Category: Middle East
-
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum tried to flee Dubai by sea in 2018 and was seized off the coast of India. A London court later found her father ordered it. She has since been photographed abroad — but has never spoken publicly about any of it.
-
Iran is reported to be nearing a deal with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz. Why Oman is one of the two owners of that water, and what “control” could and couldn’t legally mean.
-
US Central Command says it has redirected 55 Iran-linked vessels since July. What a blockade actually involves, what “redirected” means, and what the published figure doesn’t tell you.
-
Syria says it will let the IAEA remove nuclear material from a hidden site — while Israel threatens to bomb it again. What safeguards are, and why an undeclared facility matters so much.
-
An LNG carrier from Qatar was among the ships hit in the Strait of Hormuz. What LNG is, why gas is harder to replace than oil, and how a shock reaches heating, power and food.
-
At least 16 migrant workers were killed in a Riyadh factory fire. Why these fires keep happening, how sponsorship ties safety to job security, and what follows for families abroad.
-
Countries sign memoranda of understanding constantly. What one actually is, why it isn’t a treaty, and why governments sign documents that don’t legally bind them.
-
A bulk carrier is missing in the Strait of Hormuz — while Iraq shipped over 30 million barrels through it in a month. How a waterway can be dangerous and busy at the same time.
-
Russia’s bases on the Syrian coast are becoming “joint training centres”. Why that coastline matters to Moscow, and how to tell a real change from a relabelling.
-
Netanyahu has rejected a US-led peace plan that Hamas accepted, refusing to withdraw until Hamas fully disarms. The sequencing problem at the heart of every negotiated end to a war.