The Middle East is in turmoil but so too is the US, if the first debate between Trump-Biden is anything to go by. What a mess. No one wants politics as low as that. There is no doubt that the Middle East is a mess for different reasons. It's not just politics but the level of corruption within society that is a problem for people living in the regi...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
The "normalisation" deals between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain have been rejected by some Israeli Arabs, while others embrace them. Whether Palestine will be better off remains to be seen; for now the annexation of Palestinian territories by Israel is off the agenda. And the two Palestinian factions- Hamas (Gaza) and Fatah( Mahmoud Abb...
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has always tried to punch above its size. It's a small Gulf country but has always had a lot of ambition. Why, for example, did Dubai, an UAE emirate, build the world's tallest building - Burj Khalifa? Orwhy does Abu Dhabi, UAE's capital, have some of the world's top museums? But the UAE also features highly in the in...
The UAE-Israeli "normalization" deal makes sense when put in the background of an arms deal with the US and possibly with Israel. Will Chinese influence diminish, even though it has been supplying drones to the country for years? This story from Aljazeera explains how the UAE might benefit from the deal. UAE gets American drones as China ramps up s...
The "normalisation" of relations between Israel and the UAE, and Israel and Bahrain is controversial, not least with Palestine. That country feels the Arab World is abandoning them. And maybe it is. Will the UAE and Bahrain now be able to by arms from the US and from Israel? Let's see what will happen. But nothing in the Middle East is straightforw...
The "peace" accord between the Israel and the UAE and now Bahrain, has taken a great many people by surprise, especially the citizens of the UAE and Bahrain. What do these peace accords represent? Are the Arab Gulf states looking for more than peace? Will they get an arms deal with Israel out of the agreement? What are the Gulf countries seeking ov...
The Middle East has hit the headlines recently because of the UAE-Israel peace deal and more recently because of the Bahrain-Israel peace deal. In both cases we are asking why? There's always another agenda. When will Iran bomb the UAE? I've always had a great deal of sympathy for refugees-what they have gone through and what they sacrifice to succ...
Loathe him or love him. Julian Assange arouses mixed feeling. Here are some of the issues which were covered in the court case. Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 7 92 September 9, 2020 in Uncategorized by craig | View Comments by CLIVE STAFFORD SMITH This morning we went straight in to the evidence of Clive Stafford Smith, a dual ...
In this article, Lucia Dore interviews AI journalist and Egyptian, Dr Mohamed Abdulzaher on how AI will change the world of journalism. Publications and newsrooms across the world will see more redundancies, as artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism grows. Increasingly, too, machines will replace people. At the same time, it is also likely...
The differing reactions of Qatar and Egypt show that Arab states continue to have mixed feelings on the historic normalization agreement between the UAE and Israeli. This article looks at some of the issues. Sep 2, 2020 by Al Monitor Arab states continue to have mixed reactions to the normalization of relations between Israel and the United A...
Here is a press release from a Dubai-based company, Iridium Advisors. The results are based on Iridium Quant Lens machine learning (ML) platform which was built on the foundations of classic finance theory that a company's stock price is derived through an evaluation of risk relative to return factors by equity market participants. - Four d...
I was interested to read this excellent piece on Linkedin by a PR consultant who lives in Bahrain. How do UAE companies communicate with Israeli companies given the "normalisation" of relations between the companies? This article looks at what the UAE- Israeli deal means for relations for PR and communication companies. How to deal with Israeli Cli...
This was New Zealand's worst killing. On March 15, 51 people were killed at two mosques. This article, by Mariné Lourens , that was in stuff.co.nz, tells what happened in the court room . Photos: The killer is shown in the last photo, and all 51 victims in the first. The gunman who shot and killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch on M...
I am writing this while the court case in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were gunned down and killed by an Australian shooter, is ongoing. It began on Monday and will resume again tomorrow, Tuesday 26 th August. An appalling act; an appalling crime. This is how one media outlet covered today's proceedings. By Marine Lourens17:09, Aug 25...
Investing in the Middle East and North Africa is not straightforward. When I lived in Dubai, I was approached many times by people from the Western world asking me to introduce them to some investors. They thought they could just tell potential investors about their company and they would invest. How wrong they were. Middle East investors are more ...
One of the quirks of living in Dubai is the purchase of alcohol. Most people, like me, bought it at Duty Free, and hoped nobody would check the apartment for alcohol. Not only was it illegal to have alcohol in your apartment but it was also illegal for anyone walking outside to be found to have drunk alcohol. Going to an alcohol outlet, like MMI, w...
Covid-19 is affecting everyone all over the world. And although this article is not specific to the Middle East it is relevant because all countries, from New Zealand to Norway, are wondering what the best approach is to controlling the disease. Should the end goal be total elimination – like New Zealand- or herd immunity- like Sweden? Dr Siouxsie ...
The UAE- Israel deal impacts the entire Middle East. Clearly, the UAE wants to be at the forefront of any normalisation of relations between the Arab World and the Gulf states. How will this deal impact UAE's relationship with Israel? Will it result in more trade between the countries? Will the UAE be viewed as a peacemaker or a dealbreaker? This a...
I've been thinking hard about the deal between the UAE and Israel and what it really means. I'm sure there is more to it than it looks on the surface. Is it to give President Trump a dipIomatic boost ahead of the US election? I'd be interested in hearing some views on that. Whatever the reason, I'm sure that the UAE, Dubai in particular, will be a ...
The explosion in Lebanon shocked everyone, not just those in the Middle East. How could it have happened? How could a government be so corrupt that 2750 tons of explosives were badly stored at the port? Now about 220 people or more people are dead and many more are missing. About 300,000 are homeless...an horrendous number. The protests have result...