Saudi Arabia is choosing friends on its own terms and Biden is not one of them

Reactions in Washington to slashing oil supply have not concerned Mohammed bin Salman; nor have the optics of indirectly boosting Putin’s war

Mohammed bin Salman had seen it coming. The groundswell of anger in Washington was clear and building since he helped lead an Opec+ decision to cut the world’s oil supply last week.

But for the first time in the modern era of ties between the US and Saudi Arabia, there was no rush to placate hard feelings, or gloss over a rift. This was the birth of a new realpolitik, where nascent Saudi nationalism paid no heed to a historical ally and instead aligned itself to what Riyadh literally sees as a new world order.

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10,000 litres a day for each pitch: Qatar World Cup’s huge impact on Gulf waters

Reliance on desalination comes with a big environmental cost for the region’s marine environment

As the World Cup approaches, Qatar is going to need at least 10,000 litres of water every day for each of its stadium pitches. Based in a region with virtually no access to fresh water, it is going to rely on desalination – the practice of debrining saltwater so it is drinkable.

It seems like an elegant solution – but the problem is that desalination, which is projected to boom by 37% across the Gulf region in the next five years, has huge environmental costs, in terms of the fossils fuels used to carry out the process, and the marine environment. But without it, how can the arid region possibly quench its thirst?

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‘We wouldn’t put Charles on a bus’: Gulf royals balk at Queen’s funeral protocol

The monarchies are hopeful of stronger UK ties under King Charles, but plans for the ceremony have not gone down well

From Oman in the east to Morocco in the west, Middle East and north African royalty have been closely monitoring plans for the Queen’s funeral, but with days to go until the biggest event in modern royal history, they are unlikely to travel to London in numbers.

Monarchies have sought to divine meaning from protocol arrangements, and are largely underwhelmed by what they have seen.

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United Arab Emirates reinstates ambassador to Iran after six-year absence

UAE scaled back ties with the Islamic republic after Iranian protests over Saudi Arabia’s execution of cleric Nimr al-Nimr

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that its ambassador to Tehran would resume duties within days, six years after ties were downgraded in support of Saudi Arabia.

Ambassador Saif Mohammed al-Zaabi “will resume his duties at the UAE embassy in the Islamic republic of Iran in the coming days to contribute to further advancing bilateral relations”, the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Ex-Khashoggi lawyer Asim Ghafoor freed in UAE after money laundering conviction

US citizen released after paying fine as United Arab Emirates court confiscates $4.9m it says illegally moved through country

The US citizen and civil rights attorney Asim Ghafoor, who had represented Jamal Khashoggi before the Saudi journalist was murdered, has been freed from custody in the UAE where he was convicted on money laundering charges.

Ghafoor was headed home to the US, said his lawyer, Faisal Gill, having been freed after paying a fine and with help from the US embassy in the UAE.

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Yemen’s warring parties agree to extend ceasefire by a further two months

The truce will bring some relief to a country exhausted by war and famine, but critics say the Houthis will use the peace to regroup

The UN has announced that the warring sides in Yemen have agreed to extend the current ceasefire for a further two months.

Late on Tuesday the government and the Houthi rebels committed to intensify efforts on negotiations, said Hans Grundberg, special envoy for the country.

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Spiritual union: why Gulf migrants are turning to evangelical Christianity

Pentecostalism is quietly thriving, with pastors saying churches are helping low-paid workers in crisis

Evangelical Christianity is quietly flourishing among migrant groups in the Gulf as churches provide low-paid workers facing horrific abuse with aid in times of crisis, according to pastors and parishioners across the region.

About 30 million migrant workers live in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – the muscle transforming oil-based economies into glittering 21st-century metropolises.

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UAE sentences ex-lawyer of Jamal Khashoggi to three years in prison

US citizen Asim Ghafoor detained in Dubai and convicted two days later of money laundering and tax evasion

The United Arab Emirates has sentenced the former lawyer of Jamal Khashoggi – the dissident Saudi journalist who was killed at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 – to three years in prison on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

The Abu Dhabi money laundering court also ordered Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen, to pay a fine of more than $800,000 (£675,000) stemming from his in absentia conviction, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported.

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Iran earthquakes: at least five killed and village flattened, state media says

Rescue work carried out after 12 also injured in magnitude-6.1 quake followed by two others and more than dozen aftershocks

At least five people were killed by a magnitude-6.1 earthquake in southern Iran early on Saturday, state media reported, with the area also hit by two later strong quakes of up to 6.3 magnitude.

“Five people have died in the earthquake … and so far 12 are hospitalised,” Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the head of emergency management in Hormozgan province on Iran’s Gulf coast, told state TV.

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UN calls on UAE to release British man imprisoned in Dubai since 2008

UN working group rules that Ryan Cornelius has been held arbitrarily and subjected to rights violations

UN officials have called on the United Arab Emirates to immediately release a British businessman who has been detained in the country since 2008.

The UN’s working group on arbitrary detention has ruled that Ryan Cornelius has been held arbitrarily in the UAE since 2008 when he was arrested at Dubai airport. He has contracted tuberculosis while in detention.

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Blacklist Dubai over failure to crack down on Russian oligarchs, say campaigners

UAE has become haven for superyachts, private jets and ‘dirty money’ since invasion of Ukraine, but has taken no action

Campaigners and politicians are calling for the United Arab Emirates to be blacklisted over its failures to combat the flow of “dirty money” and to enforce sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs.

The Gulf state has emerged as a key refuge for the Russian super-rich fleeing the impact of global sanctions, with private jets and superyachts linked to oligarchs heading to the UAE after the invasion of Ukraine.

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South Africa seeking to extradite Gupta brothers after arrest in Dubai

Police begin process to transport Indian-born pair wanted on criminal and money-laundering charges

Police in Dubai are coordinating with their South African counterparts to secure the extradition of two wealthy Indian-born brothers wanted by South African authorities on criminal and money-laundering charges who were arrested in the emirate on Monday.

Atul and Rajesh Gupta are accused of paying bribes in exchange for lucrative state contracts and influence over ministerial appointments during the chaotic nine-year presidency of Jacob Zuma, which ended amid allegations of systematic corruption in 2018. The brothers fled to Dubai shortly after Zuma’s fall from power.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan becomes UAE president

Speed of transition, one day after death of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, appears designed to show unity

Rulers in the United Arab Emirates have unanimously appointed Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the president of the hereditarily ruled nation on the Arabian peninsula.

The state-run WAM news agency said the rulers of the country’s seven sheikhdoms made the decision at a meeting held in Al Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi.

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UAE ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan dies aged 73

Ministry of presidential affairs announces 40-day mourning period for ruler who succeeded father in 2004

The United Arab Emirates’ long-ailing ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has died aged 73, the government’s state-run news agency has announced

Khalifa, the president of the UAE, oversaw much of the country’s blistering economic growth and his name was immortalised on the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, after bailing out debt-crippled Dubai during its financial crisis more than a decade ago.

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Two Britons testify against Interpol chief in UAE torture claim

Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad allege Ahmed Naser al-Raisi was responsible for abuse in detention

Two British men who spent time in detention in the United Arab Emirates have testified in Paris that an Emirati security official who is now the president of Interpol was responsible for their alleged torture.

Matthew Hedges, an academic imprisoned in the UAE for seven months on espionage charges he denies, and Ali Issa Ahmad, who was detained in Dubai for wearing a Qatar football shirt, testified before the investigating judge of the specialised judicial unit for crimes against humanity and war crimes of the Paris tribunal.

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Boris Johnson must pay attention to basic cybersecurity rules, says security adviser

Peter Ricketts’ warning comes as UAE accused of using Pegasus spyware to hack into mobile phone at Downing Street

Boris Johnson should “pay close attention” to basic rules of cybersecurity, a former national security adviser has said, after it emerged that the United Arab Emirates was accused of hacking into a mobile phone at Downing Street.

Peter Ricketts, who held the post between 2010 and 2012, said the cyber-attack demonstrated that “commercially made” Pegasus software from NSO Group allowed a “wide range of actors” to engage in sophisticated espionage.

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Exiled Yemen president steps aside as truce raises hopes of end to war

Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi says a newly established council will lead negotiations with Iranian-backed Houthis

Yemen’s exiled president has stepped aside and transferred his powers to a presidential council as international and regional efforts to end the country’s long-running civil war gained momentum with a two-month truce.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, major players in the conflict, appear to have had a role in Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s decision, quickly welcoming it with a pledge of $3bn (£2.3bn) in aid. The head of the new council has close ties to Riyadh.

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Biden rebuffed as US relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE hit new low

Analysis: As oil prices – and diplomatic tensions – rise, two of the biggest US allies are questioning the basis of their relationship

As Joe Biden moved to open US strategic oil reserves, his two biggest oil-producing allies have kept their tanks firmly shut. The UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to rebuff the US president as he attempts to counter soaring oil prices prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And both countries have been unusually frank about their refusal to step in.

The five-week-old war is bringing tensions to a head in several parts of the world, but perhaps nowhere is a regional order more under strain than the Middle East, where two of America’s biggest allies are now seriously questioning the foundations of their relationship.

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Yemen’s warring sides accept two-month truce starting with Ramadan

Agreement comes after significant escalation in bloody conflict between Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels

Yemen’s warring sides have accepted a two-month truce, starting with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to the UN envoy to the country.

Hans Grundberg announced the agreement from Amman, Jordan, after meeting separately with both sides in the country’s brutal civil war. He said he hoped the truce would be renewed after two months.

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UN donor conference falls billions short of $4.4bn target to help Afghanistan

Conference raises only $2.44bn as Russian foreign minister says west is responsible for country’s humanitarian crisis

The world’s donor drought, and growing global divisions over Afghanistan’s political direction, have been laid bare when a UN appeal for $4.4bn (£3.35bn) to help Afghanistan fell massively short, the second UN donor conference in a month to do so.

Donor countries pledged only $2.44bn towards the appeal, a senior UN official said on Thursday after a high-level pledging conference.

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