Middle East Experience

TV reporter Ahmed Hassan and protest leader Ihab al-Wazni were targeted by unidentified gunmen..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iraqi TV journalist shot day after anti-government activist's killing

Violence has erupted again, this time on the Temple Mount, inside the al-Aqsa mosque, and there is no clear cause and effect.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Can Mansour Abbas douse the flames in Jerusalem? - analysis

The United Nations Security Council held a closed door session on Monday to discuss rising tensions in east Jerusalem, particularly around the Temple Mount, also known as al Haram al Sharif.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: UNSC members call for calm amid Jerusalem, Gaza violence flare-up

Police stormed the Temple Mount to disperse rioters who fired fireworks and threw stones at security forces. Over 300 people were injured in the clashes.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Jerusalem Day festivities shaken by rockets, violent riots

France's foreign minister said on Wednesday he would carry a strongly worded message to Lebanese politicians when he visits Beirut on Thursday and warned of punitive measures against those who are hindering the political progress.The trip comes after Paris said it had started putting in place measures to restrict entry to France for some Lebanese officials on the grounds that they were blocking efforts to find a solution to Lebanon's political and economic crisis.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app."Firmness for those who block the formation of a government: We have taken national measures, and it is only the beginning," Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Twitter without providing details.However, until now there has been no official announcement on what measures have actually been taken, if any, and against whom. French officials have declined to comment or respond to requests for details.France has spearheaded international efforts to rescue Lebanon from its deepest crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, but after eight months has failed so far to persuade squabbling politicians to adopt a reform road map or form a new government to unlock international aid.Le Drian has said the national measures would cover access to French territory.It is not clear how much impact such measures would have as several key Lebanese actors have dual nationality and could not be restricted, while others who could be accused of hindering the political process travel rarely to France.Diplomats have said the national punitive measures could also have a negative impact by hardening positions in Beirut.However, they say that France's opaque announcements could be aimed at focusing minds at European Union level, where Paris is hoping a new sanctions regime for Lebanon will be created that could ultimately see more impactful asset freezes and travel bans.That, however, is likely to take time, diplomats have said.Le Drian is set to meet President Michel Aoun and Shi'ite Hezbollah ally and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, although officials have declined to confirm a meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri.He has also asked to meet Gebran Bassil, the leader of Lebanon's biggest Christian political bloc and Aoun's son-in-law, who is under U.S. sanctions for alleged corruption and his ties to Hezbollah.Read more:France’s Le Drian to head to Lebanon on May 5-6 for crisis talks with top officialsPressure on Lebanon’s politicians by France, others to increase, says diplomatFrance to restrict access to country for politicians blocking new Lebanon govt
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ahead of Beirut visit, French minister threatens Lebanese politicians

The ruler of Kuwait stressed the importance of national unity and stability in a speech marking the final ten days of Ramadan.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Emir Nawaf al-Jaber al-Sabah warned in his speech of attempts to undermine the country’s security and highlighted the importance of cooperation between the different state bodies in Kuwait.He urged citizens of the Gulf country not to fall prey to social media rumors and to engage in calm dialogue.Al-Sabah also praised in his speech frontline staff working throughout the coronavirus pandemic.Read more: Kuwait court orders pre-trial detention of former prime minister: MediaHorrific murder of Kuwaiti woman during Ramadan causes uproar on social media‘I will not be silenced’: Kuwaiti women launch #MeToo movement to stop harassment
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Kuwait ruler stresses national unity in Ramadan speech

Residents in Baghdad have been captured on camera cheering after billboards of Iran’s former and top leaders were torn down in the Iraqi capital, a Twitter video posted on Thursday showed.Protesters gathered in the Sunni-majority neighborhood of al-Adhmaya in Baghdad and chanted at the removal of large advertising structures featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini - founder of Iran’s current political system – and late commander Qassem Soleimani.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Soleimani was the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Quds Force and one of Iran’s most powerful men. He was killed in a US airstrike on Baghdad Airport on January 3, 2020 alongside Iraq’s Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.On Twitter, one user shared a video of the chanting crowds.Iran has been in the forefront of news since a leaked audio recording in which Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complained about lack of power and criticized the country’s military’s dominance over foreign policy drew an array of reactions, including from US politicians.In the three-hour recording, published by London-based Iran International TV station earlier this week, Zarif said he had “zero” influence over Tehran’s foreign policy and complained about the extent of the influence the IRGC and its assassinated commander Qassem Soleimani had in comparison.In response, Iran’s Khamenei said the foreign minister’s criticism of the military in a leaked recording was “surprising and unfortunate.”“We have recently heard some things from some of the country’s officials that were surprising and unfortunate,” Khamenei said in a live televised speech.Khamenei, who did not mention Zarif by name at any point during the speech, accused him of echoing US claims.Read more:Iran’s Qassem Soleimani: Global mass killerIran’s foreign minister apologizes for leaked audio recording criticizing SoleimaniKhamenei: Iran FM Zarif’s comments in leaked audio ‘surprising, unfortunate’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Baghdad residents celebrate removal of Iran’s Khomeini, Soleimani billboards

After nearly three decades in London, Christophe Reech was fed up with the city’s pandemic lockdowns. This spring, he sold his luxury townhouse and jetted off to the desert sheikhdom of Dubai to start a new life with his family.There was no turning back, he said. The French business magnate’s super wealthy foreign friends were doing the same, driving an unprecedented surge in sales of Dubai’s most-exclusive properties.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Here in Dubai, there’s only one strategy: Business as usual,” said Reech, the chairman of an eponymous group that owns real estate and financial technology companies. The philosophy is simple: “Let’s make sure everyone’s vaccinated and keep everything open.”“Of course that attracts people like me,” he said.As vaccines roll out unevenly worldwide and waves of infections force countries to extend restrictions, foreign buyers flush with cash have flooded Dubai’s high-end property market, one of the few places in the world where they can dine, shop and do business in person. They’re snapping up record numbers of luxury villas and penthouses, sending prices rocketing in this boom-and-bust market.Sales of Dubai’s upscale properties, once slow, soared 230 percent in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period last year. Prices in some top-end areas rose as much as 40 percent, according to Property Finder, the country’s largest real-estate website.A record-breaking 90 properties worth 10 million dirhams each ($2.7 million) changed hands last month, on top of 84 in March, surpassing heights hit eight years ago, according to real estate consultancy Property Monitor. For comparison, there were 54 such transactions in all of 2020.“Tons of people are coming in and buying multimillion dollar properties on the spot, with no due diligence time whatsoever,” said Matthew Cooke, a partner at consultancy Knight Frank, who manages penthouse sales on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah artificial archipelago.As with previous cycles, cash buyers started snatching up homes at bargain prices and flipping them for profits. Analysts say that will continue until prices rise too high and returns diminish.How long the craze lasts and what awaits the skyscraper-studded city then remains unclear. Home prices are still falling in the middle tiers of the city’s saturated property market, which has seen values drop sharply since peaks reached seven years ago due to overbuilding. Average residence sale prices in the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, collapsed to $400 per square foot this month from $1,300 in 2013.“The market is going through a boom time ... but people are very aware that Dubai can run too quickly and it all falls apart,” said Jackie Johns, partner at Premier Estates, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, referring to the debt-driven crisis that brought the city to its knees in 2008.The hot streak in the luxury market isn’t unique to Dubai, as ultra-low interest rates and families’ desire for more space has seen the wealthy in cities like New York and Paris decamp to suburban mansions. But there are other factors at play in the glitzy emirate, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and tallest tower on Earth.Since first reopening to tourists last summer, Dubai has pitched itself as the world’s pandemic-friendly vacation spot. With no mandatory dayslong quarantines, foreign visitors now party in Dubai’s bustling bars and on its beaches, their selfies at hotel-resorts and helicopter pads stirring resentment back home.The tourist influx helped drive the country’s dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in January, prompting the UK to suspend flights. But the United Arab Emirates, with its young population and low mortality rates, has fared relatively well during the pandemic. The country of over 9 million, which relied heavily on the Chinese state-backed Sinopharm vaccine for its inoculation campaign, has administered 10.6 million vaccine doses.A global financial center known as an oasis in the volatile Middle East, Dubai long has benefitted from capital flight. Homeowners on the Palm Jumeirah — which saw 43 percent of all April transactions — include Afghan warlords and the political elite from countries like Nigeria, Syria and Lebanon, all searching for a safe place to park their savings.Now, a big share of wealthy buyers on this man-made archipelago, popularly known as the Palm, and in other exclusive villa communities in Dubai come from Europe, India, China and Russia, seeking a better quality of life as the pandemic rages. In March, the Palm logged its second-highest residential sale ever when a Swiss family bought a waterfront mansion for $30.2 million. Last month, an unidentified European family bought the city’s third-most expensive home ever for $28.6 million.Plentiful vaccines underpin that demand. Although questions surround the efficacy of the Sinopharm shot, Dubai offers other options, including Pfizer-BioNtech and Oxford-Astrazeneca. To get a jab, all one needs is a residence visa — which the city already extends to high-end property buyers and investors.Reech, who plans to buy land in Dubai to build his dream home, booked a Pfizer appointment immediately after he received his residency. In the UK, he said, he’d have to wait another four months.New initiatives to lure affluent foreigners include remote work visas, retirement visas and long-term, renewable “golden” visas. In an unprecedented move, authorities are even offering Emirati citizenship to a select group of foreigners. To boost its brand as a cosmopolitan city, the UAE also has altered its strict Islamic legal code, allowing unmarried couples to live together and noncitizens to follow foreign laws for divorce and inheritance.Dubai’s vision for the post-pandemic high life has gained traction as foreign investors seek to “play a favorable role in the economic recovery,” said Robert Mogielnicki, a resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.And even if the market’s meteoric rise comes crashing down, the wealthy are unlikely to bear the brunt of the fallout, analysts say. If anything, the pandemic has shown the world’s high flyers thrive in a crisis.“The people who lose out are on the lower end,” Mogielnicki said.Read more:Dubai plans new park for agriculture firms in push for food securityUAE may issue debut federal domestic bonds this year, says Moody’sUAE’s Dubai optimistic visitors will return but numbers unclear due to COVID-19
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Dubai luxury home market soars as world’s rich flee pandemic

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced that it chose lavender as the new color for ceremonial carpets used at official state receptions and occasions, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding that it symbolizes the identity of the Kingdom.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The lavender carpets are identical to the color of the Kingdom’s deserts and plateaus in the spring when they are decorated with the color of lavender flowers and other plants such as Desert Germander and basil, which together form a natural violet,” according to SPA.The lavender ceremonial carpets also include a prominent Saudi cultural element, the traditional art of Sadu weaving on the edges of the new carpets.In December 2020, UNESCO inscribed Saudi Arabia and Kuwait’s traditional weaving of Sadu on the Intangible Heritage list.According to UNESCO, traditional weaving of Sadu refers to the conventional woven textile made by Bedouin women.The horizontal style weaving of Sadu is a form of warp-faced plain weave made on a ground loom. The cloth forms a tightly woven, durable textile and the weavers use natural fibers found in their natural environment.“The reception ceremony carpets with their new identity reflect the state of renewal, growth and renaissance in the Kingdom under the inspiring Vision 2030 program,” SPA said.The initiative to change the Kingdom’s ceremonial carpets, a cooperation between the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture and Saudi Arabia’s Royal Protocol, is “an extension of many national initiatives that celebrate Saudi cultural elements and highlight the national identity,” according to SPA.Read more:In pictures: Saudi Arabia’s Abha blooms purpleUNESCO adds Saudi Arabia, Kuwait’s weaving of Al Sadu to its Intangible Heritage listUAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed meets Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, stresses deep ties
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia chooses lavender as color for ceremonial carpets, symbolizing identity

Some camp residents in northwestern Syria lack clean water, and despite all the efforts made by organizations in this field, some still find it difficult to obtain drinking water, especially with the approaching summer season.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Camp residents in northwest Syria struggle to secure clean water