Middle East Experience

The majority of citizens in key Middle Eastern cities believe that their government is effectively managing the impact of COVID-19, according to a new report by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Governmental approval was rated at 81 percent in the region while only 56 percent of citizens in the rest of the world approved of how their city was handling the pandemic.The report, ‘The GCC post-pandemic: Massive and fast transformation,’ highlights some of the seismic changes in government policy brought about by the COVID-19 crisis.Revenue generation is likely to be a priority for governments in the region, the report said, adding that several countries have already taken steps to improve governmental income.Subsidy reforms to cut government spending and new taxes including corporation tax and Oman’s planned income tax were examples that PwC pointed out.Additional pressure will be put on Gulf economies in the coming years as more than $100bn of sovereign debt will reach maturity and have to be paid back between 2021 and 2025.In order to raise revenues, Saudi Arabia stipulated that companies must house their regional headquarters in Riyadh in order to do business with state entities, and the government set up special economic zones to stimulate manufacturing, trade, and logistics.Gulf governments are looking towards green energy initiatives to secure the transition to a more sustainable way of life.The UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 “feature ambitious targets for adding renewable and clean energy to their energy mix,” the report said.More than $163 billion is being invested in clean energy by the UAE, which aims to have half of its energy supplied by clean sources by 2050.“GCC governments and major industrial players have realized that the traditional and dominant linear economic model of ‘take, make, use, and waste’ is unsustainable,” the report added.Read more: Business leaders react to Saudi move to cease working with companies with no local HQOman to start cutting utility subsidies in JanuaryOman to widen VAT exemptions, increase subsidies
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Most Middle Eastern citizens trust government responses to COVID-19: Report

World powers opened a fifth round of talks with Iran aimed at bringing the United States back into the landmark 2015 nuclear deal meant to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining an atomic bomb, with both sides expressing hope Tuesday that it might be the final series of negotiations.The talks in Vienna came the day after the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, struck a last-minute agreement with Tehran for a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Iran’s nuclear sites. The issue wasn’t directly related to the ongoing talks on the nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, but if Iran had not agreed it could have seriously complicated the discussions.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The US is not directly involved in the talks, but an American delegation headed by President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has been in the Austrian capital. Representatives from the other powers involved — Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — have shuttled between the Americans and the Iranians to facilitate indirect talks.Following a Tuesday afternoon meeting of the so-called Joint Commission, Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov, who has consistently been the most optimistic about the possibility of an agreement that would get the US to rejoin the nuclear deal, suggested a resolution was in sight, calling it “the fifth and probably final round of the Vienna talks.”“The participants expressed readiness to do their best to resolve the remaining outstanding issues and to complete negotiations successfully as soon as possible,” he tweeted.Iran’s delegate to the talks, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, told Iranian state television as he headed into the session that following “good progress in the last four rounds of talks” he hoped the fifth would be the last.“There are still important issues that need to be fixed,” he said. “We hope that we will be able to reach a final solution during these several days of negotiations.”Malley was more non-committal as he headed back to Vienna, tweeting that the previous round had been “constructive and saw meaningful progress.”“But much work still needs to be done,” the US envoy wrote. “On our way to Vienna for a fifth round where we hope we can further advance toward a mutual return to compliance.”In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the agreement unilaterally, saying it was not broad enough and needed to be renegotiated. As part of a “maximum pressure” campaign, Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to bring Tehran back to the table.The sanctions crippled Iran’s economy, but the Iranian government refused to renegotiate and instead retaliated by slowly and steadily breaking the restrictions on its nuclear activities laid out in the JCPOA. The move was designed to pressure the other parties involved, thus far unsuccessfully, to come up with incentives to offset the US sanctions.Biden, who was vice president when the original deal was negotiated, has said he wants the US to rejoin but that Iran has to return to complete compliance. Iran has insisted that all American sanctions imposed under Trump be dropped, including measures that were taken in response to non-nuclear issues.Iran’s violations include a significant increase in the purity and quantity of uranium it has been enriching, effectively reducing the so-called break-out time to produce an atomic bomb. Iran says it does not want to build an atomic bomb, insisting that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.On Monday, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s civilian program, said Tehran had stockpiled 5 tons of uranium enriched up to 5 percent purity, 90 kilograms (198 pounds) enriched up to 20 percent and 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) up to 60 percent — still below weapons-grade levels of 90 percent purity.Though the West fears it could be used to help Tehran potentially obtain an atomic bomb, US intelligence agencies have said they “assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities... necessary to produce a nuclear device.”Despite Iran’s violations of the JCPOA, the other nations involved have stressed that the agreement was still important as it allowed International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to continue their surveillance of Iran’s nuclear facilities.The continuity of that surveillance was threatened until the agreement negotiated by the IAEA with Iran on Monday.Under a confidential agreement called an “Additional Protocol” with Iran, the IAEA collects and analyzes images from a series of surveillance cameras installed at Iranian nuclear sites. Those cameras helped it monitor Tehran’s program to see if it is complying with the nuclear deal.Iran’s hard-line parliament in December approved a bill that would suspend part of UN inspections of its nuclear facilities if European signatories didn’t provide relief from oil and banking sanctions by February.Speaking at a news conference Monday in Vienna as the deal was due to expire, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told journalists Iran had agreed to a one-month extension, though his agency still cannot access the images taken by the cameras for the time being.“I’d want to stress this is not ideal,” Grossi said. “This is like an emergency device that we came up with in order for us to continue having these monitoring activities.”Read more: Senior diplomats say that success in Iran nuclear talks is not guaranteed
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran, world powers resume fifth round of talks on US return to nuclear deal

The United States should stop manufacturing parts for the F-35 fighter jet in Turkey, the Air Force secretary nominee said Tuesday.“Under the current situation with Turkey, I think we should not be making F-35 parts in Turkey,” Frank Kendall told the Senate Committee on Armed Services during his confirmation hearing.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Asked if he would do all that was possible to ensure that the production of these parts was halted as “soon as possible,” Kendall said: “Yes, I will.”Ties between Washington and Ankara have soured after Turkey pushed ahead, despite warnings from the US and NATO, with the purchase of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system.Concerns were raised that such a system could be used to collect data on the US F-35 fighter jet, and NATO allies said the Russian weapons were incompatible with the organization.But Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ignored all advice and concerns from the West and received the system from Moscow.The Trump administration, which was in power at the time, announced the expulsion of Turkey from the F-35 production program along with the sanctions and bans on military export licenses.Under President Joe Biden, the relationship with Turkey does not seem to be improving. Biden became the first US president to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, drawing the ire of Erdogan and other hard-line Turkish officials.Holding Turkey accountable is one of the few areas that has garnered bipartisan support in Washington.Biden is slated to meet his Turkish counterpart for the first time next month, on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels.Separately, Kendall singled out China and Russia as being US “adversaries.” He warned both countries that they should “never doubt the United States.”Read more: US President Biden maintains tough line on Turkey over Russia arms
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Biden’s Air Force secretary nominee vows to halt production of F-35 parts in Turkey

UAE officials announced only those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, provided they present a negative result of a PCR test taken within 48 hours, will be allowed to attend events and activities in the country starting June 6.The announcement was made on Tuesday by Dr. Farida al-Hosani, the official spokesperson of the UAE Health Sector, adding that attendees would have to show a negative PCR test result and “an E letter” showing in their respective Al Hosn mobile app to attend events.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.“During the UAE Government media briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Al Hosani stated that all precautionary measures must be followed during these events, most notably wearing face masks and social distancing guidelines, adding that these procedures will be enforced on 6th June, 2021,” a statement published by the state-run Emirates News Agency read."Today, we see the fruit of our efforts as we proudly announce the UAE becoming world's leading country in terms of the distribution rate of the COVID-19 vaccine doses for every 100 persons, which highlights the success of the national vaccination campaign," Dr. al-Hosani said.Last week, the UAE announced a series a relaxation on several restrictions on live entertainment, hotel occupancy, concerts and weddings across Dubai for a trial period of one month, including an increased capacity of 70 percent at entertainment venues. Music concerts, community sports events, spectator events and social and institutional events will be allowed on the condition that all attendees, participants, and staff have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE says only COVID-19 vaccinated people with negative PCR tests can attend events

New York prosecutors have convened a grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president Donald Trump, suggesting they may have found evidence of a crime, US media reported Tuesday.The development is the latest step towards the 74-year-old Trump, who left the White House in January, possibly becoming the first ever ex-US leader to face criminal charges.The grand jury was set up recently and will sit three days a week for six months, reported The Washington Post, citing two unnamed people familiar with the case.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The panel is also hearing several matters unrelated to Trump’s case, the paper added.ABC also reported the move.The Washington Post said it suggests that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance may have found evidence of a crime, if not by Trump then somebody close to him.A spokesman for Vance refused to comment when contacted by AFP.In the United States, prosecutors typically refer important cases to grand juries made up of citizens who examine the prosecution’s case in secret. They hear evidence and can request additional documents before deciding whether criminal charges should be brought.Vance and New York state Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats, are investigating Trump’s business dealings.They are probing whether the Trump Organization committed tax evasion, insurance and bank fraud.Trump denies wrongdoing and has called the investigations “a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in the history of the United States.”Vance’s probe initially focused on hush payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump -- but the investigation has since been expanded.Investigators suspect the Trump Organization may have artificially inflated and reduced the value of assets, particularly several properties in New York state, to either get bank loans or reduce their taxes.Last week, James said her office was investigating the Trump Organization in a “criminal capacity” and was working with Vance’s team.Vance, who leaves his post at the end of December, acquired eight years of Trump’s tax returns in February after a years-long legal battle that went to the Supreme Court.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: New York prosecutors probing Trump form grand jury

The Islamic State has recently stepped up its operations against the Syrian government forces and their allied militias as IS cells spread in more areas in Syria.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Islamic State escalates operations against Syrian forces during Ramadan

The Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria took back its decision to raise fuel prices after protests condemning the decision led to several casualties.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Why Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria canceled fuel price hikes

President Joe Biden called his Egyptian counterpart as Egypt led back channel negotiations to mediate a cease-fire that ended the Israeli-Hamas escalation. Egypt hopes the call represents a turnaround in US ties and support for Nile Dam dispute.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt’s role in Gaza conflict helps Sisi break ice with Biden

The Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has destroyed hundreds of houses and buildings, leaving many to stuck under rubble that rescuers are ill-equipped to move.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Gaza survivors recount hours trapped under rubble

Despite being disqualified to run by the country's Guardian Council, several major Reformist and centrist figures are still calling on citizens to go to the polls.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Prominent disqualified candidates urge Iranians to still vote