Middle East Experience

Haftar's forces are gathering hundreds of foreign fighters and equipment in central Libya, indicating an offensive on Sirte is imminent, in violation of this month's ceasefire agreement..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Haftar assembling hundreds of mercenaries near Libya's Sirte, claims UN-backed government

Lebanon was already in economic collapse even before the August 4 blast at that killed 188 people..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: More than half of Lebanon could face food shortages: UN

"Admittedly, they are not as important as the Breslov hassidim but they are the ones who are at the forefront of the struggle against coronavirus," the Yisrael Beytenu wrote.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Amid strike, lab workers accuse gov’t of ‘looting the public coffers’

Two people were killed and several others sustained minor to moderate injuries in an explosion caused by gas installations at a restaurant in the United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi on Monday, according to the Abu Dhabi Media office.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Unfortunately, two victims lost their lives – one near the site of the incident, and a second passer-by who was hit by debris. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their families, God rest their souls,” the media office said in a tweet.Abu Dhabi police and safety teams evacuated residents and areas surrounding the building in the Rashid bin Saeed street to ensure the safety of the public, according to a statement. The capital's media office also said that Emergency and Public Safety Department teams carried out comprehensive checks of the building and neighboring buildings to ensure that there were no further injuries.Misalignment in the gas container fittings following a refueling caused the explosion, according to on-site investigations the police said.“Abu Dhabi police urge the public not to spread rumors about the accident and to ensure information is obtained from official sources,” Abu Dhabi police said in a statement earlier Monday.Read more:Saudi Aramco discovers two new oil and gas fields in northern Saudi ArabiaObesity increases risk of COVID-19 infection, death, Saudi study showsWorld’s first Phase III COVID-19 vaccine trials in UAE reaches 31,000 volunteers
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Two killed, several injured in Abu Dhabi restaurant gas explosion: Police

American and Israeli officials landed in Abu Dhabi on Monday, becoming the first passengers in history to fly directly from Israel to the United Arab Emirates.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The flight was the latest development in the normalization of relations between the two countries following the bilateral historic agreement announced August 13.The delegation, led by White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, includes US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.“I believe that this [UAE-Israel] agreement has the ability to change the whole course of the Middle East… What happened here was three great leaders came together, and they started writing the script for a new Middle East.” Kushner told a press conference upon his arrival in the capital city.UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash and other Emirati officials welcomed the group at the airport.O'Brien said the UAE-Israel deal was the most significant step towards peace in the Middle East in 25 years.“Thanks to the courage and leadership of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, and President Donald Trump, a new era has truly begun for our three nations. And these leaders will now be known throughout history as peacemakers,” said O'Brien.Israeli representatives from the fields of finance, health, tourism, investment, foreign policy, diplomacy, tourism, and culture were also part of the group.The delegation members will meet face to face with Emirati representatives to discuss future collaborations in the various fields.The plane, part of the Israeli national airlines El Al, was painted with the word “Peace” in Hebrew, English and Arabic.The first direct flight from the UAE to Israel took place back in May.Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways operated two cargo flights carrying coronavirus medical aid to be delivered to the Palestinians via Israel.Read more:UAE, Israel discuss cooperation on food and water securityWhite House adviser Jared Kushner says ‘stage is set’ for Mideast progressIsraeli minister hopes for UAE normalization ceremony in US next month
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Historic Israel-UAE flight arrives in Abu Dhabi with delegation led by Jared Kushner

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib called on Monday for the formation of a new government in record time and urged immediate reforms as a step towards securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.He spoke after being designated premier and hours before the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron, whose pressure on Lebanon's fractious leaders was crucial to forging an agreement on Adib, Beirut's ambassador to Berlin.“The opportunity for our country is small and the mission I have accepted is based on all the political forces acknowledging that,” Adib said after being designated by President MichelAoun.Donor states wants Lebanon to carry out long-delayed reforms to stamp out state corruption and waste in order to release financial support. The previous government launched talks with the IMF in May but these stalled amid divisions on the Lebanese side over the scale of losses in the financial system.Adib said a new government must be formed in record time and reforms must be implemented immediately as “an entry point to an agreement with the IMF.”Forming governments in the past has often taken months of political horse trading.The previous government led by Hassan Diab quit on August 10 in the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion at Beirut port that killed some 190 people.Macron, who arrives late on Monday for his second visit in less than a month, has led international efforts to push Lebanon to enact sweeping changes to address the economic crisis.With the economy on its knees, a swathe of Beirut in tatters and sectarian tensions rising, the former French protectorate faces the biggest threat to stability since a 1975-90 civil war.Read more:Diplomat Mustapha Adib designated as Lebanon's new Prime MinisterTwo killed, several injured in Abu Dhabi restaurant gas explosion: PoliceProtesters in Lebanon's north block roads ahead of new prime minister announcement
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon’s PM-designate Mustapha Adib urges quick govt formation, IMF deal

On board a packed airliner taking US and Israeli delegates to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, passengers were welcomed in Arabic as well as English and Hebrew, a gesture marking the historic first Israeli direct flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The El Al Boeing 737 made aviation history by cutting straight over Saudi territory en route to the UAE capital, where Israeli and Emirati officials will hold U.S.-brokered normalisation talks on Monday.“Wishing us all salaam, peace and shalom, have a safe flight,” the pilot, Captain Tal Becker, said on the intercom, in Arabic, English and Hebrew, using all three languages to also announce the flight number and destination.Passengers received swag bags filled with coronavirus protection gear -- disinfectant gel and wipes -- and some donned face masks emblazoned with the Israeli and Emirati flags.Delegates, who included President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and US national security adviser Robert O'Brien and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, sat cheek by jowl with agents from the US Secret Service and Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency.A spokesman for El Al said the plane was equipped with a C-Music anti-missile system on its rear carriage -- standard for the 737s in the carrier's fleet.A request by Reuters journalists to film inside the cockpit went up several chains of command before being approved.“With two countries' NSAs (national security agencies) on board, you understand the sensitivity,” an American delegate said.There was also a bit of security flair to coronavirus checks mandated for journalists the weekend before the trip.Upon arrival for COVID-19 testing, travelling reporters were told to give a code-phrase – “I'm here for the ‘experiment’” -- to be fast-tracked through by a representative of the Israeli prime minister's office.Read more:UAE, Israel discuss cooperation on food and water securityWhite House adviser Jared Kushner says ‘stage is set’ for Mideast progressIsraeli minister hopes for UAE normalization ceremony in US next month
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: First commercial flight from Israel to UAE takes off, flies over Saudi Arabia

As Turkey experiences an economic decline, the conversion of the Hagia Sophia and Chora museums into mosques dealt a blow to Turkey’s tourism industry which has already been dealt a blow from the global coronavirus pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, Turkey’s economy shrank 9.9 percent from the previous quarter.Revenue from the mosques was set to be around $35 million this year. But because of the pandemic and the conversions of the mosques, that revenue will not materialize.In July 2020, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a controversial decision that was condemned by the international community, converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. Built as a Christian church under the Byzantine Empire and converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and then museum after the founding of the Turkish Republic, the decision sparked outrage by critics who said Erdogan was pandering to his conservative, religious base to bolster domestic support.At the start of August, Erdogan announced that another historic site was also going to be converted into a mosque. This time it was the Chora museum.This museum, like the Hagia Sophia, was built as a church and became a mosque under the Ottomans, only to become a museum following the founding of the Republic.Every year, millions of people used to visit the two museums, bringing in tens of millions of tourism dollars for the Turkish economy. Now, however, tourists are still free to enter outside prayer times, but they do not pay entrance fees for the highly trafficked sites.The loss of funds could pose a threat to the Turkish economy that depends on tourism for around 30 percent of its annual income. However, even without Erdogan’s controversial decision, this year has seen drastically lower numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.“Almost $35 million was expected [this year from the mosques],” Turkish economist Mustafa Sonmez told Al Arabiya English, “but unfortunately this is almost zero [because of the pandemic].” In 2019, total revenue from tourism hit a high $34.5 billion, Turkish state media TRT World reported.Turkey’s lack of tourism and economic woes have already started to have an effect on the country’s tourism industry with some businesses forced to lay off employees and others having to close their doors. As of now, the government has provided very limited economic relief for the businesses in the tourism industry.Read more: Turkish lira collapses to new low: ‘Soon we will be like Syria or Libya’Femicide in Turkey on the rise amid debate over law protecting women“Many hotels and many other touristic places, their capacity has decreased and their employment has decreased,” Sonmez explained. “They are bad conditions and many have closed their shops and don’t work anymore. Nobody knows what will happen because the pandemic situation is not getting better and is actually worsening.”Businesses were hoping that tourism would see a surge this autumn, when people are more likely to visit cultural sites rather than going to the beach or sea due to the drop in temperature, but some fear that with the Hagia Sophia and Chora becoming mosques, tourists may forgo planned visits.“Turkish tourism had already suffered a blow with the pandemic when the European Union did not include Turkey as a ‘safe’ country,” Nazlan Ertan, a Turkish journalist, told Al Arabiya English. “Still the Turkish tourism operators were hoping to make a late recovery, meaning, in late autumn and when you speak of late autumn, of course, you are speaking about cultural tourism.”According to Ertan, these decisions by Erdogan send a message that he and Turkey prioritize Islam and Muslims over other all other things, especially for those who are looking to visit from the West.“It clinches Erdogan’s image in the eyes of the Western tourists as a conservative who has Islam foremost in his mind,” Ertan said.This also comes at a time where Erdogan’s regional rival, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has been promoting his country’s diverse religious roots in an effort to boost tourism.Read more:Egypt rejects Turkey’s intervention in affairs of Arab states: FM spokesmanEgypt says Turkish seismic survey plans in Mediterranean could encroach on its waters“This is when Sisi is sort of capitalizing on the Christian and Jewish heritage of Egypt,” Ertan stated. “So if you are going to come to the Middle East and on one hand you have one country which is opening its non-Muslim heritage and another that it is opening it for worship and removing their statuses as museums, which one are you going to visit?”Egypt and Turkey have been trying to market itself as attractive destinations for tourists, and earlier this year, the Turkish government announced its plan to get more people to visit the country by 2023, the year marking 100 years since the founding of modern-day Turkey.Ertan said Turkey is aiming to attract 75 million tourists annually by 2023.A major selling point for this vision is Turkey’s multicultural heritage rather than focusing on any specific religion or ethnic group.However, with the value of the Turkish lira falling and inflation and unemployment rising, Erdogan is losing popularity. And to appeal to more voters, he decided to convert the museums into mosques in an effort to gain the support of the more conservative and religious groups in the country.Read more: Turkish magazine calls for founding Islamic caliphate after Hagia Sophia conversion“A gesture to Muslims is [a] much more immediate [political gain] and preferable and the [gains from the] touristic side of Hagia Sophia can be negligible,” Sonmez argued. “That’s why he didn’t take it into consideration.”While nearly 3.5 million people visit the Hagia Sophia and Chora annually, Sonmez said that it is currently impossible to predict the potential economic fallout that Erdogan’s decision might have as tourism has practically ground to a halt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.A tourism agency based in Turkey also told Al Arabiya English that it was “much too early to tell” what the potential impact might be on their business.However, Ertan believes that the message that Erdogan’s decisions send to Turkish society and the world is much larger than any potential economic ramifications that might occur.“I am not sure that the impact would be simply limited to how much money you are going to make from the Hagia Sophia and Chora museums in terms of entry fees,” she argued. “It is the overall message that you carry.”
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Turkey’s economy plunges as tourists stay away after Hagia Sophia, Chora conversions

As part of the government’s plan to redistribute Egypt’s growing population, a project to turn a World War II site into a resort that also includes residential units is currently underway in north Egypt.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: World War II site becomes promising tourist destination in Egypt

The seizure follows the US interception of fuel tankers from Iran en route to Venezuela this month amid increased US pressure on both countries.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: US government seizes control of websites allegedly involved in Iran-Venezuela oil deal