Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the Middle East and Africa between July 19 and July 27 to sell that region Beijing’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project, a global infrastructure plan to give China control of the world’s great ports, roads, and railways.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will embark on an international visit to the United Arab Emirates and several Western-allied countries following his visit to North Korea this week, during which he will reportedly work to further isolate Iran.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Tuesday fired a rocket at Saudi Arabia’s southern Jizan province, leaving a five-year-old child wounded, Saudi authorities said.
A Saudi Arabian TV presenter has been forced to flee the country after claims she had violated the kingdom’s strict Islamic dress code for women.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi women took the driver’s seat for the first time in their country’s history after midnight Sunday, steering their way through busy streets just minutes after the world’s last remaining ban on women driving was lifted.
The Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting to restore the internationally-recognized government of Yemen reported on Wednesday that the strategically vital airport in Hodeidah was captured from Houthi insurgents without any civilian casualties, despite the Houthi tactic of placing armored fighting vehicles in civilian areas.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Officials in a Saudi-led coalition now battling Shiite rebels for control of a crucial port in Yemen on Tuesday displayed weapons captured on the battlefield that they say show Iran is arming the insurgents.
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Saudi-led forces fought to retake the international airport of Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida from the Shiite Houthi rebels, Yemeni officials and witnesses said on Saturday, as combat intensified for the starving nation’s main gateway for food shipments.
Saudi air defences on Sunday intercepted a ballistic missile over the southern city of Jizan after being fired from rebel-held territory in neighbouring Yemen, a Saudi-led military coalition said.
The Trump administration is considering a plea from the United Arab Emirates for American military assistance in Yemen, specifically to capture the vital port city of Hodeidah from Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
President Donald Trump’s State Department will reportedly announce a new trade agreement with United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, scoring a victory in a trade dispute over UAE’s subsidizing its two state-owned airlines to the detriment of U.S. airlines and workers.
The occupation of historic Socotra archipelago by forces of the United Arab Emirates was denounced on Monday as an “unjustified” attack on “national sovereignty.”
Contents: Residents of Yemen’s Socotra island protest UAE military deployment; Rift grows between Saudi Arabia and UAE in Yemen
During his visit to Jordan on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared that Jordan’s stability is “indispensable for regional stability” and pledged to “dramatically develop our bilateral ties” on security and trade issues.
Lobbyists for the U.S. Travel Association, led by prominent NeverTrumpers, descended on the nation’s capital last month to persuade lawmakers. American pilots accuse U.S. Travel of trying to keep President Trump from enforcing trade deals that support his America First agenda, and question whether the group might even be unregistered foreign agents in violation of federal law.
PARIS — The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is making his first official visit to France, which is hoping to profit from his shake-up of the conservative kingdom.
With Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the cusp of winning a second term in this month’s election, what’s left of the opposition is reduced to praying he will step aside in four years.
NEW YORK — Jonathan M. Winer, the Obama State Department official who acknowledged regularly interfacing and exchanging information with the author of the largely discredited 35-page anti-Trump dossier, headed a firm that helped the company owned by the United Arab Emirates government in its controversial failed bid to take over some terminal operations at numerous major American ports.
NEW YORK — One little noticed takeaway from a Washington Post article claiming four foreign countries have “privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner” is that U.S. intelligence agencies are apparently spying on Israeli officials.
Contents: From missile strikes and bombings to cholera, war-torn Yemen deteriorates; Saudi Arabia sacks its top tier of military commanders
In yet another sign of rapprochement with the Persian Gulf states, a group of prominent US Jewish organizational leaders led by Malcolm Hoenlein will travel in the coming days to the United Arab Emirates.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain said Wednesday that it had arrested four men suspected of bombing a Saudi Aramco oil pipeline, accusing Iran of training and arming two of the suspects.
General Nasser al-Dhaybani, a senior commander for Yemen’s internationally recognized but deposed government, predicted in an interview with Sky News on Monday that the government is winning the brutal four-year Yemeni civil war, and could recapture the capital city of Sanaa from Iran-backed Houthi insurgents very soon.
Contents: Clashes erupt between Saudi and UAE backed forces in South Yemen’s port of Aden; Brief generational history of South Yemen
TEL AVIV — Egyptian activists have taken to social media to spread the hashtag “#you_cant_run_for_president_because,” mocking the upcoming elections they claim are being controlled by the military and people under incumbent President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
TEL AVIV — Arab countries recently made contact with prominent personalities and Palestinian officials who live in Jerusalem with the goal of changing the Palestinian leadership to officials who would accept the Trump administration’s Mideast peace deal, an official from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party claims.
Contents: Egypt’s presidential election becomes a farce as opposition candidates are forced out; Tensions rise between Egypt and Ethiopia over Nile River dam
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) administrator David Pekoske issued an emergency order Monday requiring stricter scrutiny of U.S.-bound cargo on flights from five majority Muslim countries.
Expect to see more Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft bearing the outline of founder Sheikh Zayed on their fuselage now the Dubai-based carrier has signed a massive order for more of the “super jumbos” to service their long haul routes.
Contents: Iran protesters kill a police officer in escalating violence; Trump and Netanyahu express solidarity with Iranian protesters
Arab social media users have been posting thoughts on the question of whether it is allowed for Muslims to wish Christians a merry Christmas during the holiday season.
TEL AVIV — Social media in the Arab world has been raging over the killing of former president of Yemen Abdullah Salah, who was deposed by his allies, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Contents: Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh killed in Houthi ambush; US officials plan for military strike on North Korea and war; Brexit negotiations collapse over Ireland border issue
TEL AVIV — Mohammad Dahlan’s camp within the Fatah movement held a huge assembly with Hamas on Thursday as part of what they called “the social reconciliation,” between Dahlan’s camp in Fatah and the Hamas terrorist group.
Contents: All Saudis ordered to leave Lebanon, as Hariri’s fate is unknown; Saudi Arabia blockades Yemen, threatening millions to die in famine
