effectively banning them from the European Union’s passport-free Schengen zone. Monday’s move represents a sharpening of the position of Germany, which last month imposed a ban on …
Read More »Erdogan releases tapes of Khashoggi murder
Turkey has given recordings on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France and Britain, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Turkish sources have said previously that authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder. Speaking ahead of his departure for France …
Read More »SEWA compares notes with German companies over energy control systems
A delegation from the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) has visited a number of energy companies, including IDC Manufacturer, Stadtwerke Schwabisch Hall, and Stadtwerke Karlsruhe Station, that considered one of the most important high voltage stations in Germany. The visit came within the framework of the strategy of the …
Read More »Merkel coalition slides into ‘permanent crisis mode’ with spy row
A clumsy compromise to end a row over the fate of Germany’s spy chief has exposed a cruel fact: the parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s right-left coalition are loveless partners in a dysfunctional relationship that none of them can afford to quit. The coalition leaders sought on Tuesday to end …
Read More »Ozil quits international football over ‘racism’
Mesut Ozil said Sunday he was quitting the German national football team, citing “racism” in the criticism of him in the side’s World Cup debacle. “It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international …
Read More »NATO in the Trump Era:Personalities Versus Bureaucracy
It could be said of President Trump’s visit to the NATO summit that, “He came, he saw, he antagonized.” The two days was a mélange of headlines on personal conflicts, American bullying on spending, emergency meetings, and the long-term future of the organization. Despite that, the final communiqué adhered …
Read More »Germany deports ‘bin Laden bodyguard’ to Tunisia: ministry
A Tunisian man who allegedly served as a bodyguard to Osama Bin Laden was deported from Germany Friday, more than a decade after his asylum bid was first rejected, officials said. The 42-year-old, identified only as Sami A., had lived in Germany for more than two decades, but outrage over …
Read More »Dewa strengthens ties with German company
Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), welcomed a high-level delegation from German company Voith, which specialises in systems, products and services serving five important markets: energy, oil and gas, paper, raw materials and transport and automotive. The visit aimed to enhance cooperation …
Read More »Trump says Germany ‘is captive to Russia’ in fiery opening salvo against NATO
President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide. The series of meetings — beginning with NATO and capped by a summit with Russian …
Read More »German court sentences woman to life for neo-Nazi murders
A German court on Wednesday found the main defendant in a high-profile neo-Nazi trial guilty over the killing of 10 people — most of them migrants — who were gunned down between 2000 and 2007 in a case that shocked Germany and prompted accusations of institutional racism in the country’s …
Read More »‘Flying Brain’ Designed To Follow German Astronaut Launches Friday
A floating, ball-shaped, artificial intelligence robot, specially trained to follow around a German astronaut at the International Space Station, is scheduled to blast off Friday on its ground-breaking mission. The basketball-sized device called CIMON — shortened from Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN — was described as a “flying brain” by Manfred …
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