A network of munition supply lines, backing the Rapid Support Forces against the Sudanese army, can be traced to the Gulf via Libya, Chad, Uganda and elsewhere. At midday on 6 August last year, a plane carrying unknown cargo could be seen on the runway at Hamrat al-Sheikh, an airstrip in Sudan’s North Kordofan state. A handful...
Iran is one of the Middle East’s most politically important countries and its central government has transformed significantly over the past century. Once a monarchy, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979, but its elected presidents ultimately ceded authority to the Rahbar, a theocratic Supreme Leader. Iran’s authoritarian government and association with terrorist groups have often forced...
As the glittering skyscrapers of Dubai continue rising ever higher, new evidence shows this glitzy emirate has also constructed a massive offshore haven enabling some of the world’s most repressive regimes and drug cartels to shield wealth and escape consequences for human rights abuses. An in-depth investigation drawing on leaked property records and intelligence sources...
Rising temperatures, extended heatwaves and drought are making the impact of climate change felt all over the world. Now, the first study in Greece examining the effect of climate change on the future microclimate of historical monuments and artifacts shows us how extreme weather events will also impact the country’s cultural heritage. “Just like the...
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) predict a 77% increase in cancer cases globally by 2050. The report points to air pollution as one of the factors driving the expected increase in cancer rates, even though it does not have the same effect on everyone. As a global health watchdog, the WHO rarely has good...
ADNOC-backed Indian oil project tainted by allegations of land grabs, oppression and journalist’s murder. An Indian oil refinery project backed by Saudi Aramco and the UAE’s state oil firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is giving rise to government oppression of local communities in Maharashtra, India, according to a new investigation by Global Witness. The investigation...
In the days after Hamas’s October 7 attack and the war that followed, Israeli entrepreneur Ron Daniel left Dubai, his home since 2021, fearing that he was “sitting on a volcano”. The chief executive of asset manager and financial technology company Liquidity Group flew back to the United Arab Emirates a month later after deciding...
Sheikh Mohamed phones ‘dear friend’ Russian president to discuss war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East. Vladimir Putin and the president of the United Arab Emirates vowed to further develop their“friendly relations” after discussing the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict in a phone call. Putin, who is subject to an international...
Documents show industry-backed Air Pollution Foundation uncovered the severe harm climate change would wreak. The fossil fuel industry funded some of the world’s most foundational climate science as early as 1954, newly unearthed documents have shown, including the early research of Charles Keeling, famous for the so-called “Keeling curve” that has charted the upward march...
UAE-backed deal could be disastrous for UK government and freedom of press, opponents say. MPs have attacked the proposed UAE-backed takeover of the Telegraph newspapers, warning that it is impossible to “separate sheikh and state” and calling for further investigations to be launched before the deal “turns into a disaster for the government”. Julia Lopez,...