Page 23 - Middle East

Gold prices surge on Middle East tensions, Federal Reserve rate-cut bets

Bullion was mostly flat on the week, but extended its run above the $2,000 level to nearly a month. U.S. gold futures settled 1.6% higher at $2,051.60

Who are Yemen-based Houthis, attacked by US, UK over Red Sea tensions

Yemen strikes: US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak termed the air and sea strikes against Houthi military targets in war-raged Yemen as "acts of self defence"

Blinken sees path to Gaza peace, reconstruction after his West Asia tour

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his latest urgent Mideast tour on Thursday in talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as American officials claimed modest success in getting wide regional support for planning for reconstruction and governance in Gaza after Israel's war with Hamas ends. Blinken secured buy-in from previously reluctant Arab and Muslim nations to begin such planning in discussions with the leaders of Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over the weeklong mission, his fourth to the Middle East since the war began in October. Each country along with Greece, which Blinken also visited pledged to participate in the general planning, although precise contributions have yet to be determined. On our previous trips here, I think there was a reluctance to talk about some of the day-after issues in terms of long-term stability and security on a regional basis, Blinken told reporters at Cairo's airport after his .

A complex region encounters bigotry and prejudice

Robert Kaplan's latest book aims to offer a fresh survey of the 'Greater Middle East', but in doing so, it grossly simplifies complex political issues, reflecting American interests and prejudices

Israel taps top legal minds, a Holocaust survivor, to battle genocide claim

Israel is sending top legal minds, including a Holocaust survivor, to The Hague this week to counter allegations that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The robust engagement with the International Court of Justice is unusual for Israel, which normally considers the United Nations and international tribunals as unfair and biased. The decision to participate rather than boycott reflects Israeli concerns that the judges could order Israel to halt its war against Hamas and tarnish its image internationally. Israel cannot run away from an accusation that is so serious, said Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry and a former Israeli ambassador to South Africa. Israel, which as one of the parties in the case is entitled to send a judge, has tapped a former Israeli Supreme Court chief justice to join the court's 15 regular members who will rule on the accusation. It has also enlisted a British barrister and lauded international law expert as

India-Oman to begin next round of free trade discussions from Jan 16

The next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman will start from January 16 and the negotiations for the pact are progressing well, a senior official said on Tuesday. The talks on the text of most of the chapters have been concluded by both sides for the pact, officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). "The negotiations are progressing well. Two rounds of in-person negotiations and many inter-sessional meetings have already been held. Good progress has been made on all the chapters covered under the CEPA," the official said. On certain media reports that the talks may get delayed, the official said that any talk of hindrances or bottlenecks is "speculative and presumptuous" as the negotiating process is currently underway. Currently, both sides are working towards conclusion of the negotiations with an objective of delivering a mutually beneficial agreement contributing to the welfare and development of the .

Blinken rallies Mideast leaders to prepare for Gaza's post-war future

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that four key Arab nations and Turkey have agreed to begin planning for the reconstruction and governance of Gaza once Israel's war against Hamas ends. Blinken, who is on an urgent Mideast mission aimed primarily at preventing the conflict from spreading as fears rise of a regional war, said Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey would consider participating in and contributing to day after scenarios for the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by three months of deadly Israeli bombardment. Those countries had previously resisted U.S. calls for post-war planning to begin, insisting that there must first be a cease-fire and a sharp reduction in the civilian suffering caused by Israel's military response to Hamas' deadly October 7 attacks. On what is his fourth trip to the Mideast since the war began in October, Blinken said those countries were now open to such planning and that each would consid

With every strike, Israel, US, and Iran's allies inch closer to all-out war

In the last week alone, Israel has killed a senior Hamas militant in an airstrike in Beirut, Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets into Israel, the US has killed a militia commander in Baghdad and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have traded fire with the American Navy. Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the already catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region. And in the decades-old standoff pitting the US and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, any one party could choose all-out war over a loss of face. The divisions within each camp add another layer of volatility: Hamas might have hoped its October 7 attack would drag its allies into a wider war with Israel. Israelis increasingly talk about the need to change the equation in Lebanon, even as the US aims to contain the conflict. As the intertwined chess games grow ever more complicated, the potential for miscalculation rises. GAZA IS GROUND ZERO Hamas says the October 7 attack that triggered the

Oil prices rise as Blinken begins week-long sweep through the Middle East

Shipping giant Maersk said it will divert all vessels away from the Red Sea for the foreseeable future, warning customers of disruptions

Oil prices rise ahead of US Secretary of State Blinken's visit to West Asia

At its intra-day peak, the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract traded more than $1 above previous close

Blinken heads to Mideast again as fears of regional conflict surge

As the Biden administration grapples with an increasingly tense and unstable situation in the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the region this weekend for the fourth time in three months on a tour expected to focus largely on easing resurgent fears that the Israel-Hamas war could erupt into a broader conflict. With international criticism of Israel's operations in Gaza mounting, growing US concerns about the end game, and more immediate worries about a recent explosion in attacks in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, Blinken will have a packed and difficult agenda. He leaves just days after a suspected Israeli attack killed a senior Hamas leader in Beirut and, while a White House spokesman said "nobody should be shedding a tear" over his death, it could further complicate Blinken's mission. "We do not expect every conversation on this trip to be easy," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. "There are obviously tough issues facing the region and

103 killed, 188 wounded in bombing near grave of slain Iran general

Iranian state TV and state-run IRNA news agency quoted emergency officials for the casualty figures, which rose rapidly in the hours after the explosions

Saudi fund outpaces Singapore's GIC with $31.6 billion splurge: Global SWF

That was higher than the $20.7 bn it invested the previous year, an increase that contrasts with a wider trend - globally state-owned investors deployed $124.7 bn, about a fifth less than prior year

Exports to Iran fall amid decline in rupee reserves of middle east

A growth in the near future is unlikely owing to global geopolitical tensions

Houthis show no sign of ending Red Sea attacks as trade traffic up: US Navy

Yemen's Houthi rebels show no signs of ending their reckless attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the top commander of US naval forces in the Middle East said on Saturday, even as more nations join the international maritime mission to protect vessels in the vital waterway and trade traffic begins to pick up. Since Operation Prosperity Guardian was announced just over 10 days ago, 1,200 merchant ships have travelled through the Red Sea region, and none has been hit by drone or missile strikes, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview. He said additional countries are expected to sign on. Denmark was the latest, announcing on Friday it plans to send a frigate to the mission that Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced during a visit to Bahrain, where the Navy's 5th Fleet is based, saying that this is an international challenge that demands collective action. The narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and then the Suez Canal. Th

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Oil prices slip as investors monitor Red Sea tensions triggered by Gaza war

Israeli forces pummelled central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday after Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters on Tuesday that the Gaza war would go on "for many months"

Explosions in Red Sea off Yemen's coast, unmanned aircraft sighted: UK

Two unmanned aircraft were observed before two explosions occurred 5 nautical miles from a vessel located 50 nautical miles west of Hodeidah on Yemen's west coast, the United Kingdom said

Iran increasing production of highly enriched uranium: Atomic watchdog

Iran has increased the rate at which it is producing near weapons grade uranium in recent weeks, reversing a previous slowdown that started in the middle of this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to member states. Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in the report that Iran in recent weeks had increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023," according to an IAEA spokesperson Sunday. Iran had previously slowed down the rate at which it was enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity. Uranium enriched at 60 per cent purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. The UN nuclear watchdog said its inspectors had verified the increased rate of production since the end of November at facilities in Natanz and Fordow to about 9 kilograms per month, up from 3 kilograms per month since June and representing a return to earlier levels of production. Enriching uranium

Oil extended gains as investors eye Middle East tensions, US rate cut

While hopes of rate cuts and conflict in the Red Sea have led to a rebound in crude prices, Maersk's announcement of a restart of shipping routes through the waterway has alleviated supply concerns