Two months after ending struggle against Turkey, Kurdish PKK fighters to begin disarming at key ceremony
Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of bloody...
Geostrategy
Israeli army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
The Israeli army said early Thursday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, days after carrying out strikes on...
Geostrategy
Economy
US allies agree to tap emergency oil reserves again
IAE repeated its warning that the prospect of large-scale disruptions to Russian oil production "is threatening to create a global...
- A ministerial meeting of IEA chaired by US Energy Secretary decided to tap its emergency oil reserve fifth times since 1991 to calm soaring energy prices
- IEA members had already vowed to release 62.7 million barrels of oil encouraged members to support Ukraine in the supply of oil products
Geostrategy
Jordan, US discuss ways to enhance strategic partnership
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the new MoU for the strategic...
- A new MoU between the two countries frames the US aid for Jordan, replacing the current memorandum, which expires in September 2022
- According to the current MoU, the US has provided Jordan with annual support over the past four years, which amounted to 1.65 billion in 2021
Geostrategy
Pentagon commits extra $300m in security aid to Ukraine
The package includes laser-guided rocket systems, drones, ammunition, night-vision devices, tactical secure communications systems, medical supplies and spare parts
- The package includes laser-guided rocket systems, drones, ammunition, night-vision devices, tactical secure communications systems, medical supplies and spare parts
- On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed "additional capabilities" to help the Ukrainian military
Geostrategy
Algeria warns of possible gas price rise for Spain
Algiers last month recalled its ambassador from Madrid in protest at a decision by Spain to back a Moroccan autonomy...
- Algiers last month recalled its ambassador from Madrid in protest at a decision by Spain to back a Moroccan autonomy plan for the ex-Spanish colony of Western Sahara
- Algeria has condemned the "abrupt about-turn" by Madrid, which had previously sought to maintain neutrality in the decades-old conflict
Geostrategy
UN: Yemen’s warring parties agree to two-month truce
The UN said Yemen's warring parties have agreed to a two-month extendable truce starting Saturday, the first day of Ramadan...
- The announcement brings a glimmer of hope in a brutal conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and left millions on the brink of famine
- "The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month perod with the consent of the parties," UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement.
Business
Israel and UAE ‘milestone’ free trade deal to boost commercial relations
Israel described as "historic" the deal abolishing customs duties on "95 percent of the products" exchanged between the Jewish state...
- Talks for a free trade agreement were concluded Friday after four rounds of negotiations, including last month in Egypt between Israeli PM and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince.
- The deal was now "ready for signature", the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani al-Zeyoudi said.
Geostrategy
Moscow gas threat as NATO warns Russians ‘regrouping’ in Ukraine
Russia threatened Thursday to turn off its gas taps to Europe if the continent fails to pay in rubles, opening...
- Putin on Thursday raised the stakes, warning that EU members will need to set up ruble accounts from Friday to pay for Russian gas
- Moscow insisted war was going to plan as it said this week it would scale back attacks on capital Kyiv and concentrate on the east
Geostrategy
Tunisia speaker rejects president’s dissolution of parliament
"We consider that the parliament remains operational," Rached Ghannouchi told AFP in an interview.
- "We consider that the parliament remains operational," Rached Ghannouchi told AFP in an interview.
- Saied had dissolved the chamber on Wednesday, dealing another blow to the political system in place
Geostrategy
Morocco seeks to impose solution in Western Sahara conflict
Earlier this month, Spain dramatically reversed decades of policy, backing Rabat’s 2007 ‘autonomy’ plan in what Moroccans hailed as a...
- Morocco and the Polisario Front, the independent movement backed by Algeria, have been locked in a struggle over Western Sahara
- King Mohammed even declared in November that ‘Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara will never be up for negotiation’
Business
Abu Dhabi Chamber and San Marino to boost trade cooperation
Abu Dhabi and San Marino will explore new avenues of economic cooperation and boosting trade. Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Deputy...
- Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Deputy Treasurer of Abu Dhabi Chamber, met with Fabio Righi, San Marino’s Minister of Industry.
- Remeithi noted Chamber's readiness to provide all the necessary support to investors and entrepreneurs from San Marino.
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Two months after ending struggle against Turkey, Kurdish PKK fighters to begin disarming at key ceremony
Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of bloody...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Displaced Lebanese lament bombed homes, lost livelihoods
Tyre, Lebanon - When Ines Tehini and her family fled their south Lebanon village after Hizbollah and Israel began exchanging fire...
Geostrategy
Civilians among 16 killed in Iraq by US strikes on pro-Iranian group
The strikes hit "locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed", Awadi said....
Geostrategy
UAE allocates US$5m for UN’s humanitarian efforts in Gaza
ABU DHABI, UAE – As per the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Deadly strikes hit ‘pressure cooker’ Rafah ahead of Gaza truce push
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled south to Rafah since the outbreak of the war, with the former...
- An AFP journalist in the city heard powerful explosions shortly after midnight on Saturday, with the Hamas-run health ministry later reporting 14 people killed in two strikes there
- Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East again in the coming days to press a new proposal involving the release of Israeli hostages in return for a pause in Gaza fighting
Geostrategy
Damascus says US occupation of Syrian territory ‘cannot continue’
The United States has some 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq as part of an international coalition...
- The overnight strikes killed "a number of civilians and soldiers, wounded others and caused significant damage to public and private property", the Syrian military said
- The United States blamed Sunday's drone attack in Jordan on Iran-backed groups, but did not strike inside Iranian territory
Yemeni Houthis claim missile strike on Israel
The attack was the latest in a series of drone and missile strikes launched by the Houthis since the start...
- Houthi forces "carried out a military operation against specific targets of the Israeli enemy in the Umm al-Rashrash area with a number of ballistic missiles", Yahya Saree said
- The Israeli military had said earlier it had "successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that approached Israeli territory in the area of the Red Sea"