the Guardian • 4th August 2022

Yemen’s warring parties agree to extend ceasefire by a further two months

The UN has announced that the warring sides in Yemen have agreed to extend the current ceasefire for a further two months. Late on Tuesday the government and the Houthi rebels committed to intensify efforts on negotiations, said Hans Grundberg, special envoy for the country. The news will bring some relief for citizens who had been bracing for war to return after what has already been an uneasy four-month truce.

The Times • 24th July 2022

Iran arrests ‘Israeli spies planning terrorist acts’

The Iranian government yesterday claimed to have arrested spies belonging to a network of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. Iran’s official news agency said the agents had been planning “terrorist acts” against “sensitive sites”. Iran said all the agents had been “identified and arrested before conducting any acts of sabotage”.

The Telegraph • 6th July 2022

The Yemeni maternity hospital where incubators sit idle as newborns die

Born nine weeks premature and weighing less than three pounds, Mohammed lies doll-like in a hospital incubator as he fights for his life. The odds are not in his favour. In his postnatal intensive care unit in Mukalla, a former Al Qaeda stronghold in southern Yemen, one in five babies do not survive. After eight years of a brutal civil war, the country’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse as the country’s economy is in meltdown.

CNN • 6th June 2022

Abu Dhabi archaeology: The ancient wonders found in the Arabian desert

The UAE may have only just celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence but Abu Dhabi has a centuries-old past. The largest of the emirates boasts an array of UNESCO World Heritage sites as well as some of the country's most well-preserved forts which showcase its key geographical location over the centuries, telling the story of the Emirati people's connection to both land and sea.

Business Traveller ME • 3rd June 2022

10 To Try In Israel

Having implemented some of the toughest pandemic lockdown measures and at the same time, rolled out one of the world’s fastest vaccination drives, Israel fully opened to tourists earlier this year. From timeless classics revamped to trendy new boutique properties, we round-up the destination’s hottest hotels as tourism bounces back, big time ...

CNN Travel • 2nd June 2022

Luxury island where every room opens onto the beach

Stepping off the speedboat onto the soft white sand dotted with lush tropical greenery, it might be easy to mistake this resort for Bali or the Maldives. It is in fact part of the latest in Dubai's attention-grabbing mega-projects, Anantara World Islands, tucked just 15 minutes away from the city's shoreline.

The National • 28th April 2022

Beyond Yerevan: touring Armenia's unexplored wilderness

On the streets of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, harsh Soviet structures belie the centuries-old history, rich culture and breathtaking wilderness that this small Caucasian country has to offer. Home to at least six microclimates, the 30,000-square-kilometre, landlocked territory of only three million people offers scenery and outdoor adventures that are unrivalled even in much larger countries.

The Times • 18th April 2022

Khashoggi fiancée’s fury over trial move to Riyadh

The fiancée of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said yesterday that she was angry “against everything” after she lost an appeal to overturn a Turkish court’s decision to move the trial of his alleged killers to Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey in 2018. The case, which opened in 2020, was halted when Riyadh refused to send the 26 suspects to stand trial.

The Times • 6th April 2022

Roman Abramovich ‘asking Hollywood friends for help’ as sanctions hit hard

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Roman Abramovich found himself cast in the role of international peace negotiator. Now the oligarch is said to be struggling with another unexpected turn, as a billionaire going cap-in-hand to US friends for a loan.

The Times • 2nd April 2022

After a week of Isis terror, holiday clash puts Israel on high alert for Hamas violence

Israel has been caught “off-guard” by a spate of Isis attacks that have put the country on its highest state of alert since riots last year, security officials have warned. Lone wolf and copycat attacks attributed to Isis have seen the death of 11 Israelis in one week across three separate attacks in what Naftali Bennett, the country’s prime minister, has called “a new wave of terrorism”.

The Telegraph • 27th March 2022

How Dubai became the last safe haven for rich Russians

In the bathroom of Dubai’s Caviar Kaspia restaurant, a statuesque Russian blonde reapplies her make-up from her Gucci handbag and checks her diamonds in the mirror. Anastasia, as she introduces herself, is new in town, having moved to Dubai with her husband she describes simply as a “businessman”. Moscow is home, she says, but they have arrived in the desert emirate to see out the Ukraine war.

The Times • 22nd March 2022

Freed Isis sympathiser kills four in knife rampage

Four Israelis were killed and at least two others seriously injured yesterday when a former prisoner with Isis sympathies went on a stabbing rampage before being shot dead by a passer-by. Israeli police said the attacker arrived at a petrol station in the southern city of Beersheba and stabbed a woman before getting in a car and running over a man riding on a bicycle. He left the car again and stabbed a man and a woman before being pursued by witnesses, one of whom shot him.

The Times • 14th March 2022

Iran claims revenge on Israel with missile strike on Iraqi city of Arbil

Iran has fired at least a dozen missiles into the Iraqi city of Arbil, striking areas close to a new United States consulate. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that Sunday morning’s attack was targeting bases being used by for training by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

The Times • 23rd February 2022

Oxygen therapy helps brain repair itself after PTSD

When you’re feeling low, getting a dose of fresh air is a well-known restorative for mind, body and soul. Now a group of Israeli scientists have taken that premise to the extreme, claiming that they can significantly reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder by immersing sufferers in oxygen-rich conditions that help “heal” the mind.

The Times • 8th February 2022

Dubai security row grounds Israeli flights

Israeli airlines are suspending flights to and from Dubai after a clash between the secret police service Shin Bet and its Emirati counterparts. The dispute about security is the first big hiccup in the “normalisation” agreement that led to Israel’s recognition by some Gulf states in 2020.

The Times • 31st January 2022

Abu Dhabi expats left shaken after attempted missile strike by Houthis

When he woke up to the sound of explosions at 4.20am, Dean Williams immediately feared the worst. He had been living in Abu Dhabi with his wife for nearly 12 years, but as the building shook, he began to question whether they were still safe living in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates capital.

Time • 17th January 2022

Eco Activist Sagarika Sriram Is Making Change Through Small Actions

Sagarika Sriram was just 10 years old when she started reading newspaper stories about a planet in peril—one about a whale that washed ashore after an oil spill, another about turtles found with plastic in their stomachs. She knew right then that she wanted to do something to take action, and joined an environmental group that organized cleanup campaigns in her home city of Dubai.

The Times • 27th December 2021

Iran executes 100 young people a year, human rights group says

Human rights groups estimate that as many as 100 youngsters are secretly executed in Iran each year in breach of international law, with more than 85 currently on death row for crimes allegedly committed as children.

The Times • 18th December 2021

Qatari feminist Noof al-Maadeed ‘locked up in psychiatric hospital’

A Qatari women’s rights activist is allegedly being held in a psychiatric hospital against her will, a family member claims, raising fears over her safety. Noof al-Maadeed, 23, fled to Britain in 2019 after years of domestic violence, documenting her escape from Qatar on social media. She returned on October 13, with her silence on social media raising fears the activist had either been detained or killed.

The National • 20th November 2021

On-board Flynas's first international flight to AlUla

Direct flights from the UAE to the historical destination of AlUla in Saudi Arabia launched this weekend, opening up one of the Gulf’s most mysterious and untouched destinations, dubbed “the world’s largest living museum”.