Middle East Experience

Former interior minister Arye Deri maintained that he was never aware of or had any authority over the safety of the structures themselves on the site.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Mount Meron inquiry: Deri shirks responsibility, 'I had no authority'

The meeting between the two was held as part of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Defense Minister Gantz meets with Indian Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi

The latest clash in the government surrounds a bill that would give Israel Police jurisdiction over Israeli civilians living in Judea and Samaria.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israeli politics are now dangerously being put before life - editorial

All eyes will be on whether the West or Iran falter or if both sides stick to their guns.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: IAEA chief to address Iran at key meeting on Monday

The proposed plan is a deal without the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s “sunset clauses,” which gradually lift restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel working to convince US to push Iran for ‘no-sunset-clause’ nuke deal

Three South Korean companies have signed an agreement to build a $1 billion green hydrogen and ammonia production plant in the United Arab Emirates, their UAE partner said on Friday.Korea Electric Power Corporation, Samsung C&T Corporation and Korea Western Power, alongside the UAE's Petrolyn Chemie, will build a plant that can produce up to 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year, Petrolyn said.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Green hydrogen - obtained by passing renewably-produced electricity through water to split the element from oxygen - has been touted by some as a key fuel for energy users looking to cut greenhouse gas emissions.Both the UAE and neighbor Saudi Arabia have set out ambitious plans for hydrogen.The plant will be built in two phases in the KIZAD Industrial Area near the capital Abu Dhabi, with the first phase producing 35,000 tons before the second phase takes the project to full scale.“Participating companies will achieve their respective Net-Zero vision through the Project. They are expected to...expand the drive of future growth in the global green hydrogen market by expanded reproduction of their future business model,” Petrolyn said.Read more:UAE’s ADNOC, BP, and Masdar forge clean energy partnershipNetherlands, UAE to collaborate on hydrogen use amid ‘burgeoning demand for energy’Saudi ACWA power to sign $7 billion green hydrogen deal with Omanoil
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: South Korean companies to build bln green hydrogen plant in UAE

The Taliban have tasked a United Arab Emirates firm with the security screening of passengers and luggage at Afghan airports, officials said, as the country seeks to expand international flights.While some domestic and international flights are operating out of the capital's only airport, significant support is needed for major foreign airlines to resume a full service.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The full operation of Kabul's airport -- which was trashed in August during the mass evacuation of civilians after the Taliban stormed back to power -- is seen as crucial to reviving Afghanistan's shattered economy.Abu Dhabi-based GAAC said it will manage screening at Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif airports for the next three years.“The signing of this contract is expected to enhance the confidence of foreign airlines to resume their flights,” Ibrahim Morafi, regional director of GAAC, told AFP.Afghanistan's transport and aviation ministry confirmed the deal.No country has yet formally recognised the Taliban government, which has increasingly stripped away the freedoms of Afghans, particularly women.GAAC, which operated in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, signed a separate contract last month to provide ground handling services at Kabul, Kandahar and Herat airports.A Qatar-Turkey consortium has been in talks with the Afghan aviation ministry for months about operating Afghan airports, but discussions have stalled over the Taliban's insistence that their fighters guard the facilities.Air traffic control at Kabul airport is being handled by a team of Afghans trained by experts from Uzbekistan and Qatar.Read more:UAE official confirms agreement to operate services at Afghanistan airportsUAE firm inks airport deal as Afghanistan seeks to resume international flights
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE firm to screen passengers at Afghan airports

Lebanon's intelligence chief has said he will visit Syria for talks with Syrian leaders about the fate of a US reporter who went missing in Syria a decade ago.Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said US officials want him to resume efforts to bring home Austin Tice and other Americans missing in Syria. Tice, a freelance journalist and former marine, disappeared while reporting in 2012.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In an interview with General Security magazine, his agency's official publication, Ibrahim said that in past talks with Damascus on Tice, Syria had raised demands related to the withdrawal of US forces, a resumption of diplomatic relations, and the lifting of some US sanctions.“We are working to resume the negotiations from where they ended” at the end of former President Donald Trump's term, he said.He did not say when he planned to visit Syria.In May US President Joe Biden told Tice's parents that his administration would work “relentlessly” until his return was secured.“The American officials want me to resume my efforts to resolve this problem. They want their people back. This is what they are aiming for,” Ibrahiam said.Ibrahim, who said he met with Tice's mother during a recent trip to the United States, said Syria had not given “clear answers” on Tice's health or the conditions of his detention.He said he could not confirm whether Tice was alive in the absence of confirmation from the Syrian government.The United States suspended its diplomatic presence in Syria 2012 as it descended into a civil war which the United Nations says has killed at least 350,000 people.US hostage envoy in Beirut to discuss missing Americans in Syria: SourcesLast year, Washington said it would not normalize or upgrade diplomatic relations with Syria, citing what it described as atrocities inflicted on the Syrian people.Officials at the US Embassy in Lebanon could not be reached for comment.Read more:Biden administration revives efforts to secure release of Austin Tice, other hostagesBiden meets with parents of reporter who went missing in SyriaUS hostage envoy in Beirut to discuss missing Americans in Syria: Sources
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanese spy chief says he will visit Syria over missing US reporter

Dubai police said Friday they arrested and planned to extradite a British man wanted in Denmark over a $1.7 billion tax fraud case.Dubai police identified the man as Sanjay Shah and said his arrest came after Denmark signed an agreement in March allowing for extradition between the United Arab Emirates and Denmark.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Shah has maintained his innocence while living in Dubai over the last few years. It wasn’t immediately clear if Shah, 52, had a local lawyer in the Emirates.A court date did not appear to have been immediately set in Dubai.In a statement, Dubai police Brig. Gen. Jamal al-Jallaf said the emirate received an international arrest warrant from Denmark for Shah.Al Jallaf said Shah was accused of a fraud that saw foreign businesses pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claim tax refunds for which they were not eligible.“The fraud scheme, known as ‘cum-ex’ trading, involved submitting thousands of applications to the Danish Treasury on behalf of investors and companies from several countries around the world in order to receive dividend tax refunds,” al-Jallaf said.In a joint statement, Denmark’s Justice and Foreign Ministries praised Dubai’s arrest of Shah, whom they described had been a target of the country’s prosecutors since 2015.“The Danish Treasury has been cheated for a staggering amount, and of course it should not be possible for suspected perpetrators to hide in the Middle East and thus avoid being held accountable in a Danish courtroom,” Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye said.“Now I am awaiting the legal process in the United Arab Emirates, and crossing my fingers that it will end up that we can get Sanjay Shah on a plane to Denmark, so he can be prosecuted in this country.”Read more:UAE expats feel pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, experts urge spending ‘reset'Dubai Customs made 5,000 seizures in 2021, incl. largest-ever haul of captagon drugOff the wall: The artists who are the face of the Gulf street art scene
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Dubai arrests British man over .7 billion Denmark tax fraud case

The European Union's delegation to Yemen welcomed the move in a tweet and underscored the importance of lifting the Taiz blockade..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Yemen delegations to resume talks as truce is extended