January 16th, 20230Israel's sharp tilt to what is likely to be the most hard right government in its history puts its new Arab allies in the awkward position of having to deal with ultra-nationalists while trying to do more than just pay lip service to the Palestinian cause.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, sworn in two weeks ago, includes...
August 23rd, 20220LEBANON — Nadia Fawaz, a Lebanese chess champion, was matched with an Israeli player, Elia Grozman, in the fourth round of the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival. Lebanese outlet The961 has reported that Fawaz, however, decided she did not want to play with an Israeli and has withdrawn from the international chess...
May 28th, 20220BAGHDAD – Iraq's parliament approved a law on Thursday that will ban normalizing relations with Israel, at a time when several Arab countries have established formal ties.
The Iraqi parliament has been unable to convene on any other issue, including electing a new president and forming its own government, prolonging a political...
May 10th, 20220Lebanese living abroad cast 142,041 ballots for parliamentary elections on Friday and Sunday, many backing political newcomers after the worst crisis since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war led to widespread poverty and a wave of emigration.
Only 225,277 Lebanese living overseas were eligible to participate in the elections in more than 50...
February 8th, 20220ADEN — The Saudi-led coalition deployed newly formed units near Yemen's Marib, where battles abated over the last week, according to military and government sources, as the warring sides hold their positions in the fight for energy-rich areas that has led to the war's biggest escalation in years.
Last month the Houthi movement...
September 17th, 20210An alarming discovery that the Israeli spyware company NSO Group targeted an ordinary citizen’s iPhone yet again caused Apple to deliver an important security update to its users.
Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said a security issue in Apple’s software was exploited to plant spyware on a Saudi...
September 16th, 20210DEARBORN — The tragic kidnapping, torture and murder in Yemen of Abdulmalek Alsanabani, a Yemeni student who resided in California, sparked outrage and protests in the U.S. and Yemen this week.
Alsanabani was a 25-year-old living in Fresno, California and had decided to take an often dangerous journey across the south of Yemen to...
August 26th, 20210DUBAI – Starting Thursday, Aug. 26 through Sept. 30, Emirates airline's economy class passengers traveling to Beirut from the U.S. and some other countries via Dubai will be eligible to carry an additional piece of luggage totaling 50 lbs.
The additional baggage allowance will help customers pack extra items to support family and...
February 12th, 20210DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates’ first mission to Mars reached the red planet and entered orbit on Tuesday after a seven-month, 494 million-km (307 million-mile) journey, allowing it to start sending data about the Martian atmosphere and climate.
The Mars program is part of the UAE’s efforts to develop its scientific and...
September 18th, 20200DEARBORN — So-called “peace agreements” between two Arab countries, the UAE and Bahrain, with Israel were signed on Tuesday, in a ceremony at the White House hosted by President Trump.
The normalization efforts between governments of the two Arab countries and Israel carried little consent from the people of those nations and...
August 21st, 20200MUSCAT - The Sultan of Oman issued 28 new royal decrees this week during a reshuffle of government roles and responsibilities.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said has named Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi as foreign minister to replace foreign affairs chief Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah after 23 years of service.
When you have...
May 31st, 20190MECCA — Saudi Arabia’s king told an emergency Arab summit on Thursday that decisive action was needed to stop Iranian “escalations” in the region following attacks on Gulf oil assets, as American officials said a U.S. military deployment had deterred Tehran.
King Salman had opened an earlier meeting of Arab Gulf leaders with a...
January 30th, 20190UAE - The United Arab Emirates employed a team of former U.S. government intelligence operatives to hack into the iPhones of activists, diplomats and rival foreign leaders with the help of a spying tool called Karma.
This campaign shows the potential of dangerous cyber-weapons that are passing through the hands of world’s superpowers...
September 8th, 20170WASHINGTON — On Thursday, President Trump said he would be willing to step in and mediate the worst dispute in decades among the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states and Qatar, and said that he thinks a deal could come quickly.
"If I can help mediate between Qatar and, in particular, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, I would be willing to do so,...
June 5th, 20170DUBAI ― The Arab world's biggest powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday over alleged support for Islamists and Iran, reopening a festering wound two weeks after President Trump's demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in a coordinated...
