Fuel rations and cash handouts: Iran war energy shock hits Asia

 Across south-east Asia, governments are scrambling to find ways to conserve energy and shield the public from soaring costs, as war in the Middle East causes huge disruption in the global oil market. In Thailand, news anchors are ditching their jackets after orders to reduce air conditioning use, while government workers in the Philippines are operating on a four-day week. Asia relies heavily on imported energy, much of which passes through the strait of Hormuz, and officials have warned further measures could be considered if the energy crisis worsens

Trump’s moment in the Middle East

United States President Donald Trump’s tour of the Middle East this week is his first international trip since he started his second term. Conspicuously absent from his itinerary, however, was Washington’s closest ally in the region: Israel.

In the US and Israeli media, the apparent snub has fuelled talk of a growing rift between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so hard to resolve | DW News

 

The attack by the Islamist terrorist group Hamas on Israel on October 7 led to a declaration of war by Israel in response. Any chance of a lasting peace is currently some way off. We take a look at the possible routes to peace that have been proposed by experts and the international community.

Is America's role as global leader in decline?

 

America's military footprint in the Middle East has been shrinking for years. From the beginning of the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq in 2007 to the most recent retreat from Afghanistan, the Pentagon's presence has declined.

Art looted from war zones | DW Documentary

 

Antiquities stolen in the Middle East have resurfaced in art markets all over the world. Police have joined archaeologists in a global effort to stop criminals trafficking these priceless artifacts.

Why the Suez Canal is so Insanely Important.. (and Nukes)

 

Why is the US ‘removing’ military assets from the Gulf?

 

President Joe Biden is reportedly pulling troops and equipment out of the Gulf region.

President Biden has ordered the Pentagon to remove some United States military assets and forces from the Gulf, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

At least three Patriot anti-missile batteries have reportedly been withdrawn, including one from a base in Saudi Arabia.

Iran v America: what's behind the feud? | The Economist

 

Iran and America’s decades-long feud has led to hostage-taking, sanctions and proxy wars that have shaped the Middle East. What is behind the feud, and can it be resolved?

Dubai: From Dusty Port to Desert Metropolis… and Back Again?

 

The life and death of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who operated undercover in Syria in 1960s before his identity was revealed.

In one of the most audacious individual espionage operations ever, Eli Cohen, an Egyptian-born Jewish accounting clerk, was recruited by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, trained intensively as a field agent for six months and given a new identity as an Arab businessman in South America.

In 1962, he was deployed as a spy to Damascus where he successfully ingratiated himself with the higher echelons of Syrian society.

Will Saudis in exile suffer the same fate as Jamal Khashoggi?

Former Saudi intelligence official has filed a lawsuit alleging Saudi crown prince sent a hit squad to kill him.

A man with close ties to the Saudi royal family falls out with Crown Prince Mohamed Mohammed bin Salman, goes into exile, and is targeted by a group of hitmen.

It sounds like what happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

But this is the story of former top Saudi Intelligence official Saad al-Jabri.

He says that not long after Khashoggi's killing, Mohamed Mohammed bin Salman dispatched a group of hitmen, known as the Tiger Squad, to assassinate him.

Can an environmental catastrophe in Yemen be averted?

Years of civil war have torn Yemen apart.

Fighting has divided the cities, destroyed the economy and triggered a humanitarian crisis and Yemen is also on the verge of an environmental disaster.

For five years, the oil tanker FSO SAFER has laid idle off the coast, with 1.1 million barrels of oil on board.

As Yemen's Houthi rebels battle with the Saudi-backed government for control of the country, the ship has been left to rust.

Who is responsible when surveillance technology is misused?

Court rejects attempt to stop Israeli tech firm NSO from selling hacking technology to governments.

Activists, journalists and even one of the world's richest men are said to have been hacked by spyware developed by an Israeli company called the NSO Group.

But the technology firm insists its products are only sold to authorised government agencies to fight "terrorism and crime".

Rights group Amnesty International has said one of its researchers was also targeted. It sued NSO to revoke its export licence from the Israeli defence ministry.

Will annexation of the occupied West Bank trigger turmoil?

Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to seize more of the occupied West Bank in line with US 'Middle East plan'.

The illegally occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem are at the heart of any future Palestinian state, as envisaged by the Palestinian Authority.

But, occupied by Israeli forces since 1967 and now threatened by annexation, such a state looks increasingly impossible.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to declare sovereignty over illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank including the strategic Jordan Valley. 

Saudi Women: Reform or Repression?

Saudi female activists ask why arrests, detention and alleged torture continue, despite apparent reforms.

Just how free are women in Saudi Arabia today? The Saudi government has said it supports the empowerment of women and young people. While there have been reforms, including lifting the ban on women driving in June 2018, the arrest and detention of women speaking out against the government appear to have continued.

Al Jazeera World looks at the individual cases of five Saudi women currently in detention, or who have fled the country following apparent harassment for their political views. It asks whether Saudi Arabia is publicly championing the rights of women while privately punishing those who challenge the status quo.

Will the Caesar Act defeat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?

US Congress passes sanctions targeting politicians, institutions, businesses that engage with the Syrian government.

The war in Syria has devastated much of the country and its people, but President Bashar al-Assad has remained in power with the help of his foreign allies.

There is now another threat facing tens of millions of Syrians: the economy, which has been reduced to a third of its size, has been decimated.

Has Khalifa Haftar's campaign in Libya failed?

Renegade military commander loses last stronghold in western Libya following similar defeats.

Renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar's ambitions in Libya are unravelling quickly.

The 76-year-old launched an offensive 14 months ago to capture the capital, Tripoli, from the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The GNA's forces say they have regained full control of Tripoli and pushed Haftar's fighters from Tarhuna, their last stronghold in western Libya.

This follows weeks of similar defeats and losses of territory for Haftar's forces along the coast.

Will setback to Khalifa Haftar change the course of Libya's war?

Renegade military commander loses control of important airbase near capital Tripoli.

Khalifa Haftar told the world he is the only man who can bring stability back to Libya.

The renegade military commander launched a military offensive last year to take control of the capital from the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

But his forces have suffered a series of setbacks in the past month.

Is the spread of coronavirus out of control?

Increasing numbers of cases are being reported around the world and governments are struggling to contain the disease.

From a wildlife market in China's Wuhan city, where the coronavirus is believed to have emerged, to the city of Qom in Iran.

The disease is sweeping around the globe and health experts are warning we could be on the brink of a pandemic.

More than 80,000 people in over 40 countries have been infected.

The number of new cases inside China, the country at the centre of the epidemic, has been overtaken for the first time by new infections outside.

Now, the focus of the outbreak is shifting to Europe, in particular, and the Middle East.

In that region, Iran appears to be the centre of the spread of the disease.

Iran: From patriotism to protests

How the downing of a passenger aircraft flipped the narrative in Iran. Plus, the reporting of race in Portuguese media.

From mourning Soleimani to protesting against the regime

When a US drone strike killed Iran's most important military figure, General Qassem Soleimani, two weeks ago, it provided Tehran with an opening to rally the Iranian people to back their Islamic leaders against the United States.

For a few days, that seemed to be the case.

Then a passenger plane was shot down over Tehran, and Iran's leaders chose to lie to the public, before finally admitting three days later that they had taken the plane down by mistake.