Author: Badri el-Shaban

China conducted a multiple-day naval exercise in the South China Sea as the Philippines held major drills with the United States and other allied nations. A number of warships and helicopters from the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy conducted “coordinated offensive and defensive combat drills” in different sea areas, said a press release posted on the Navy’s WeChat account. The South China Sea is PLA Southern Theater Command’s primary area of responsibility. The press release did not specify when the drills took place. But the state-aligned mouthpiece Global Times, normally well-informed about the PLA’s activities, said the drill…

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have signed 24 framework agreements to bolster cooperation among their defense industries, Emirati conglomerate Edge Group announced Wednesday. The agreements follow several years of political disputes between the two nations, which decided to reconcile their differences in 2022. And the two countries in July 2023 signed 13 agreements valued at $50.7 billion, which saw the UAE invest in Turkey’s defense and space sectors. The accords were signed during a defense industry event in Ankara, Turkey, jointly held by Istanbul-based defense expo business SAHA and Edge Group. The gathering included 10 of Edge…

Summer is only just over, but the people of Kyrgyzstan are already being served chilling warnings that winter will be colder and darker than usual with the country facing electricity and heating difficulties. On July 20, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaybek Ibrayev declared that it was necessary to declare a state of emergency for Kyrgyzstan’s energy sector that would last for more than three years. On July 24, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed an order decreeing that the emergency regime would start on August 1 and last until December 31, 2026.. Ibrayev explained the need for the drastic measure. “There will be a shortage of three billion…

Kazakhstan marks the lynchpin for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), not only because geographically it acts as a key point along the BRI, and has fostered deep connections and conducted meaningful cooperation with China covering almost all sectors under the BRI framework, but also because Kazakhstan was where the initiative was first proposed 10 years ago.As the BRI is set to celebrate its 10th birthday this month, China-Kazakhstan cooperation can offer a paragon of how the initiative has deepened both countries’ connectivity, boosted trade, as well as benefited both peoples and brought the two countries closer. Moreover, it…

Climate change is moving faster than “we are”, a regional expert has warned. Laila Mustafa Abdul Latif, director-general at Emirates Nature – WWF, said during a recent trip to Greenland, she was astonished to hear large chunks breaking away from ice sheets and crashing into the oceans close to the poles. “Crossing the 1.5-degree threshold can unleash far more severe climate change impact. We have seven years left to prevent irreversible climate change,” she said while addressing the Climate Future Week (CFW) that kicked off in Dubai on Tuesday. At COP21 in 2015, the world agreed to limit global warming…

Vienna, Brussels (26/9 – 36) David McCallum – the British actor who played as Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, a pathologist on hit CBS TV program NCIS, has died aged 90 on Monday (25/09/2023). McCallum died on Monday of natural causes, surrounded by his family, at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS said in a statement. NCIS executive producers Steven D. Binder and David North shared their memories of working with McCallum. “For over twenty years, David McCallum endeared himself to audiences around the world playing the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic, Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard,” they shared in a statement. “But…

DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) ability to meet its renewable energy targets for COP28 depends on the widespread adoption of advanced technologies, a government official told Al-Monitor in an interview. Omar Al Suwaidi, the undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), said the process begins with engaging the space sector, a source of peak technological innovation, along with the MoIAT. In July, the UAE announced it will work to triple renewable energy output to 11,000 gigawatts by 2030 and invest in agri-tech development to use water and produce food efficiently. “Both these vital sectors have a…

As Moscow’s influence in Central Asia wanes due to the war in Ukraine, Washington has a historic opportunity to redefine and advance its strategic interests in the region. Even before Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine began, Russian nationalists have routinely threatened northern Kazakhstan, which they call “southern Siberia,” with a Crimea-style annexation, as most of Kazakhstan’s ethnic Russians live there. In the 1950s, the Soviets moved millions of Russians to work on the virgin lands of the Kazakh steppes, making the Kazakhs a minority in their own country. After independence in 1991, the Kremlin used ethnic Russians in neighboring states to justify…

The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) has officially opened the Al Naqa’a housing project in the Latakia Governorate of Syria to assist families impacted by the devastating earthquake that struck the nation on February 6, 2023, Emirates Press Agency (WAM) announced. The Al Naqa’a housing project is a collection of 47 prefabricated housing units valued at AED 65 million. According to WAM, the project shows UAE’s sincere commitment to assisting Syria, particularly the Latakia Governorate. The project debuted on August 19, coinciding with World Humanitarian Day. The housing complex is designed to provide great comfort and is environmentally friendly, WAM announced. The units, which include two…

Advertisements offering an immediate payment of over $5,000 for joining the Russian army have begun popping up on the screens of Kazakh internet users amid the escalating Ukrainian conflict.Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, is home to over 3 million ethnic Russians and has traditionally been one of Russia’s closest allies. The Astana government, however, has not supported what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, and has called for peace. Clearly targeting Kazakhs, ads seen by Reuters feature Russian and Kazakh flags and the slogan “Shoulder to shoulder.” They promise a one-off payment of 495,000 Russian rubles…