Middle East Experience

Herzog and the king are not strangers to each other. King Abdullah called to congratulate him when he entered office and the two have had several conversations since.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: President Isaac Herzog to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah

The final step would be a Senate vote, some eight months after President Biden announced his intention to nominate her to the position.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Senate Committee advances Lipstadt’s nomination as next antisemitism envoy

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates in Morocco on Tuesday in a bid to ease disagreements with Washington’s traditional Gulf allies over oil, Iran and the Ukraine crisis.The meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will be his most important during a regional trip that unusually for a secretary of state did not include any stops in Gulf monarchies or talks with Saudi officials.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Blinken said on Tuesday his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed would be an opportunity to have a “truly strategic” conversation.Washington’s Arab allies chafe at what they see as declining US commitment to security in their region in the face of Iranian involvement in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon which has nudged them into common cause with former arch-foe Israel.Blinken over the weekend attended a summit between Israel and Arab countries with which it has agreed peace, including the UAE and Morocco, but he has not met any senior Saudis.Though the United States is focused long-term on the strategic challenge of growing Chinese influence, and its attention now is on the Ukraine crisis, very high crude prices have underscored the continued relevance of Gulf oil producers.Blinken is expected to stress the importance of both the UAE and Saudi Arabia in his talks with Sheikh Mohammed, discussing Iran, Yemen, global energy markets and the UAE’s rapprochement with Syria, US officials said.In return, he is seeking to overcome Gulf resistance to a US request to raise oil output to tame rampant crude prices that have aggravated high inflation rates globally.“The United States is a very important partner for all of us and we are very proud of the relationship. I think what we need is pragmatism. We need to look at the objective of the energy and what we’re asking for is not to tell us ‘do this’ or ‘do that’,” said UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei on Tuesday.Ukraine assistanceWashington wants its Arab allies to take a stronger stance against Russia over its assault on Ukraine by voting with the United States in the United Nations, joining Western sanctions or even sending security assistance to Ukraine.The UAE abstained in a UN Security Council vote on Ukraine last month and Morocco did not show up for a general assembly vote. The UAE and Saudi Arabia both have increasingly important energy ties with Russia.“Energy is coming back as a major component of many of the Middle East and, indeed, world discussions. What people thought was the death of fossil fuels is, I think, a little bit premature,” senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday.Gulf states have for years been frustrated at what they see as US inaction in confronting Iran’s role in the region, but their concerns have grown since Joe Biden became president 14 months ago.They are worried about the impact of a potential new nuclear deal with Iran and annoyed that Washington has ended its support for their war in Yemen, put new conditions on weapons sales to Gulf states and criticized their human rights records.Blinken is expected to reassure Sheikh Mohammed of Washington’s commitment to stopping Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon amid a series of missile attacks by the Tehran-backed Houthi group in Yemen.Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, concerned that Washington’s push for a deal over Iran’s nuclear program will not tackle its development of missiles or the role of its regional proxies, have moved to engage with Tehran directly.“We need to turn the page... reaching out to various friends, of course, but adversaries also,” said Gargash, who was speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai.Read more: CENTCOM chief bemoans delays in US weapons sales to Middle East allies
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Oil, Iran, Ukraine top agenda as Blinken meets UAE leader

Four people were killed in at least two locations. Another attack was reported in Ramat Gan, whose details are still unclear.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Four killed in Bnei Brak shooting

Ankara is a traditional ally of Kyiv's and has supplied the country with Bayraktar drones, which Ukraine has deployed in the conflict..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Turkey says Ukraine-Russia talks concluded, hails ‘significant progress’

An Egyptian statement said the investment package is meant to “strengthen economic and investment cooperation between the two brotherly countries.”..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar, Egypt agree to billion investment deals

The Arab Coalition fighting in Yemen began launching airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi militia targets in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported early Sunday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Coalition forces targeted Houthi sites in the port of Hodeidah earlier on Saturday.The Houthis were given a three-hour deadline to remove all weapons from the ports of Hodeidah and Salif and the Sanaa international airport, SPA reported on Saturday.The strikes come after the Houthis launched a series of attacks on Saudi energy facilities on Friday.A petroleum products distribution station was struck on Friday, causing a fire in two tanks.Smoke from the blaze was seen by viewers of the Formula One Grand Prix just 11 kilometers away.Nine Houthi drones targeting the Kingdom were reportedly intercepted on Friday.A ballistic missile targeted Jazan, and one drone was aimed towards Najran.The Houthi militia said on Saturday it was suspending missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia for three days.The group also announced a three-day suspension of ground offensive operations in Yemen, including in the gas producing region of Marib, Mahdi al-Mashat, the head of the Houthis’ political office, said in a speech broadcast on television.Mashat said the group was ready to release all prisoners, including the brother of Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.Read more: Arab Coalition launches airstrikes targeting Houthi strongholds in Yemen’s HodeidahYemen’s Houthis suspend strikes on Saudi Arabia for three days: Political office head‘Hostile operation’ targeted Aramco facility in Jeddah: Arab Coalition
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Arab Coalition launches airstrikes on Yemen capital Sanaa

Iran has insisted that a revived nuclear accord, which diplomats say is close, is conditional on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) being taken off a US terrorist list..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: US says to keep Iran Guards on sanctions list even with nuclear deal

“The only hope Afghanistan has right now is education,..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Malala Yousafzai : Taliban shouldn’t be recognised if they don't recognise human rights of women

The head of Ukraine’s Lugansk separatist region said Sunday it may hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia, after Moscow sent troops into its pro-Western neighbor.“I think that in the near future a referendum will be held on the territory of the republic, during which the people will... express their opinion on joining the Russian Federation,” Russian news agencies quoted Leonid Pasechnik as saying.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“For some reason, I am sure this will be the case,” he said.Russia launched its military action in Ukraine in late February, saying it was acting in defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics in the country’s east.President Vladimir Putin had days earlier recognized the two regions as independent.The industrial, mainly Russian-speaking regions broke from Kyiv’s control in 2014 in fighting that over the next few years claimed more than 14,000 lives.Russia that year annexed Crimea from Ukraine after a pro-Moscow leader was ousted in a popular uprising and a referendum was held in the southern region on becoming part of Russia.Read more:Russia sowing deep hatred among Ukrainians, Zelenskyy warnsRussia hits targets in Ukraine’s Lviv with cruise missiles: Russian defense ministryAround 30,000 Ukraine refugees arrive in France
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ukraine’s Lugansk separatist region may hold referendum on joining Russia: Pasechnik