Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday received a formal invitation to participate in the upcoming Global Climate Action Summit, set to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) late in 2023. A press release by al-Sudani’s bureau said the invitation was delivered by the UAE’s charge d’affaires …
Read More »Syria’s Assad in UAE for second post-quake visit to the Gulf
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived Sunday in the United Arab Emirates, his second visit to the Gulf since a devastating earthquake last month prompted Arab outreach to his government. The trip — Assad’s second to the UAE in as many years — comes after a visit to Oman last month, …
Read More »Pakistan ex-President Pervez Musharraf dies in Dubai after years in exile
Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the campaign against al Qaeda following the militant group’s Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, died in Dubai on Sunday after a prolonged illness. He was 79. Musharraf, a former four-star general who seized power after a 1999 military coup, died in …
Read More »UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies at the age 73
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan died at the age of 73, Emirates news agency WAM reported on Friday. The Ministry of Presidential Affairs declared official national mourning for the death of the president for 40 days from Friday. Flags will fly at half-mast during this period. Work …
Read More »Dubai’s fire forces evacuation of luxury hotel, no injuries
A large fire erupted at a luxury Dubai hotel on Wednesday, forcing guests and staff to leave and sending smoke over the United Arab Emirates’ tourism and trade hub. Several fire engines and police cars were deployed at the five-star Swissôtel Al-Murooj hotel in downtown Dubai as dozens of people …
Read More »Dubai’s ruler ordered phones of ex-wife and lawyers to be hacked: UK court
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers to be hacked as part of a “sustained campaign of intimidation and threat” during the custody battle over their children, England’s High Court has ruled. Mohammed used the sophisticated “Pegasus” software, developed by Israeli …
Read More »UAE announces ministerial changes including finance, environment
United Arab Emirates Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced ministerial changes on Saturday, including new finance and environment ministers. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been appointed finance minister and deputy prime minister and Maryam Al Muhairi becomes the minister of …
Read More »Detainee says China has secret jail for Uighurs – in Dubai
Woman says she was held for days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uighurs. A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uighurs, in what may be …
Read More »Guinness World Records crowns Dubai home to the world’s deepest swimming pool
The city of superlatives with the world’s tallest tower among its many records, Dubai now has the deepest swimming pool on the planet complete with a “sunken city” for divers to explore. Deep Dive Dubai, which opened Wednesday but initially by invitation only, prides itself as “the only diving facility …
Read More »UAE to officially inaugurate embassy in Israel Wednesday
The United Arab Emirates is set to officially inaugurate its embassy in Israel on Wednesday, about a year after the two sides reached a controversial normalization agreement which is denounced as a “betrayal” of the Palestinian cause. The embassy, which is temporarily located in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building …
Read More »Dubai extinguishes fire on ship in Jebel Ali Port
A fire aboard a ship in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port was extinguished on Thursday after it had been sparked overnight by an explosion in a container, the Dubai government’s media office said. Summary | Blast that caused blaze could be heard 22 km away Explosion blamed on flammable material in …
Read More »Fire at Dubai port after loud explosion
A huge fireball has been seen rising over a port in Dubai as the UAE’s largest city was rocked by a major blast. The blaze broke out within a container stored on a ship anchored in the Jebel Ali port, the city government has said. Local residents reported hearing a …
Read More »Air India plane crash lands in southern India, 14 dead, 123 injured (Videos)
An Air India Express passenger flight en route from Dubai with 191 people on board has overshot the runway during landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport. Police confirmed 14 deaths with another 123 injured Malappuram police superintendent Abdul Kareem confirmed the numbers to the ANI news agency. Fifteen people are said …
Read More »FBI ‘kidnapped’ Instagrammer from Dubai – lawyer
A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says. Ramon Olorunwa Abbas – known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi – and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were …
Read More »Dubai hotels ready to welcome foreign visitors as emirate reopens
In Dubai’s Atlantis resort, at the head of a palm tree-shaped island, workers in face masks clean cushions, sofas, and king-size beds in luxury suites that have largely been vacant since the coronavirus pandemic. The resort and seven other hotels in the regional tourism hub contacted by Reuters are seeing …
Read More »UAE schools to begin on August 30, says Minister of Education
The UAE’s new academic year will start on August 30, the Minister of Education has announced. Hussain Al Hammadi said administrative and teaching staff would begin work a week earlier on August 23. It has not yet been established how lessons will be organized, although a mixture of remote learning …
Read More »Dubai-based firms sent mercenaries to Libya
A report by a UN Panel of Experts said the foreign mercenaries were affiliated with Lancaster 6 DMCC and Opus Capital Asset Limited FZE, both registered at free zones in the UAE, Bloomberg reported. Two Dubai-based companies sent Western mercenaries to support warlord Khalifa Haftar in his offensive to capture …
Read More »UAE discovers the world’s fourth-largest gas reserve
A reservoir containing an estimated 80 trillion cubic feet of shallow gas, and spanning around 5,000 square kilometers, was discovered on Monday, UAE authorities reported. The reserve, located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is the fourth largest in the world, and the first major natural gas discovery in 15 years, …
Read More »Dubai airport flights delayed, canceled due to heavy rain
Dubai International, one of the world’s busiest airports, canceled, diverted and delayed flights on Saturday due to heavy rain and flooding, Dubai Airports said. Flights are likely to be delayed throughout the day and some have been canceled or diverted to nearby Al Maktoum airport, state-owned Dubai Airports said on …
Read More »Dubai ruler and wife begin London court battle.
The ruler of Dubai, one of the most high-profile leaders in the Middle East, and his estranged wife are beginning a court battle in London over the welfare of their children. Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s wife, Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, is the third female member of his court to run …
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