Middle East Experience

28% of Evangelicals reject the idea that Jews ever were God’s chosen people.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: More Evangelicals are 'dismissive' of Israel than loyal to it - survey

It’s a matter of time until an even more dangerous coronavirus variant emerges if we fail to vaccinate the world’s most vulnerable populations..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: How HIV and COVID-19 Variants Are Connected

OPEC and its allies agreed on Thursday to stick to their existing policy of monthly oil output increases despite fears that a US release from crude reserves and the new Omicron coronavirus variant would lead to a fresh oil price rout.Benchmark Brent crude fell more than $1 after the deal was reported, before recovering some ground to trade around$70 a barrel. It is now well below October’s three-year highs above $86 but still more than 30 percent up on the start of 2021.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The United States has repeatedly pushed OPEC+ to accelerate output hikes as US gasoline prices soared and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings slid. Faced with rebuffs, Washington said last week it and other consumers would release reserves.Fearing another supply glut, sources said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and allies, known as OPEC+, considered a range of options in talks on Thursday, including pausing their January hike of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) or increasing output by less than the monthly plan.But any such move would have put OPEC+, which includes Saudi Arabia and other US allies in the Gulf, on a collision course with Washington. Instead, the group rolled over its existing deal to increase output in January by 400,000 bpd.“Politics triumphs over economics. Consumer countries mounted enough pressure,” said veteran OPEC observer Gary Ross. “But weaker prices now will only mean stronger later.”Ahead of the talks, US Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk indicated there might be flexibility in the US release of reserves, telling Reuters on Wednesday that Biden’s administration could adjust the timing if oil prices dropped substantially.OPEC+ remains concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could once again drive down demand. Surging infections have prompted renewed restrictions in Europe and the Omicron variant has already led to new clamp downs on some international travel.“We have to closely monitor the market to see the real effect of Omicron,” one OPEC+ delegate said after the talks.OPEC+ ministers are next scheduled to meet on Jan. 4, but the group indicated in a statement that they could meet again before then if the market situation demanded.Before this week’s talks Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in OPEC+, had both said there was no need for a knee-jerk reaction.Commenting after the OPEC+ decision, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the oil market was balanced and global oil demand was slowly rising.OPEC+ has been gradually unwinding record cuts agreed last year when demand cratered due to the pandemic, slashing output by about 10 million bpd, or 10 percent of global supply. Those cuts have since been scaled back to about 3.8 million bpd.But OPEC+ has regularly failed to meet its output targets, producing about 700,000 bpd less than planned in both September and October, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.The next meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Technical Committee is scheduled for Jan. 3, while the next meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is Jan. 4, a source said.Read more: UAE’s ADNOC to invest $127 bln in 2022-26 as oil, gas reserves rise
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: OPEC+ to go ahead with oil output rise, as US pressure trumps COVID-19 scare

An explosive device was used in the bus attack in an area of Deir Ezzor where “ISIS sleeper cells are active.”..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Ten oil workers killed in eastern Syria in suspected ISIS attack

More Than 60 Groups Urge General Assembly to Establish New Investigative Mechanism The United Nations General Assembly should act swiftly to establish an investigative mechanism to gather and preserve evidence of serious human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war in Yemen, a coalition of more than 60 organizations said today. Failure to act would ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Civil Society Groups Seek Urgent UN Action on Yemen

Diplomats and employees at the UN headquarters in New York were ordered to remain in place Thursday after an armed man was seen outside.The armed man was seen outside the building with a gun in his hand, pacing back and forth.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Reuters cited an NYPD official saying the man was in his 60s, carrying what appeared to be a shotgun.The NYPD warned people against coming to the area. “Due to a police investigation, avoid the area of 42 Street and 1st Avenue. Expect emergency vehicles in the surrounding area. Traffic along the FDR Drive is affected. Use an alternate route if traveling in the area,” a tweet from the New York Police Department said.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UN headquarters on lockdown after armed man seen outside

Pope Francis said Thursday he was “greatly concerned” over the situation in Lebanon, which is mired in its worst social and economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.“When I think of Lebanon, I am greatly concerned for the crisis it is facing,” the pontiff said during a visit to the nearby island of Cyprus, at the Maronite Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace in Nicosia.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“I am sensitive to the sufferings of a people wearied and tested by violence and adversity,” the pope said at his first stop after landing on the eastern Mediterranean island.“I carry in my prayer the desire for peace that rises from the heart of that country.”Lebanon is grappling with its worst-ever financial and economic crisis, with nearly 80 percent of the population estimated to be living below the poverty line.A foreign currency crunch, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement, has seen the Lebanese pound lose 90 percent of its black-market value against the US dollar since the crisis started in 2019.The majority-Greek Orthodox Republic of Cyprus is home to roughly 7,000 adherents to the Maronite church, an ancient Eastern Catholic faith. About 1,000 Lebanese travelled to Cyprus for the papal visit, officials in the Maronite Church said.Read more:Pope: Lebanon must remain a ‘land of tolerance, pluralism’‘People will be harmed’ as Lebanon’s cash-strapped government cuts medicine subsidiesGeneration of children ‘at stake’ in Lebanon crisis: UNICEF
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Pope Francis says ‘greatly concerned’ over Lebanon crisis

Iran’s top diplomat said Thursday that Tehran wanted a good agreement from ongoing talks in Vienna aimed at reviving its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, but he said he was not optimistic about the intentions of the US, UK, France and Germany.The Iranians are currently in Vienna with “a serious determination and a clear and logical agenda, but we are not optimistic about the will and intentions of the US and the three European countries,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Japanese counterpart over the phone.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“On the one hand, US officials are asking for negotiations and a return to the nuclear deal, but on the other hand, they are imposing new sanctions on Iranian individuals and institutions at the same time,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying.“The important thing is that these negotiations have results and that the Western parties show their seriousness and goodwill at the negotiating table and in action.”Talks between the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal – Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain – resumed in Vienna on Monday after a five-month pause.The US is participating indirectly in the talks that aim to bring Iran back into compliance with the pact and facilitate a US return to the agreement.Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, reimposing sweeping sanctions on Tehran.Under the deal, Tehran limited its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.“I think, in the very near future, the next day or so, we’ll be in a position to judge whether Iran actually intends now to engage in good faith,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.“I have to tell you, recent moves, recent rhetoric, don’t give us a lot of cause for ... optimism. But even though the hour is getting very late, it is not too late for Iran to reverse course and engage meaningfully,” said Blinken.Read more: Iran makes nuclear advance at Fordow despite talks to save deal
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran pessimistic about US, E3 intentions in Vienna nuclear talks: FM

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he hoped there would be progress on the Lebanon crisis in the next hours.“We will do all we can to re-engage the Gulf regions for the benefit of Lebanon... I hope the coming hours will allow us to make progress.” Macron said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Lebanon is facing a diplomatic crisis with Gulf states, spurred by critical comments by Information Minister George Kordahi on the war in Yemen in late October that prompted Riyadh, Bahrain and Kuwait to expel Lebanon’s top diplomats and recall their own envoys. The UAE withdrew its envoys.Read more:Lebanon’s information minister resigns after Saudi Arabia commentsSaudi Arabia sees no purpose in engaging Lebanon at this time: FMQatar calls Lebanon to take measures to heal worsening Lebanese-Gulf relations
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: France’s Macron says hoping for progress on Lebanon ‘within next hours’

A lot of the new naval equipment Egypt has acquired has been from European countries but also Chinese and Russian suppliers..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Egypt concludes second international weapons fair