MENA energy transition slips as Hormuz crisis exposes security gaps: WEF
Hormuz disruption and weakening policy commitment dragged down Middle East transition readiness in 2026. Saudi Arabia bucked the trend with...
Geostrategy
1.1 billion children worldwide face three climate threats
Dubai, UAE -- Nearly half of the world's children – or around 1.1 billion children – are exposed to at...
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Israel opposition chief discusses Gaza truce with UAE FM
Jerusalem, Undefined -- Israel's opposition leader said Friday he met with the United Arab Emirates foreign minister in Abu Dhabi...
- The UAE normalized ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
- WAM said Lapid and Sheikh Abdullah discussed bilateral ties and regional developments including efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Geostrategy
Iran announces opening of its airspace after war: state media
Iran announced Thursday that it has reopened its airspace, including over Tehran, after closing it on June 13 due to...
- Tehran's Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, as well as those in the north, east, west and south of the country, have been reopened and are ready to operate flights
- Domestic and international flights from all airports across the country -- except those in Isfahan and Tabriz -- will operate between 5:00 am and 6:00 pm, authorities said
Geostrategy
Russia becomes first country to recognise Taliban
Afghanistan's government said on Thursday that Russia had become the first country to officially recognise its rule, calling it a...
- The announcement came after a meeting between Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul
- Moscow's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, told the Russia's state news agency Ria Novosti that the government had "recognised" the Taliban government
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Trump says ‘didn’t make any progress’ with Putin on ending Ukraine war
US President Donald Trump said he made no progress with Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war in a call...
- Trump's grim assessment came as US-led peace talks on ending the more than three-year-old conflict in Ukraine have stalled, and after the US paused some weapons shipments to Kyiv
- "It was a pretty long call, we talked about a lot of things including Iran, and we also talked about the war with Ukraine. And I'm not happy about that," Trump told reporters
Geostrategy
73 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Netanyahu vows to recover hostages amid escalated strikes
Netanyahu has come under strong pressure to get the hostages back after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed...
- Netanyahu has come under strong pressure to get the hostages back after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire with Palestinian militant group Hamas
- Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where its war has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the its population
Geostrategy
Arab Parliament condemns Israeli West Bank annexation statements
Cairo, Egypt -- Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Yamahi, President of the Arab Parliament, has strongly condemned and rejected the dangerous...
- Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Yamahi, President of the Arab Parliament, called these statements a violation of international law.
- Al Yamahi stressed that these statements reflect the colonial expansionist approach pursued by the Israeli government.
Geostrategy
Japan plans ‘world first’ deep-sea mineral extraction from Jan
Tokyo, Japan -- Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest...
- Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals.
- Rare earths -- 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth's crust -- are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.
Geostrategy
Israeli forces kill 69 Palestinians in Gaza, including those sheltering in a school
They included 38 people waiting for humanitarian aid at three separate locations in central and southern Gaza and a child...
- Another 15 people, "the majority of them children and women", were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City.
- Israel has recently expanded its military operations in Gaza, creating dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of 2 million.
Geostrategy
Syria state media says talk of peace deal with Israel ‘premature’
Syrian state media reported Wednesday that statements on signing a peace deal with Israel were "premature", days after Israel said...
- "Statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature," state TV reported an unidentified official source as saying
- "It is not possible to talk of the possibility of negotiations over a new agreement unless the occupation fully adheres the 1974 disengagement agreement," it added.
Geostrategy
Iran ends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog after Israel, US strikes
It came after last month's 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran's...
- It came after last month's 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities
- On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend cooperation with the Vienna-based IAEA
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MENA energy transition slips as Hormuz crisis exposes security gaps: WEF
Hormuz disruption and weakening policy commitment dragged down Middle East transition readiness in 2026. Saudi Arabia bucked the trend with...
Geostrategy
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Egypt says $35 billion Israel gas deal ‘commercial’, not ‘political’
Under the agreement, Israel will increase the total volume of gas supplied to Egypt to 130 billion cubic meters, according...
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US, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt to hold talks on next phase of Gaza truce in Miami
Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern...
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Putin says Russia will ‘certainly’ achieve its goals in Ukraine including seizing the territories
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Moscow would "certainly" achieve its goals in the offensive in Ukraine, including seizing...
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Global coal demand expected to hit record in 2025: IEA
In its annual report on the coal industry, the International Energy Agency said demand was on course to rise by...
- China and India are usually the main drivers of growth in coal consumption as the two emerging economies race to meet rising demand for electricity.
- The IEA sees demand in China, the top coal consuming nation, decreasing somewhat over the next five years.
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Israeli army to demolish 25 residential buildings in West Bank camp: local authorities
The Israeli army is to demolish 25 residential buildings in the north West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp later this...
- In early 2025, Israel's military launched an operation it says is aimed at rooting out Palestinian armed groups from refugee camps
- During the operation, Israel has destroyed hundreds of houses in the dense network of alleys that make up the refugee camps
Geostrategy
Ukraine hails ‘real progress’ in Zelensky’s talks with US envoys to end the war with Russia
Kyiv's negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote on social media that the marathon diplomacy in the German capital had been "constructive and...
- Ukraine hopes to convince Washington that a ceasefire must be agreed without prior territorial concessions to Russia
- Trump has pushed strongly for an end to the war but an initial 28-point plan last month was seen as favouring Moscow's position