Author: Steven Sahiounie

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as minister of foreign affairs, has met with the delegation, which is visiting Qatar. “During the meeting, close strategic relations between the US and Qatar were discussed, as was the latest on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories,” a statement by the Qatari ministry of foreign affairs said. Source: AlJazeera

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that an expansion of the war in Gaza into a wider regional conflict, especially one that involves Lebanon, must be prevented. “It is imperative to avoid regional escalation in the Middle East,” he said during a press conference in Beirut on Saturday with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib. “It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict.” Borrell, the EU ’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said his efforts are focused on preventing this from happening. After a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has traveled to the island of Crete to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Blinken’s regional tour will include Arab states, Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he will deliver the message that Washington does not want a regional escalation of the Gaza conflict. Fellow NATO member Greece is awaiting approval from the US Congress for the sale of F-35 fighter jets. “We’ll be discussing this issue. I think there will be positive developments,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis told Greek television channel Skai. source: AlJazeera

Catherine Colonna says she warned the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian during a phone call today. “I called Iranian Minister A. Abdollahian and gave him a very clear message: the risk of regional conflagration has never been so significant; #Iran and its associates must immediately stop their destabilizing actions,” Colonna said in a post on X. “No one would gain from escalation,” she continued. The call comes as the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen step up attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which the group says is a means of exerting pressure to end the war in Gaza. Iran-linked…

Speaking from Greece during a stop on his latest trip to the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Israel does not want escalation along its border with Lebanon, but must act to defend itself. “We want to do everything possible to make sure that we don’t see escalation there,” Blinken said of the border between Israel and Lebanon. “But it’s very important that Israelis have security in the north. Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes in northern Israel because of the threat posed by Hezbollah.” “Israel clearly does not want escalation,…

Most large international shipping companies have decided to reroute trading to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal through which 12% of world trade usually passes

The PRCS says it received the trucks carrying humanitarian aid from its Egyptian counterpart organisation through the Rafah border crossing. The trucks consists of water, food, tents and medical supplies, it said. Source: AlJazeera

The UAE was ranked first globally in more than 215 indexes related to development, economy and human capital, according to international reports: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Reuters news service has reported that seven people were killed in an Israeli attack on a home in Khan Younis, citing Palestinian health officials. The attack targeted the home of the al-Nabris family in Khan Younis , and women and children were among those killed, according to the officials Source: AlJazeera

Oil export revenues jumped 29% in 2023, buoyed by higher oil prices averaging $82 per barrel