Middle East

UN begins salvage operation to stop catastrophic oil spill off Yemen

The United Nations has started an operation to remove 1.1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast. A salvage vessel with a crew of experts reached the FSO Safer on Tuesday. They will undertake work to make it secure for oil to be transferred to

Middle East

Europe silent on plight of detainees in Libya, says migration chief

Europe has been accused by a senior international official of acquiescence over the plight of thousands of migrants in Libya held in arbitrary detention in “deplorable conditions”. Federico Soda, chief of mission at the International Organisation for Migration’s mission in Libya, said not enough was being done by outside actors to try to change the […]

Middle East

More than 20 injured in Israeli-Palestinian clashes around al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

More than 20 Palestinians and Israelis have been wounded in several incidents in and around Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound, two days after major violence at the flashpoint site. The clashes on Sunday take the number of wounded since Friday to more than 170, at a tense time when the Jewish Passover festival coincides with the […]

Middle East

Egyptian activist gains UK citizenship while serving jail sentence

Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, a key figure in the country’s 2011 revolution, has obtained British citizenship from inside prison, where he is serving a three-year sentence, and his family has appealed to UK authorities to seek consular access to visit him in jail. Abd El Fattah, along with his sisters Mona and Sanaa, […]

Middle East

World Cup Qatar migrant workers reforms despite misleading reports

When Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup in 2010, the triumphant Gulf State unveiled plans to host what it promised would be the most spectacular of all World Cup tournaments and launched an ambitious construction venture to build state-of-the-art stadiums, luxury hotels and a sparkling new metro. Yet, over the next decade, […]

Middle East

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to go ahead as planned despite Houthi missile attack

F1 has confirmed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will go ahead as planned after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile attack on an oil facility less than 10 miles from the circuit. But in a four-hour meeting with drivers that lasted until well past midnight local time on Saturday, several are believed to […]

Middle East

Saudi Arabia transfers $80bn in shares to wealth fund for green projects

Saudi Arabia has transferred shares worth $80bn to its sovereign wealth fund as the oil-rich nation hopes to rival Norway and Singapore’s state-managed funds and invest in green projects. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, said 4% of shares in Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil exporter, would be transferred to the […]

Middle East

Iran sends French-Iranian academic back to jail at key point in nuclear talks

Iran has sent back to prison from house arrest French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, a shock development in the midst of delicate talks on the Iranian nuclear drive. Adelkhah was sentenced in May 2020 to five years in prison for conspiring against national security, accusations her supporters have always denounced as absurd. She was allowed home in Tehran in […]

Middle East

Israel embarks on fourth Covid vaccination campaign

Israel has become the first country in the world to embark on a fourth Covid-19 vaccination campaign as part of efforts to stem rapidly rising infection rates caused by the Omicron variant. People over the age of 60 and healthcare workers who received their third shot more than four months ago became eligible for a second booster of […]

Latest News Middle East

Covid: Israel Omicron spike could bring herd immunity but with risks – health boss

bbc– Israel’s top health adviser says the surge of Omicron cases could see the country reach Covid herd immunity. Nachmann Ash said the country would pay a price for this and he wanted to see herd immunity achieved via vaccinations instead. Modellers have warned that up to four million people could be infected by the […]