UAE

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of “tyrant” President Donald Trump’s era.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Wednesday, has said the United States will rejoin the pact, which includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear work, if Tehran resumes strict compliance.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Masks off the minute you step inside. Bars packed and pulsing like it’s 2019. Social media stars waving bottles of champagne. DJs spinning party tunes through multi-hour brunches.

Since becoming one of the world’s first destinations to open up for tourism, Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, has promoted itself as the ideal pandemic vacation spot. It cannot afford otherwise, analysts say, as the virus shakes the foundations of the city-state’s economy.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Five people who committed crimes in Saudi Arabia as minors have yet to have their death sentences revoked, according to two rights groups, nine months after the kingdom’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) announced an end to capital punishment for juvenile offenders.

The state-backed HRC in April cited a March royal decree by King Salman stipulating that individuals sentenced to death for crimes committed while minors will no longer face execution and would instead serve prison terms of up to 10 years in juvenile detention centers.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States called Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates “major security partners” early Saturday, a previously unheard of designation for the two countries home to major American military operations.

A White House statement tied the designation to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalizing ties to Israel, saying it “reflects their extraordinary courage, determination and leadership.” It also noted the two countries long have taken part in U.S. military exercises.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: Emirates airline has suspended a Tunisian pilot for refusing to fly to Israel. Moneem Saheb Tabaa confirmed the suspension on his Facebook page, which he has since closed.

"God is [the] only [one] who takes care of me…" said Tabaa. "I do not regret it." The pilot is suspended pending a formal hearing.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates and Cyprus yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen mutual cooperation on the military and defence levels.

13 Jan 2021; MEMO: Lawyers of Turkish businessman Mehmet Ali Ozturk, who has been detained in the UAE for nearly three years, have filed an urgent complaint to the United Nations accusing the Emirati authorities of torturing their client.

On 20 February 2018, Ozturk was arrested in Dubai after arriving in the country with his wife, Amina Ozturk, to attend the Gulfood Manufacturing Fair.

11 Jan 2021; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash has expressed his country's desire to normalise and re-establish relations with Turkey, following tensions between the two.

Gargash made the remarks in an interview with the Emirates-based Sky News Arabia yesterday, saying: "What we want to tell Turkey is, we want to normalise our relations within the framework of mutual respect for sovereignty."

11 Jan 2021; MEMO: The first shipment from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank were exported to the UAE yesterday, local media reported.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the shipment included olive oil and honey from the Tura Winery in the Rehelim settlement and Paradise Honey in the Hermesh settlement.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Foreign companies will not be allowed to test COVID-19 vaccines on the Iranian people, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, a day after Iran’s Supreme Leader banned vaccine imports from the United States and Britain.

“Foreign companies wanted to give us vaccines so they would be tested on the Iranian people. But the health ministry prevented it,” Rouhani said in televised remarks, without naming the companies or giving further details.