Middle East Experience

The UAE reorients its strategy from one of military intervention to economic investment and power.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: What UAE’s growing presence in Somaliland means for its Horn of Africa strategy

With negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at a standstill, the European Union has offered its services as a mediator.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: EU ready to mediate in Nile dam crisis

Kuwaitis are eager to welcome back domestic workers as some coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Breakthrough in domestic workers' return to Kuwait

Saudi Arabia is reluctant to showcase any cooperation with Israel, including security cooperation against the Iranian regional threat.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Chances for Israeli alliance with Saudis against Iran fading

Saudi Arabia reports 541 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours amid a continuous increase in the daily number of infections.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Of the new cases, 217 were detected in the city of Riyadh, 106 in the Eastern Region and 86 in Mecca, according to the Ministry of Health.An additional six coronavirus-related deaths were also reported, raising the death toll to 6,656. Meanwhile, 357 recoveries were confirmed, which brought the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 377,304.The Kingdom had seen daily infections fall to below 100 in January from a peak of more than 4,000 in June.Authorities last week expanded COVID-19 vaccinations to all citizens and residents aged 16 and above. Starting mid-May, unvaccinated workers at food outlets, public transport, gyms, and salons would be required to take a PCR test every week.Saudi Arabia in January postponed the end of a ban on travel for its citizens and full reopening of entry points to May 17. In February, it suspended entry for non-citizens from 20 states except for diplomats and medical practitioners.With ReutersRead more:Saudi Arabia allows people vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend football matchOver 4 mln COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Saudi Arabia: MOHCoronavirus: Saudi Arabia opens COVID-19 vaccine registration via Sehhaty app
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia reports 541 new COVID-19 amid continuous increase

Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, a canal services firm said, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week clogged one of the world’s most vital maritime arteries.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Helped by the peak of high tide, a flotilla of tugboats managed to wrench the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal’s sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since last Tuesday.After hauling the fully laden 220,000-ton vessel over the canal bank, the salvage team was pulling the vessel toward the Great Bitter Lake, a wide stretch of water halfway between the north and south end of the canal, where the ship will undergo technical inspection, canal authorities said.Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com confirmed that the ship was moving away from the shoreline toward the center of the artery.The obstruction has created a massive traffic jam in the vital passage, holding up $9 billion each day in global trade and straining supply chains already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.It remained unclear when traffic through the canal would return to normal. At least 367 vessels, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle, have piled up on either end of the canal, waiting to pass.Data firm Refinitiv estimated it could take more than 10 days to clear the backlog of ships. Meanwhile, dozens of vessels have opted for the alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip — a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) detour that adds some two weeks to journeys and costs ships hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other costs.The freeing of the vessel came after dredgers vacuumed up sand and mud from the vessel’s bow and 10 tugboats pushed and pulled the vessel for five days, managing to partially refloat it at dawn.Read more:Ship blocking Suez Canal partially refloated, being secured for next stepsMassive container ship blocks Egypt’s Suez CanalSuez Canal: Two tugboats speed to Egypt to aid efforts to free ship blocking route
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Ever Given ship refloated, Suez Canal traffic resumes: Official

Iran blamed “psychological warfare” by its adversaries for a decline in commercial flights over its airspace, its Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said on Monday.He said that there has been a reduction in flights over the country’s airspace, according to state news agency IRNA, which has resulted in a considerable loss of revenue, but did not offer any figures.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.He added that the decline was due to the “enemies’ psychological warfare” and “extensive propaganda.”“Our enemies, especially the US, tried to reduce the number of flights passing through Iran’s skies using psychological warfare,” he said, IRNA reported.Iran is trying to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the decline in overflights by offering airlines “incentive packages and discounts,” Eslami said.The number of flights crossing Iran’s airspace fell from around 800 per day to 130, after the downing of the Ukrainian airliner and the outbreak of coronavirus, Siavash Amirmokri, managing director of the Iran Airports Company, said in January, according to state media.In 2020, Iran lost over half (about $76 million) of its revenues from overflight services compared with 2019, the semi-official Fars news agency cited Amirmokri as saying earlier this month.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. The majority of passengers were Iranian. Citizens from Canada, Ukraine, Britain and Afghanistan were also among the passengers.Iran admitted shooting down the plane after denying responsibility, insisting the plane crashed due to a “technical failure” for three days.The families of the victims of the aircraft crash launched a petition last May urging European and international airlines to not fly over Iranian airspace until Tehran allows for a credible investigation into the incident and punishes the perpetrators.Earlier this month, Iran published its final report into the incident. “The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defence operator...near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it,” the report said, according to the website of Iran’s civil aviation body.Commenting on the Iranian report, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described it as, “nothing more than a cynical attempt to hide the true reasons for the downing of our plane.”“We will not allow Iran to hide the truth, we will not allow it to avoid responsibility for this crime,” Kuleba wrote on Facebook.Read more:Iran, China sign 25-year cooperation agreement‘No to Islamic Republic’: Iran opposition seeks to unify in anti-regime campaignIran reportedly fires missile at Israeli-owned ship in the Arabian Sea: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran blames US ‘psychological warfare’ for decline in flights over airspace

The Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) launched an initiative Monday to support international shipping lines stranded at the south end of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea coast, extending the services of the Kingdom’s Jeddah Islamic Port for ship transfers and container offloading, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Contributing to the support of the global logistics sector and maritime trade, measures include an extended period of exemption from storage fees for transshipment containers - from 30 days to 60 days - for a duration of 3 months,” SPA said.Salvage teams on Monday set free a colossal container ship that has halted global trade through the Suez Canal, a canal services firm said, bringing an end to a crisis that for nearly a week clogged one of the world’s most vital maritime arteries.SPA reported that the initiative underscores Saudi Arabia’s “commitment to mitigating the impact on global supply chains, in addition to affirming Saudi ports’ readiness to adapt to shifts in the international transport market and the associated challenges.”Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Islamic Port ranks first among the Red Sea ports, with a capacity of 130 million tons across 62 berths. SPA said the port has the capacity to accommodate the estimated number of containers on these vessels without affecting the port’s operations.Saudi Customs foiled an attempt to smuggle over 1.3 million Captagon pills that were found hidden inside a shipment from Turkey, which was received by customs at Jeddah Islamic Seaport, SPA reported on Monday.Read more:Ever Given ship refloated, Suez Canal traffic resumes: OfficialSaudi Customs foils smuggling attempt of over 1.3 mln Captagon pills from TurkeyShip blocking Suez Canal partially refloated, being secured for next steps
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia launches initiative to support shipping lines amid Suez blockage

Ever Given was refloated on Monday after being stuck on the Egyptian canal's bank for nearly a week, allowing for the resumption of traffic.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Ship stuck in Suez Canal finally freed

More than 400 ships were waiting to pass through the Suez Canal as the giant container ship Ever Given that had been blocking the waterway was refloated, Egypt's Nile TV reported on Monday.At least 367 vessels, carrying everything from crude oil to cattle, are backed up as they wait to traverse the canal. Dozens of others have taken the long, alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip — a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) detour that costs ships hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other costs.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Suez Canal authorities have informed shipping agencies that convoys of ships will resume running both ways through the Suez Canal from 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), two agents told Reuters on Monday.Salvage teams on Monday freed the colossal container ship stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, ending a crisis that had clogged one of the world’s most vital waterways and halted billions of dollars a day in maritime commerce.Helped by high tide, a flotilla of tugboats wrenched the bulbous bow of the skyscraper-sized Ever Given from the canal’s sandy bank, where it had been firmly lodged since March 23.“We pulled it off!” said Peter Berdowski, CEO of Boskalis, the salvage firm hired to extract the Ever Given, in a statement. “I am excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the Ever Given … thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again."Buffeted by a sandstorm, the Ever Given had crashed into a bank of a single-lane stretch of the canal, about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez. That created a massive traffic jam that held up $9 billion a day in global trade and strained supply chains already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.Egypt, which considers the canal a source of national pride and crucial revenue, already has lost over $95 million in tolls, according to the data firm Refinitiv. Even as salvage work continued, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who for days was silent about the crisis, praised Monday's events.“Egyptians have succeeded in ending the crisis,” he wrote on Facebook, “despite the massive technical complexity.”Read more:Ever Given ship refloated, Suez Canal traffic resumes: OfficialShip blocking Suez Canal partially refloated, being secured for next stepsSuez Canal: Two tugboats speed to Egypt to aid efforts to free ship blocking route
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Over 400 ships waiting to pass through Suez Canal after Ever Given freed: Egypt media