Latest United Arab Emirates government News

An airstrip is being built on a Yemeni island during the ongoing war, with 'I LOVE UAE' next to it

Mar. 28, 2024 01:36 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — As Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to target ships in a Mideast waterway, satellite pictures analyzed by The Associated Press show what appears to be a new airstrip being built at an entrance to that crucial maritime route. No country has publicly...

Senior Hezbollah security official makes rare visit to UAE to discuss detained Lebanese

Mar. 21, 2024 17:05 PM EDT

BEIRUT (AP) — A senior official with Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group made a rare visit to the United Arab Emirates to discuss the cases of a dozen Lebanese citizens detained in the oil-rich nation over alleged links to the Lebanese group, Hezbollah said Thursday. The United...

WTO chief insists trade body remains relevant as tariff-wielding Trump makes a run at White House

Feb. 16, 2024 12:14 PM EST

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Trade Organization insisted Friday that it remains relevant and its leaders focus on reform “no matter who comes into power" as Donald Trump — who as U.S. president bypassed WTO rules by slapping tariffs on America's friends and foes alike — makes another...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opens stone-built Hindu temple in UAE ahead of India's elections

Feb. 14, 2024 19:36 PM EST

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Middle East's first traditional stone-built Hindu temple on Wednesday, internationalizing both his reelection campaign and his effort to push secular India into a Hindu state. The trip to the...

India's Modi arrives in the UAE on his seventh trip to a nation that is home to millions of Indians

Feb. 13, 2024 11:49 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates on his seventh trip to the nation, feted by tens of thousands of his countrymen ahead of elections back home in the coming months. Modi was met on landing in Abu Dhabi...

First stone-built Hindu temple in the Middle East rises in the UAE ahead of Modi's latest visit

Feb. 12, 2024 11:41 AM EST

ABU MUREIKHA, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pink sandstone spires decorated with deities and the pious soar above what was once a barren patch of desert between Abu Dhabi and Dubai — now the site of the first stone-constructed Hindu temple in the Middle East. The soon-to-open BAPS...

Al-Shabab claims attack in Somali capital that kills 4 Emirati troops and 1 Bahraini officer

Feb. 11, 2024 19:20 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab claimed an attack that killed four Emirati troops and a Bahraini military officer on a training mission at a military base in the Somali capital, authorities said Sunday. The attack Saturday targeted...

The UAE ambassador to Syria takes post in Damascus after nearly 13 years of cut ties

Jan. 30, 2024 20:24 PM EST

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The first United Arab Emirates ambassador to Damascus in nearly 13 years took up his post on Tuesday as Syria has been reintegrating into mainstream regional acceptance. Syrian state media said the country’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad received...

Iran is 'directly involved' in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, US Navy's Mideast chief tells AP

Jan. 22, 2024 14:38 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran is “very directly involved” in ship attacks that Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out during Israel's war against Hamas, the U.S. Navy's top Mideast commander told The Associated Press on Monday. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the Navy's 5th Fleet,...

United Arab Emirates acknowledges mass trial of prisoners previously reported during COP28

Jan. 06, 2024 17:40 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates on Saturday acknowledged it is conducting a mass trial of 84 inmates previously reported by dissidents as it hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks last month. The trial likely includes a prominent activist lauded...