Israel strikes Lebanon, says thwarted large-scale Hizbollah attack
The result was perhaps the biggest exchange of fire in 10 months of a war which began with a Hamas...Geostrategy
Israel kills top Palestinian militant as Gaza truce talks stumble
The Israeli military killed a senior Palestinian militant in Lebanon on Wednesday, leading to accusations from the Fatah movement that...Geostrategy
Beijing Olympics opens amidst rights concerns, Covid, diplomatic boycotts
China's President Xi Jinping declared the Beijing Winter Olympics open Friday as China tried to turn the page on a...The US, Britain, Canada and Australia are among countries staging a diplomatic boycott of the Games over China's rights record, particularly the fate of the Uyghurs.
There are also environmental concerns about holding a Winter Games in one of the driest places in China and on almost entirely man-made snow.
Denmark court convicts Iranians of spying for Saudi Arabia
A Danish court on Friday convicted three leaders of an Iranian Arab separatist group based in the Scandinavian country of...The three, aged 40 to 51 and one of whom is a Danish citizen, are members of the separatist organization ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz)
Their sentencing will be announced in March. They face up to 12 years in prison
Bahrain makes second booster jab available for people aged 60 and above
Bahrain has made a second Covid-19 booster shot available by choice for adults aged 60 years and above and frontline...Health authorities say an individual may receive any vaccine as a second booster shot, three months after receiving the first booster shot.
Eligible individuals need not book an appointment but can head straight to designated vaccine centers.
Iran FM hopes Iran-Saudi cooperation will solve Islamic world issues
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian expressed hope that interaction between Iran and Saudi Arabia will help solve regional and Islamic...He made the remarks during a phone conversation on Thursday with the Secretary General of the OIC Hussein Ibrahim Taha
Taha welcomed reopening of Iran's office in Jeddah and Tehran's active participation in the OIC
Shadowy militant group claims latest UAE drone attack
Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq (True Pledge Brigades), which is believed to have ties with pro-Iran armed factions in Iraq, said it...Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq (True Pledge Brigades), which is believed to have ties with pro-Iran armed factions in Iraq, said it launched four drones at dawn on Wednesday
The UAE announced the interception and destruction on Wednesday of three "hostile drones", which follows three previous drone and missile attacks
UAE-trained Giants put brakes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
The Giants Brigades was established in 2015 on Yemen's western coast after the Saudi-led coalition's intervention that same year.The UAE, a member of the coalition with strong influence in southern Yemen, began funding, training, and arming the Giants
This made them a critical component of the Emirati-backed Security Belt force tasked with protecting the south
UAE-Bahraini Light-1 CubeSat launched into orbit from ISS
The UAE-Bahraini Light-1 CubeSat was successfully launched into orbit from the International Space Station, in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace...Light-1 CubeSat is a collaborative initiative of the UAE Space Agency, Bahrain’s National Space Science Agency, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, and NYU Abu Dhabi.
The Light-1 CubeSat represents the region’s first scientific mission to monitor and study Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from thunderstorms and lightning.
Israel signs defense agreement with Bahrain in Gulf first
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, making his first visit to Bahrain, said the memorandum of understanding, that covers intelligence, procurement and...Gantz toured the guided missile destroyer USS Cole, which is set to make its way to Abu Dhabi to help defend the UAE.
The US base in Bahrain lies just across the Gulf from Iran. The waters are crossed by hundreds of oil and cargo vessels every day.
South Africa tax authority uncovers $1.8 bn gold scam: report
South Africa's tax authority has uncovered a 1.8-billion-dollar gold scam, in which coins and jewelry were illegally smelted into gold...Coins and jewelry were illegally smelted into gold bars for sale overseas, the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism said.
Sale of gold within South Africa carries a tax, but gold exports do not. So the companies created fake invoices to claim that they had paid tax.
Erdogan eyes Ukraine summit with Putin on Kyiv visit
The veteran Turkish leader's talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky come with Kyiv hesitant to accept US warnings that...The veteran Turkish leader's talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky come with Kyiv hesitant to accept US warnings that President Putin is preparing to invade
Erdogan has also tried to talk down the prospects of war while pursuing his own diplomatic track separate from those followed by European leaders
