Middle East Experience

Iran is “very close” to being able to develop a nuclear weapon, but the US military has ways to prevent this from happening if diplomacy fails, the top US military general for the Middle East said in an interview published Wednesday.But Iran does not have a warhead small enough to add to its ballistic missiles yet, CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie told TIME.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“They’re very close this time,” McKenzie said. “I think they like the idea of being able to break out,” he added.And although the US is pursuing diplomacy as a way to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, McKenzie said the military stood ready to act if called upon.“The diplomats are in the lead on this, but [US CENTCOM] always has a variety of plans that we could execute, if directed,” he warned.Diplomats from the US and Iran are expected to resume indirect talks next week on the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna next week.Talks stalled after six rounds following the election of a new Iranian government.On Tuesday, US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley cautioned against more stalling.“If it doesn’t want to get back into the deal, if it continues to do what it appears to be doing now, which is to drag its feet at the nuclear diplomatic table and accelerate its pace when it comes to its nuclear program, if that’s the path it chooses, we’ll have to respond accordingly,” Malley told the National Public Radio.Iran has also been engaged in other malign activities throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world.Militias backed by Tehran continue to target US bases and forces in and around the region. On Tuesday, a CENTCOM official told Al Arabiya English that rocket attacks targeted US-led Coalition bases in Syria. No injuries or damages were reported, but drones and other missile attacks have come close to bases in Syria and Iraq.“The one thing the Iranians have done over the last three to five years is they built a very capable ballistic missile platform,” McKenzie told TIME.In the aftermath of the 2020 slaying of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, Tehran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops.“Those missiles hit within tens of meters of their targets,” McKenzie revealed.Over 100 US troops were wounded, with many suffering severe head injuries.Read more: US slaps sanctions on Iran's drone program, will continue to hold Tehran accountable
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Top US military general for Middle East warns Iran

The UAE is implementing more than seven ambitious hydrogen projects, targeting key export markets..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UAE starts construction of first green hydrogen plant in Middle East

Aspirin, one of the most popular painkillers in the world, has been linked to causing a greater risk of heart failure, a new study finds. Aspirin use is associated with a 26 percent risk of heart failure in people who have at least one predisposing factor or condition, according to researchers from the European Society of Cardiology. Predisposing factors that were taken into consideration in the study included high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.However, the researchers noted that the influence of aspirin on heart failure was controversial and that the study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the two, in people with and without heart disease. “This is the first study to report that among individuals with a least one risk factor for heart failure, those taking aspirin were more likely to subsequently develop the condition than those not using the medication,” study author Dr. Blerim Mujaj of Germany’s University of Freiburg, said in a statement.“While the findings require confirmation, they do indicate that the potential link between aspirin and heart failure needs to be clarified.”The analysis included just over 30,000 people who were at risk of developing heart failure, all of whom were enrolled from Western Europe and the US. Participants were aged 40 and above and free of heart failure at baseline. The average age of the research’s participants was 67 years and 34 percent of them were women. At baseline, 7,698 participants (25 percent) were taking aspirin. Throughout the follow-up period, 1,330 participants developed heart failure, the researchers reported. The investigators assessed the association between aspirin use and incident heart failure after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol use, blood pressure, heart rate, blood cholesterol, creatinine, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and treatment with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, beta-blockers and lipid-lowering drugs. Taking aspirin was independently associated with a 26 percent raised risk of a new heart failure diagnosis.“This was the first large study to investigate the relationship between aspirin use and incident heart failure in individuals with and without heart disease and at least one risk factor. Aspirin is commonly used – in our study one in four participants were taking the medication. In this population, aspirin use was associated with incident heart failure, independent of other risk factors,” Dr. Mujaj said.“Large multinational randomized trials in adults at risk for heart failure are needed to verify these results. Until then, our observations suggest that aspirin should be prescribed with caution in those with heart failure or with risk factors for the condition.”Read more:New plant-based drug effective at blocking all COVID-19 variants, even DeltaRisks of taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks can outweigh benefits: UAE expertsDaily aspirin use for heart disease, stroke may harm more than help seniors: Experts
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Aspirin can increase risk of heart failure by more than 25 percent: Study 

Major General Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates has been elected as the new President of Interpol, according to an announcement on Twitter on Thursday.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The senior police official will serve the four-year term in Lyon, France.The Major General currently serves as inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry.He was elected by Interpol representatives (from its 140 member states) at a meeting in Turkey on Thursday.The new appointment makes him the first candidate from the Middle Eastern region to be elected into the position since the global crime fighting agency was founded in the 1920s.Read more:Turkey is a ‘great natural partner,’ says UAE ministerUAE fully committed to OPEC+ agreement, has no ‘prior stance’: WAMExpo 2020’s Golden Jubilee festivities to ‎showcase UAE’s meteoric rise since 1971‎
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE Major General Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi elected as new Interpol President

Once a bustling clinic full of patients waiting to receive their COVID-19 jab, a vaccination center in the heart of Dubai now lies quiet.At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination clinic at Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, run by healthcare provider VPS, was administering jabs to more than 650 patients during a typical day.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Now that figure has fallen by about 90 percent, Saed al-Salaymeh, the hospital’s director of nursing, told Al Arabiya English during a tour of the clinic.“If we are looking back to January at the time the UAE started its vaccination drive, within one month, the number of people in Dubai who had received one dose was around four million. We were reaching a huge number of people coming in every day.”The hospital also outsourced nursing staff to dedicated vaccination clinics to limit the number of people entering hospital centers for vaccines.It was, he said, a very busy time.“We had to recruit more team members,” he said, saying more than eight members of staff were on at any one time purely to administer vaccines.“Now we gradually have decreased that number because the flow of the patients decreased with the increased numbers of people who have been vaccinated.”“Before we used to have waiting areas and we had a lot of people waiting, now we don’t have a rush time.”The reduced number of people getting vaccinated at the clinic is echoed across VPS’s chain of clinics across the United Arab Emirates, he said.The vaccination clinic at Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery now only sees about 60 patients a day for a vaccine shot, the majority of which receive a booster dose – not their first or second jab.“I get a list every day breaking down how many are getting their first dose, how many people are getting their second dose, who many are getting their booster dose,” said al-Salaymeh.A patient booking to get their first dose is now “very rare.”The quietness of the clinic is symbolic of the UAE’s successful vaccination drive – one that has seen 99.86 percent of the population receive one dose of a COVID-19, and 90.07 percent who have been fully inoculated, according to the latest figures by the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA).The UAE’s vaccination drive has been welcomed by nurse Inigio Shalini Lourdusamy.She recalled her shifts as a frontline worker during the start of the UAE’s vaccination drive, saying:“Before it was so busy, we had no time to eat. Now it is totally changed.”“Since last month we would only see between 70 to 80 people a day. It is reducing all the time. Today we are expecting 30 people. So many have received their vaccine already that is why.”Patient Sunil Thilakasiri was among those getting a vaccine at the clinic.Receiving his second shot of the Pfizer vaccine, the Indian national told Al Arabiya English: “The whole process has been very easy. I received no side effects after my first dose.”Another patient, Saeed al-Khoori, was also receiving his second shot of the Pfizer vaccine.“The whole thing was very simple from start to finish,” he said. “As soon as I got my first dose, I received a reminder to book my second.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.He said he was not surprised the clinic was so quiet.“So many people have been vaccinated now thanks to the UAE.”Read more:More than 99 pct of the UAE population now vaccinated against COVID-19Dubai relaxes COVID-19 social distancing rule to one-meter: OfficialsUK COVID-19 rules updated to recognize UAE travelers with Sinopharm, Sinovac
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: As the UAE’s COVID-19 cases plummet, vaccination centers fall silent

Three Lebanese judges have resigned over interference by politicians in the work of the judiciary, including a probe into last year’s Beirut blast, a judicial source said Thursday.In a country where political leaders determine judicial appointments, including in top courts, there is little room for the judiciary to work against Lebanon’s ruling elite.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A probe into last year’s monster port explosion has exposed the extent of such interference, with top officials mounting a complex web of court challenges to obstruct the work of lead investigator Tarek Bitar.On Wednesday three judges, all women, handed in their resignation “to protest...political interference in the work of the judiciary and the undermining of decisions issued by judges and courts,” the judicial source said.The head of the country’s top court has yet to approve the resignations and has called for the matter to be discussed in a meeting, the source added.The resignations came after officials filed dozens of lawsuits against Bitar as well as other judges processing requests by lawmakers demanding his removal.Among those who resigned this week is a judge who turned down a request by an official to remove the investigator.She was consequently hit with a review questioning the validity of her decision.“The constant questioning of the judiciary’s decisions is tarnishing its reputation,” the same court official told AFP on condition of anonymity.While it is the most prominent, the Beirut blast case is not the only one to fall prey to interference by political leaders.A probe into charges of tax evasion and illicit enrichment brought against central bank chief Riad Salameh has also been paused over a lawsuit filed against lead investigator Jean Tannous.Read more:Lebanon central bank governor told to hand over data for forensic audit: PresidencyLebanon’s interior minister: Crisis with Gulf could worsenLebanese pound sinks to new low, trading at 24,000 against US dollar
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon judges resign in protest against political interference

Thousands of Sudanese protested in the streets of Khartoum and other cities on Thursday, keeping up the pressure on military leaders after they struck a deal to bring back a civilian prime minister deposed in a coup one month ago.Prominent political parties and Sudan’s powerful protest movement have opposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s decision on Sunday to sign the accord with the military, with some calling it a betrayal or saying it provides political cover for the takeover.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The revolution is the people’s revolution. The army back to the barracks!” chanted protesters in Al Daim, a working class district of Khartoum. They called for justice for “martyrs” killed in earlier demonstrations.Protesters also closed a main road in the Sahafa neighborhood of the capital.Carrying Sudanese flags, they chanted “Burhan you won’t rule. Down with military rule,” referring to Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.Live streams on social media also showed protests in cities including Port Sudan, Kassala, Wad Madani and El Geneina.While Hamdok’s reinstatement was a concession by military leader al-Burhan, key political parties and civilian groups say the army should play no role in politics.University student Osama Ahmed said he was protesting against al-Burhan because he wants to bring down the revolution and prevent the creation of a civilian state.Under the terms of Sunday’s deal, Hamdok will lead a government of technocrats during a political transition expected to last until 2023 and will share power with the military.It is meant to be based on an earlier deal struck between the military and civilian political forces following the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, when they had agreed to share power until elections. The coup scuppered that partnership.The civilian coalition that had been sharing power with the military before the takeover and its former ministers have rejected the agreement struck by Hamdok, citing a violent crackdown on anti-military protests over the past month.Hamdok has said the Sudanese authorities are committed to democracy and freedom of expression.Read more:Sudan’s PM Hamdok says he expects new government to be formed within two weeksSudan’s Hamdok, Burhan sign political deal to restore transitionUN rights chief calls for Sudan military to step back
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Thousands of Sudanese take to the streets against deal between PM Hamdok and military

Reacting to the release of hundreds of the husbands of the ‘Knifar Women’ – a movement of more than 2,000 displaced Nigerian women who campaign for the release of their husbands from unlawful military detention – Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said: “We welcome the release of the 600 men, including husbands of ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Nigeria: Mass prisoner release from unlawful military detention is testament to campaign power of ‘Knifar Women’

Grundberg said that recent developments, including the ongoing battle for the strategic city of Marib, had resulted in ripple effects across Yemen..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: As violence rages, UN urges de-escalation in Yemen

Kuwait TV showed the emir receiving the crown prince, the newly-reappointed PM Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid and parliament speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Kuwait emir makes first public appearance after delegating most duties