New clashes rock Syria’s Druze heartland as tribal fighters reinforce Bedouin
Armed tribes supported by Syria's Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland on Friday, a day...
Geostrategy
Erdogan accuses Israel of using Druze as pretext to expand into Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Israel of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Biden congratulates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on being elected UAE president
US President Joe Biden congratulated the UAE's de facto ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on being elected Saturday...
- US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to the UAE on Monday to lead a presidential delegation
- The 61-year-old Sheikh Mohamed, a trained soldier, has long been a quiet power behind the throne of Abu Dhabi
Geostrategy
Israel reopens Gaza crossing for workers after two weeks
Israel reopened on Sunday its only crossing with the Gaza Strip to Palestinian workers nearly two weeks after closing it...
- Israel had closed the crossing on May 3 ahead of Israel's national memorial and independence days
- Israel and Hamas, the rulers of the impoverished coastal enclave, have fought repeatedly over the last 15 years, most recently in May last year
Geostrategy
Lebanon votes in first election since crisis
Lebanon headed to the polls today for its first election since multiple crises dragged it to the brink of failed...
- Observers have warned not to expect any seismic shift, with every lever of power firmly in the hands of traditional sectarian parties
- Since the last election, the country has been mutilated by a blast at the Beirut port that went down as one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history
Geostrategy
British PM Boris Johnson to travel to UAE after president’s death
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will fly to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to pay his condolences following the...
- In a statement on Friday, Johnson expressed his sadness at the Sheikh's death, calling him "a wise and respected leader who will be missed enormously"
- The UAE's long-time de facto ruler Sheikh Mohamed was elected as president of the oil-rich Gulf state on Saturday
Geostrategy
Finland seeks to reassure Russia about NATO bid
Finland on Saturday sought to allay Moscow's fears about its bid to join NATO, as fierce fighting raged in Ukraine's...
- Finland and Sweden are poised to jettison decades of military non-alignment to join NATO as a defence against feared further aggression from Russia
- Moscow has warned Finland, with whom it shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border, that it would take "reciprocal steps."
Geostrategy
G7 ‘will never recognize’ borders changed by force
The Group of Seven industrialized nations said Saturday they would never recognize the borders Russia is trying to shift by...
- Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 but Kyiv's forces managed to push Moscow's troops back from the capital
- In their joint statement, they vowed to expand sanctions to include sectors on which Russia is dependent and keep supplying Ukraine with weapons
Geostrategy
Tutu foundation decries Israeli beating of Palestinian mourners
Israeli police charging the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is "reminiscent" of violence during apartheid South Africa, the...
- Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing crimes of apartheid against Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and inside Israel
- Political analyst Eusebius McKaiser on Twitter said the violence was all too familiar
Geostrategy
Finnish President speaks with Putin on NATO membership
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday regarding the Nordic country's application for NATO...
- The Finnish president and Prime Minister had said on Thursday that they wanted the country to join NATO "without delay"
- Neighboring Sweden, like Finland traditionally neutral, is also expected to announce its own membership bid in coming days
Geostrategy
Faster UAE growth likely under Mohamed bin Zayed
Under the President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the national economy will witness an acceleration in the implementation of its development...
- The 61-year-old took office after the death on Friday of his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
- Born in the capital on March 11, 1961, Sheikh Mohamed was sent to military school in Britain, where he graduated from the famed Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1979
Geostrategy
Erdogan opposes NATO membership for Finland, Sweden
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey did not have a “positive opinion” on Finland and Sweden joining NATO,...
- The leader of NATO-member Turkey spoke ahead of expected confirmations from the Nordic nations on Sunday
- Turkey has long accused Nordic countries, especially Sweden which has a strong Turkish immigrant community, of harboring extremist Kurdish groups
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New clashes rock Syria’s Druze heartland as tribal fighters reinforce Bedouin
Armed tribes supported by Syria's Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland on Friday, a day...
Geostrategy
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Hospitalized Pentagon chief hands duties to deputy
The latest health scare came weeks after it emerged that Austin, 70, had kept previous hospital stays secret and had...
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More than 50 people killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah
Witnesses heard an intense series of strikes and saw smoke billowing above the city, which now hosts more than half...
Geostrategy
India says Qatar freed eight ex-navy personnel
"The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained...
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Geostrategy
IMF chief says Israel-Hamas war ‘devastating’ Palestinian economy
"The Palestinian economy's dire outlook is worsening as the conflict persists," managing director Kristalina Georgieva told the World Governments Summit...
- In the war-ravaged coastal territory, economic activity dropped 80 percent from October through December compared with a year earlier, the IMF chief said.
- The IMF now sees the economies of the region expanding 2.9 percent this year, a decrease of half a percentage point from its October forecast.
Geostrategy
UN’s IMO working ‘tirelessly’ to solve Red Sea crisis: head
Yemen's Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have launched dozens of attacks against ships in the Red Sea since November, targeting...
- Secretary General Dominguez said IMO is working to ensure that "parties continue to talk so that the situation does not degenerate any further"
- Many shipowners have decided to stop operating in the Red Sea, instead sending their ships on the longer route around the south of Africa
Business
Climate change parches Morocco breadbasket amid policy pitfalls
Berrechid, Morocco -- Around this time every year, Moroccan wheat farmer Abderrahim Mohafid is usually preparing for his spring harvest, but...
- Morocco has seen only about half the rainfall it did during the same period last year, the country's water minister Nizar Baraka told AFP.
- The sector accounts for 14 percent of Morocco's exports, with exported produce seen as more profitable than that sold in domestic markets.