UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Some 2.5 tons of natural uranium stored in a site in war-torn Libya have gone missing, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday, raising safety and proliferation concerns.

Natural uranium can’t immediately be used for energy production or bomb fuel, as the enrichment process typically requires the metal to be converted into a gas, then later spun in centrifuges to reach the levels needed.

13 Mar 2023; MEMO: Israel's Channel 12 revealed signs of a crisis between the UAE and Israel, against the background of the actions of the extremist right-wing Israeli government in Tel Aviv over the past month and a half. This prompted the Gulf state to suspend the purchase of Israeli defence systems.

March 12 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Middle East ended lower on Sunday, with the Egyptian bourse leading the declines, in response to Friday's fall in global shares over fears of contagion following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) (SIVB.O).

The startup-focused lender became the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis on Friday, roiling global markets and leaving billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors stranded.

DUBAI, March 12 (Reuters) - Iran and the United States have reached an agreement to exchange prisoners, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state TV on Sunday, but Washington denied it as a "false" claim by Tehran.

"Regarding the issue of prisoner swaps between Iran and the U.S. we have reached an agreement in the recent days and if everything goes well on the U.S. side, I think we will witness a prisoner exchange in a short period," Amirabdollahian said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported Sunday earning $161 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.

The monster profit by the firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., came off the back of energy prices rising after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, with sanctions limiting the sale of Moscow’s oil and natural gas in Western markets.

DUBAI, March 11 (Reuters) - Iran has reached a deal to buy advanced Su-35 fighter planes from Russia, Iranian state media said on Saturday, expanding a relationship that has seen Iranian-built drones used in Russia's war on Ukraine.

"The Sukhoi-35 fighter planes are technically acceptable to Iran and Iran has finalised a contract for their purchase," the broadcaster IRIB quoted Iran's mission to the United Nations as saying in New York.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions. The major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China lowers the chance of armed conflict between the Mideast rivals — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.

10 Mar 2023; MEMO: The UAE announced, Friday, the dispatch of telecommunication equipment, as a humanitarian support to "reconstruct Turkey's telecommunication infrastructure in earthquake-affected areas," Anadolu News Agency reports.

"Etisalat" UAE has announced sending telecommunication equipment worth AED20 million ($5.5 million) as a humanitarian support to reconstruct Turkiye's telecommunication infrastructure in earthquake-affected areas," the Emirates News Agency reported.

DUBAI, March 10 (Reuters) - Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to re-establish relations after seven years of hostility which had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.

The deal was announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing between top security officials from the two rival Middle East powers.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ukraine’s first lady on Wednesday offered spirited support to her nation’s people while visiting the United Arab Emirates, a country that still remains open to Russia despite Western sanctions.

Olena Zelenska described her role and that of other first ladies and gentlemen in the world as a real power while speaking before a packed ballroom on International Women’s Day. She also applauded the work of the average Ukrainian amid the ongoing war.