On Sunday, July 11 the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tarik Al Said, arrived on his first foreign trip since becoming leader of the coastal nation on the Arabian Peninsula, following the death of his cousin, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who had ruled as Sultan since overthrowing his father in
On Monday 5 June, Egypt was notified that Ethiopia resumed filling the GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) along the Nile River’s main tributary. The unilateral move to once again begin filling the dam comes after years of alternating negotiations and tensions between Ethiopia and a group of affected countries, most
In the last few weeks, a recurring source of tension in the contested neighborhood of East Jerusalem has sprung up: another eviction deadline for Palestinian residents approaches. Israeli courts ruled in favor of the Jewish settler organization Ateret Cohanim multiple times in the previous few years, affirming the assertion that
On June 17th, the Israel launched a second round of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since the cease-fire which halted hostilities between Hamas and the Israeli military at the end of last month. Following the cease-fire and the formation of a new government with Naftali Bennett as prime minister, attacks
In the last week of January, Libyan representatives participating in United Nations-organized dialogue reached agreement on a set of rules for nominating candidates for temporary leadership positions to oversee national elections. This process is aimed at creating a unified Libyan government, bridging the rival governments of Tripoli, in the west,
On January 11th, a court in Sweden sentenced a Russian man who attacked Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a blogger critical of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to ten years in prison. The attack occurred on February 26th, 2020, when Ruslan Mamayev attacked Abdurakhmanov with a hammer in the Swedish city of Gavle. According
In a significant turn in Persian Gulf affairs, on January 5th, the Saudi-led bloc, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, ended their years-long blockade of Qatar. According to CNBC, a Gulf Co-Operation Council meeting held in Saudi Arabia saw the arrival of Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
At a panel convened to discuss the state of the Iran nuclear deal, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas urged Iran to take advantage of the opportunity presented by a new American presidential administration to re-enter diplomatic talks over its nuclear program. Maas’ overture comes as the virtual panel brought together
As a part of the 2021 omnibus spending bill advanced by the United States Congress in December, legislation passed reaffirming American support for independence movements in Tibet and Taiwan. According to the South China Morning Post, the Tibet Policy and Support Act was passed as an amendment to the spending
A small boat laden with explosives rammed an oil tanker at the port of Jeddah along the coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia on December 14th. The attack, which no one has taken credit for, struck the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine, causing hull damage, a fire, and a small
Following recent legislative elections in Venezuela, the United States and the European Union have condemned the plebiscite as illegitimate. The election, conducted on December 6th, saw President Nicolás Maduro’s Great Patriotic Pole coalition win over two-thirds of the cast ballots. The victory solidifies Maduro’s control over the National Assembly, the
UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan on Thursday, November 12th called for the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states to end their years-long blockade and sanctions program targeting Qatar. A statement released by the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner announced that Douhan observed in a two-week trip to the country that
