The United Arab Emirates' long-ailing ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, died Friday, the government's state-run news agency announced in a brief statement. He was 73.
The UAE is overhauling laws on an array of business, cultural and social norms. On paper, it makes the emirate one of the region's most progressive countries, but critics say the reality is complex.
"This is an embarrassing time for Gulf countries," says political scientist Bessma Momani. "Ultimately, they gave Israel a normalization deal, but didn't really extract anything for the Palestinians."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's United Arab Emirates peace deal sets a precedent: Israel need not cede captured land to the Palestinians in order to win friends in the Arab world.
The community maintains a low profile, given sensitivities in the region. Since the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal was announced, it has scrambled to accommodate a rush of Jewish visitors.
The ministry's 29-page advisory is geared to tourism professionals and business travelers now that travel is open between the two countries, but it has been criticized in both Israel and the Gulf.
Weeks ago it would have been unimaginable to see Israeli officials fly to the United Arab Emirates and walk out onto a red carpet. That wasn't the only unusual part of the visit.
Jared Kushner joined U.S. and Israeli officials Monday on the first official Israeli flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi to advance the Aug. 13 deal to establish diplomatic ties.
The ruler of the United Arab Emirates issued a decree Saturday ending a 1972 law that established the boycott. The move follows a U.S.-brokered deal to forge diplomatic ties between the two nations.
If the deal holds, the United Arab Emirates will be the first Gulf state to normalize relations with Israel, but there are many potential bumps in the road, writes Aaron David Miller.
President Trump brokers the historic agreement. The United Arab Emirates and Israel will move toward bilateral diplomatic relations, and Israel will suspend plans to annex portions of the West Bank.
The United Arab Emirates successfully launched a Mars orbital probe known as Hope, or "Amal" in Arabic. It is expected to reach the red planet in February and will study the thin atmosphere of Mars.
Even with stringent lockdowns, the coronavirus has spread through migrant communities in some Middle Eastern countries where foreign workers live in cramped quarters.
Defending the former leader, a military spokesperson says that someone who "served the country for over 40 years, fought wars for the defense of the country can surely never be a traitor."
The Pentagon provided few details on the deployment. The announcement appears to indicate that the president has not made a decision whether to take military action against Iran
Ship-tracking data show the U.K. tanker Stena Impero was traveling to Saudi Arabia when it veered toward Iran's coast. British media report the government warns shipping to stay out of the area.
His three-day trip was intended to promote religious fraternity and diversity, at a time when long-established Christian communities in the Middle East are dwindling.
Matthew Hedges, 31, was detained at Dubai International Airport on May 5 after a two-week research trip for his doctoral thesis on Emirati security and foreign policy, according to his wife.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "the cowardly attack was committed by those who are rescued by the Americans ... and they are financed by Saudi and Emirate's money."
A report for the U.N. Human Rights Council says the Western-backed coalition has carried out indiscriminate airstrikes on schools, hospitals, markets and residential areas.
The U.N. pulled foreign staff from Hodeidah amid efforts to avert an attack by pro-government forces backed by the United Arab Emirates. A shutdown of the port could put hundreds of thousands at risk.
