Persian Gulf

Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE

The pearling town sits on Siniyah Island, which shields the Khor al-Beida marshlands in Umm al-Quwain, an emirate some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Dubai along the coast of the Persian Gulf

Beyond The Lines | Why meddle in the muddle: Middle Kingdom in the Middle East?

By building influence in the Middle East, China aims to cultivate global constituencies and garner support in its favour — critical for Xi’s larger projects in due course

Explained: How World Cup host Qatar is relying on desalination to fulfil its water demand

The energy cost of desalination and Qatar’s heavy reliance on it add to questions about Qatar and FIFA’s promise that the World Cup will have almost no effect on the climate

Magnitude of 5.9 earthquake strikes southwestern Iran; 5 injured but no major damage, reports State TV

State news agency IRNA reported that the quake and several aftershocks caused power blackouts and cut phone lines nearby, but no damage at the Bushehr nuclear complex

Bahrain becomes second nation after UK to allow emergency use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

In November, Bahrain had already granted emergency-use authorization for a Chinese vaccine made by Sinopharm and has inoculated some 6,000 people with it

Saudi Arabia halts entry to Mecca over fears of coronavirus outbreak; move comes just months ahead of annual hajj

Saudi Arabia halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears about a viral epidemic just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a move that came as West Asia has over 220 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.

Iran fails to put satellite into orbit for third time since 2019; setback comes amid US’ worry over advancement in Tehran’s ballistic missile program

An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a program the US claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program

Drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's Aramco facility, oilfield spark major blaze; investigation underway, says State media

Drones attacked the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oilfield operated by Saudi Aramco early Saturday, the kingdom's interior ministry said, sparking a huge fire at a processor crucial to global energy supplies

US-Iran tensions: Tehran says it has breached stockpile limit on low-enriched uranium under 2015 nuclear deal

Iran acknowledged it had broken the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by the 2015 nuclear deal, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord.

Diplomats say Iran on course to exceed nuclear pact limit within days, but hasn't done so yet

France said it would ask US president Donald Trump to suspend some sanctions on Iran to allow negotiations to defuse the crisis.