Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire reportedly came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, authorities said Friday, as details about the incident remained few.

The attack Thursday night targeted Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street just northeast of the Omani island of Masirah. The location is over 300 kilometers (185 miles) southeast of Oman’s capital, Muscat.

DUBAI, July 29 (Reuters) - Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Thursday named ambassadors to Egypt and Libya, his office said, as the Gulf Arab state moves to improve ties with some regional states.

Salem bin Mubarak Al-Shafi was named envoy to Egypt, while Khalid Mohammed Al-Dosari was appointed for Libya.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed in January to end a dispute that saw them boycott Qatar since 2017 over charges it supports terrorism, a reference to Islamist groups, which Doha denies.

DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday declared Tehran would not accept Washington's "stubborn" demands in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal and said the United States had failed to guarantee that it would never abandon the pact again.

"The Americans acted completely cowardly and maliciously," state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying.

"They once violated the nuclear deal at no cost by exiting it. Now they explicitly say that they cannot give guarantees that it would not happen again."

DUBAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iranians protesting over water shortages in the southwest cannot be blamed, and called on officials to deal with the water problem, Iran's state media reported.

"The people showed their displeasure ... but we cannot really blame the people and their issues must be taken care of," Khamenei was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying, in reference to the week-long protests.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two passenger jets from low-cost carrier FlyDubai and Bahrain-based Gulf Air collided with each other on the taxiway at Dubai International Airport early Thursday morning, though authorities reported no injuries in the incident.

FlyDubai said one of its Boeing 737-800s heading to Kyrgyzstan found itself affected by ”a minor incident” and forced to return to the stand. It said passengers took a later flight, which departed six hours later.

DUBAI, July 18 (Reuters) - Iran insisted on Sunday that a prisoner swap deal has been agreed with the United States, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, a day after Washington denied such an agreement had been reached.

"'Outrageous' = the US denying simple fact that there IS an agreed deal on the matter of the detainees. Even on how to announce it," Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a tweet.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The International Cricket Council has tweaked the points system for the next World Test Championship.

Twelve points will be awarded to the winning team of every test match contested in the 2021-23 cycle, with four points awarded for a draw and six for a tied game. The percentage of points won will be used to determine the WTC standings.

DUBAI, July 13 (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it was holding talks on prisoner exchanges with the United States aimed at securing the release of Iranians held in U.S. jails and other countries over violations of U.S. sanctions.

"Negotiations are under way on the exchange of prisoners between Iran and America, and we will issue more information if Iranian prisoners are released and the country's interests are secured and the talks reach a conclusion," government spokesman Ali Rabiei said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oman’s sultan arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, starting the first visit by an Omani ruler to the kingdom in years against the backdrop of intensified efforts to end the war in Yemen and the sultanate’s worsening economic woes.

With trumpets blaring, canons firing and fighter jets streaking overhead, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said landed in Neom, a futuristic desert city planned along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fiery explosion erupted on a container ship anchored in Dubai at one of the world’s largest ports late Wednesday, authorities said, sending tremors across the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, and it was unclear what triggered the blast.

The blaze sent up giant orange flames from a vessel at the Jebel Ali Port, the busiest in the Middle East. Jebel Ali sits on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula and is also the busiest port of call for American warships outside the U.S.