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President Biden’s trip to Israel on Wednesday will put him in a region where grief and fury are mounting, not only toward Israel, but also toward the United States, the world power that has declared unyielding support for its chief Middle East ally. On Tuesday, widespread condemnation of Israel rippled across the region after a huge explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip killed hundreds of Palestinians who had been seeking treatment and refuge. Israel has denied being behind the blast, blaming a Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, for a failed rocket launch. But even before that, many people across the region had come to view Israel’s war with Hamas — the Palestinian armed group that carried out a shocking attack on southern Israel more than a week ago, slaughtering 1,400 people — as an American-backed massacre of Palestinian civilians in the blockaded territory of Gaza. Israel has cut off water, medicine and electricity in the enclave and continued to target Gaza with deadly airstrikes, bringing the death toll to at least 2,800 before the hospital explosion.

Persons: Biden’s, Israel rippled Organizations: Gaza, Islamic Locations: Israel, United States, American, Gaza

☆ What’s in Our Queue? Cairokee and More
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

What’s in Our Queue? Cairokee and MoreI’m the Gulf bureau chief for The Times, covering the Arabian Peninsula from my home base in Riyadh. I’m usually seeking to consume culture that is a little bit soft and squishy. Here are five things I’ve been watching, listening to and more →

Persons: I’ve Organizations: The Times Locations: Riyadh, I’m

Hundreds of Libyans protested on Monday from the devastated eastern city of Derna, demanding the removal of those responsible a week after torrential rains burst two dams and unleashed a catastrophe that killed thousands. Some protesters stood on the muddy, rocky earth that the floods carried through the city center on Sept. 11, washing entire neighborhoods and their inhabitants into the Mediterranean Sea. Others perched on the roof of a mosque that still stood, and a number appeared to be part of relief and rescue efforts, dressed in white biohazard suits and reflective vests. The cries of the protesters were part of a rising chorus of calls to hold leaders across the divided North African country accountable. Specifically, they want an international investigation into the circumstances that led to the bursting of the two dams on the edge of Derna.

Persons: “ Aguila, ”, Aguila Saleh Locations: Derna

☆ U.S. Deepens Security Pledge to Bahrain, an Adversary of Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Vivian Nereim | More About Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration signed a security agreement with the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Wednesday, deepening its commitment to defend the authoritarian country from attacks. The format of the agreement could serve as a template for other Gulf Arab governments that have demanded stronger security guarantees from the United States, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Bahrain — an island nation that is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet — has a particularly tense relationship with Iran, located across the Persian Gulf. Under the new agreement, if the kingdom were attacked, the United States would consult with the Bahraini government and determine the best way to “confront the ongoing aggression,” said a senior Biden administration official, who briefed journalists on the condition of anonymity. One of the provisions in the agreement allows Bahrain and the United States to invite other countries to join the pact, the official said.

Persons: —, ” Organizations: Biden, United Arab, Navy’s, Bahraini Locations: Bahrain, United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Persian, United

More than 5,000 people were killed in Libya after torrential rains caused two dams to burst near the coastal city of Derna, destroying much of the city and carrying entire neighborhoods into the sea, local authorities said on Tuesday. Libya, a North African nation splintered by a war, was ill-prepared for the storm, called Daniel, which swept across the Mediterranean Sea to batter its coastline. The country is administered by two rival governments, complicating rescue and aid efforts, and its infrastructure had been poorly maintained after more than a decade of political chaos. In the city of Derna alone, at least 5,200 people died, said Tarek al-Kharraz, a spokesman for the interior ministry of the government that oversees Eastern Libya, according to the Libyan television station al-Masar. At least 20,000 people were displaced.

Persons: Daniel, Tarek al Organizations: Eastern, Libyan Locations: Libya, Derna, African, Eastern Libya

Thousands of people have been killed in Libya in the flooding caused by heavy rains that devastated parts of the country this weekend, a disaster exacerbated by the collapse of two dams in the coastal city of Derna, aid agencies said on Tuesday. Tamer Ramadan, head of the Libya delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said the death toll from the flooding was expected to reach thousands in coming days. Speaking to reporters at a U.N. briefing via videoconference from Tunisia, he said 10,000 people were missing, and that those figures were based on reports from the Libyan Red Crescent on the ground. A Libyan ambulance and emergency services department said least 2,300 people had died and more than 5,000 were missing after heavy rainfall over the weekend in the northeast of Libya swelled waters over riverbanks, sweeping away homes and cutting off roads. The collapse of the dams, south of Derna, deepened the disaster after they unleashed water that swept through the city and carried “entire neighborhoods” into the sea, Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, the dominant political force in the area, said in a televised news conference on Monday.

Persons: Tamer Ramadan, Ahmed al Organizations: International Federation of Red, Red Crescent Societies, Crescent, Libyan National Army Locations: Libya, Derna, videoconference, Tunisia, Libyan

As the death toll from the powerful earthquake in Morocco rose on Saturday, questions mounted about the vulnerability of buildings in the seismically active North African country. Moroccan architects said that the hardest-hit areas were rural zones with many earthen houses that were unable to withstand the shaking. “Given the state of the buildings in the country, this death toll was kind of expected,” said Anass Amazirh, an architect in the northern city of Casablanca. Image Rescue workers searching for survivors in a collapsed house in Moulay Brahim, in Morocco’s Al Haouz Province, on Saturday. “These more extreme risks occur regularly in other countries,” the report said, “and Morocco cannot avoid taking them into account.”

Persons: “, ”, Anass Amazirh, Omar Farkhani, Fadel Senna, Mr, Farkhani, Al Hoceima, Al, Haouz, Amazirh Organizations: Morocco’s, of Architects, ., Agence France, Moroccan, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development Locations: Marrakesh, Morocco, Moroccan, Casablanca, Al Haouz, Moulay Brahim, Morocco’s Al Haouz Province, Al, Al Hoceima, “

Residents of Morocco who experienced the earthquake firsthand said that confusion had quickly turned into chaos when their walls started shaking and objects started crashing to the ground. In Amizmiz, a town about 30 miles southwest of Marrakesh that is near the epicenter, Yasmina Bennani was about to go to sleep on Friday night when she heard a loud noise. “I felt terrorized,” said Ms. Bennani, 38, a journalist who, like many people in the area, lives in a house made of clay bricks. “It didn’t last long but felt like years,” Ms. Bennani said. “The adrenaline took over,” Mr. Kourkouz told BFMTV.

Persons: Bennani, ”, ” Ms, “, “ Mustapha, Hassan, Ilhem, Maftouh, ” Yacine, France’s, Mr, Kourkouz, BFMTV, ” Raja Bouri, Ms, Bouri Locations: Marrakesh, Saturday, Morocco, Moroccan, Agadir

The quake had a magnitude of 6.8 and a depth of about 11 miles, the United States Geological Survey said in a preliminary report. Here’s what to know about the earthquake: The United States Geological Survey said it was the strongest quake to hit the area in more than 100 years. The epicenter of the earthquake was just over 30 miles west of Oukaimeden, a popular Moroccan ski resort, the U.S.G.S. As of early morning local time, the full extent of the casualties and damages was not known. The deadliest and most destructive earthquake in Morocco’s recent history was 5.8 magnitude and killed about 12,000 people in 1960.

Organizations: Morocco, Ministry, United States Geological Survey, UNESCO, Heritage, Reuters Locations: Marrakesh, Oukaimeden, Moroccan

Rare street protests have broken out in Bahrain as a mass hunger strike enters its fifth week, activists say, in a faint echo of the uprising that swept the Gulf kingdom starting in 2011, during the Arab Spring. Inmates inside the country’s largest prison have been refusing meals since Aug. 7, protesting against what they and their relatives say are poor conditions, including systematic mistreatment, medical neglect and limited visitation rights. The government has denied those allegations, arguing that conditions are in line with international standards. Officials have announced some concessions, including an increase in the time that prisoners can spend outside, yet the strike has lasted for nearly a month. While the government says that only 116 prisoners are involved, activists say that they have documented more than 800 participants — a significant portion of the prison population in a small island state of 1.6 million people.

Locations: Bahrain

☆ Banned in Kuwait, ‘Barbie’ Sparks Delight, and Anger, in Saudi Arabia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Vivian Nereim | More About Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Friday night, Mohammed al-Sayed donned a pale pink shirt and denim overalls to join a friend at a movie theater in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where the men settled in to watch a film about a doll on a mission to dismantle the patriarchy. They watched as the movie imagined a matriarchal society of Barbie dolls where men are eye candy. They laughed when a male character asked, “I’m a man with no power; does that make me a woman?” They snapped their fingers in delight as a mother delivered a monologue about the strictures of stereotypical femininity. Then, they emerged from the darkened theaters to contemplate what it all meant. “The message is that you are enough — whatever you are,” said Mr. al-Sayed, 21, echoing the Ken doll’s revelation.

Persons: Mohammed al, Sayed, “ Barbie, ”, Barbie, “, Ken doll’s Locations: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

☆ Decaying Tanker in Mideast Is Emptied of Oil, Averting Catastrophic Spill
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Vivian Nereim | More About Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A United Nations operation to transfer more than one million barrels of oil from a decaying tanker into another ship off the coast of Yemen has been completed, officials said on Friday, averting a catastrophic spill that could have devastated marine life and communities across the Red Sea. But with one crisis averted, another looms: The recovery vessel could be stranded until thorny negotiations over who owns the transferred oil are resolved. For years, both of those governments have claimed ownership of the oil on the decaying tanker, called the FSO Safer, hoping to gain desperately needed revenue from its sale. “The most pressing step was to prevent oil spillover from the deteriorating FSO Safer,” said Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, an organization that researches conflicts. “Now, with the salvage operation concluded, we find ourselves returning to the difficult point concerning the oil inside the tanker.”

Persons: ”, Ahmed Nagi Organizations: Nations, FSO, Crisis Group Locations: Yemen

☆ An Oil-Rich Ally Tests Its Relationship With the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Vivian Nereim | More About Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, is a key American ally who counts on the United States to defend his country. These deepening relationships show how a Middle Eastern leader viewed by the U.S. government as an important partner is increasingly striking out on his own path. American officials have had limited success in persuading Sheikh Mohammed to align with U.S. foreign policy — particularly when it comes to limiting Chinese military ties and isolating Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the Emirates has thrived on inflows of Russian money, oil and gold, fueling a feeding frenzy in real estate in the glittering metropolis of Dubai. The growing ties with both American rivals and expanding economies like India are all in preparation for a world that may someday be no longer dominated by the United States.

Persons: Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Vladimir V, Putin, Sheikh Mohammed Organizations: United Arab, U.S, Emirates Locations: United Arab Emirates, American, United States, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Dubai, India

Ukraine will make a renewed push this weekend at a gathering in Saudi Arabia to win the support of dozens of countries that have remained on the sidelines of the war — the start of a broader campaign in the months ahead to build the diplomatic muscle to isolate and weaken Russia. Ukraine and Saudi Arabia invited diplomats from some 40 governments to talks in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Notable among them were China, India, Brazil, South Africa and some of the oil-rich Gulf nations that have tried to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia throughout the war, which began in February 2022. The meeting is the starting point of what is expected to be a major Ukrainian diplomatic push in the coming months to try to undercut Russia. It began on Wednesday, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine recalled his ambassadors for an emergency strategy session on how to get the country’s message out to the world.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Red, Jeddah, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Ukrainian

☆ Saudi Arabia Will Host Talks About Ukraine’s Peace Plan, Diplomats Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Vivian Nereim | More About Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Saudi Arabia will host talks on Ukraine’s peace plan with several other countries this weekend in the coastal city of Jeddah, three foreign diplomats in the kingdom have said. The diplomats, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks, said that several countries, including the United States and European nations, along with Brazil, China and India, had been invited, though it was not immediately clear who would attend. Russia did not appear to be among those invited. The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said that “Russia will keep an eye on this meeting” but would need “to fully understand what goals are being set,” Russia’s state-run Tass news agency reported on Monday. Many of the invited countries, and Saudi Arabia, have resisted American and European pressure to isolate Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Persons: Dmitri S, Peskov Locations: Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, United States, Brazil, China, India, Russia, Russia’s, Ukraine

☆ Saudi Arabia Wants Tourists. It Didn’t Expect Christians.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Vivian Nereim | Iman Al-Dabbagh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The caravan of five Toyota Land Cruisers raced across Saudi Arabia’s rocky desert, weaving onto a highway so new it was not on the map. At the cleft of sea that splits the kingdom from Egypt, they stopped on a barren beach. Fifteen tourists spilled out and gathered around Joel Richardson, a Kansas preacher. He opened a Bible, donned his glasses and began to recite. “Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”

Persons: Joel Richardson, Mr, Richardson, Moses, “, ” Organizations: Toyota Land Cruisers Locations: Saudi, Egypt, Kansas

Shortly after his plane took off earlier this month from Riyadh, where he had held a lengthy meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called a different Middle East leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Over 40 minutes, Mr. Blinken gave the Israeli leader a briefing about the significant demands the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was making for his nation to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu had an update on his own demands. The White House, which for more than two years has largely been content to sit out the poker game of Middle East diplomacy, has decided to make a bet and push some of its chips in. And they simply do not much like or trust each other.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Salman, Mr, Netanyahu, — Organizations: Saudi, Israel, Biden, Iran Locations: Riyadh, Israel, Saudi Arabia, East, The United States

☆ Saudi Arabia and China Flaunt Growing Ties at Investment Forum
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The message at an Arab-China business forum hosted by Saudi Arabia this week was not particularly subtle, as hundreds of Chinese officials and executives gathered beneath giant chandeliers, smiling for selfies and snacking on organic dates. “If you want a trusted partner in the world — one of the best partners in the world — it’s the People’s Republic of China,” Mohammed Abunayyan, the chairman of a Saudi renewable energy company, declared from the stage, to resounding applause. “China is a partner you can depend on,” he said on Sunday, the first of two days of meetings. Yet at the conclusion of Mr. Blinken’s visit on Thursday, the Saudi foreign minister said that while the kingdom values its close relationship with the United States, it has no plans to distance itself from China, its top trading partner. Saudi officials often complain that they feel like they cannot rely on the United States, their historical security guarantor, and are seeking to forge a more independent foreign policy.

Persons: ” Mohammed Abunayyan, ”, Antony J, Blinken, Blinken’s Organizations: U.S, State, ., Saudi Locations: Arab, China, Saudi Arabia, People’s Republic of China, Saudi, United States

☆ Blinken’s Visit to Saudi Arabia Caps U.S. Effort to Rebuild Ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Edward Wong | Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By the time Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken wrapped up a visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, he and Saudi officials had discussed cooperation on a smorgasbord of issues: Iran, Sudan, the Islamic State, regional infrastructure, clean energy and the potential normalization of Saudi-Israel relations. Mr. Blinken gave effusive remarks on the work being done at a news conference in Riyadh: “It is critical for expanding opportunity and driving progress for our people and for people around the world.”It was the type of bonhomie that American officials usually reserve for close allies. Mr. Blinken’s three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, which included a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation’s de facto leader, is the most obvious effort yet by the Biden administration to move past the hostility that President Biden expressed at the prince and his government last fall. The blowup took place after Saudi officials cut oil production despite a perception by U.S. officials that they had agreed to increase it. Mr. Biden vowed to impose “consequences.” But in the months since, the president and his top aides have come to accept what they see as a hard reality of the new geopolitical landscape, say analysts and people familiar with U.S. officials’ discussions: that Washington cannot afford to alienate powerful partners if it intends to compete with China and Russia across the globe.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Blinken’s, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Biden Organizations: Saudi, Crown, U.S Locations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, Islamic State, Saudi, Israel, Riyadh, “, Washington, China, Russia

☆ All About the Deep-Pocketed Saudi Wealth Fund That Rocked Golf
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Kate Kelly | Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Behind the head-spinning news this week that the PGA Tour wants to merge with the upstart Saudi rival called LIV Golf was an entity with billions of dollars to back the deal: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Though the fund has long been a outsize presence in financial circles, the deal that stunned the golf world has turned a Klieg light on a Saudi business that has been described as one of the most opaque in the world. Here’s what to know about the Saudi fund. What is the Saudi sovereign fund? Known as the Public Investment Fund, or P.I.F., it is an investment pool that manages more than $700 billion in Saudi government money.

Persons: LIV Organizations: PGA Tour, Saudi, Public Investment Fund Locations: Saudi

☆ Saudi Arabia Relishes a Triumph That Transcends Sports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Vivian Nereim | Ahmed Al Omran | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a Saudi-backed upstart golf league began recruiting high-profile players from the top U.S. circuit, the American tour’s commissioner lamented a “foreign monarchy that is spending billions of dollars in an attempt to buy the game of golf.”The commissioner, Jay Monahan, who heads the PGA Tour, sniped at players who left for the new league, LIV Golf, hinting at the stain that the Saudi government’s human rights violations would leave on them. But on Tuesday, Mr. Monahan sat smiling with the head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund to announce that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf were forming what promises to be a lucrative partnership. “I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” Mr. Monahan said later. “But circumstances do change.”The deal, if it goes forward, represents an enormous victory for Saudi Arabia and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a bid to become a major player in global sports, giving the kingdom considerable sway over the game of golf. But the significance of the moment transcends sports, as Saudi Arabia under Prince Mohammed seeks greater political influence in the Middle East and beyond.

Persons: Jay Monahan, sniped, LIV Golf, Monahan, LIV, “, Mr, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prince Mohammed Organizations: PGA Locations: Saudi, Saudi Arabia

☆ As Iran Seizes Tankers in Gulf, U.A.E. Pulls Back From U.S.-Led Maritime Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday that it had stopped participating in a maritime security force led by the United States, the latest hint of tensions between Washington and key Persian Gulf allies who complain that America has not done enough to protect them from Iranian threats. The unusual public statement came after Iran seized two commercial tankers in waterways near the Emirates in quick succession over the past two months. Emirati and Saudi officials have repeatedly expressed frustration with U.S. policy toward Iran. “They were unhappy with the Americans, and when the U.A.E. is not happy, they are very decisive,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political scientist.

Persons: ”, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Emirates, Emirati Foreign Ministry, Combined Maritime Forces, Saudi Locations: United States, Washington, America, Iran, Persian

☆ The Long Isolation of Syria’s al-Assad Is Over
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Vivian Nereim | Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a devastating earthquake struck in February, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria spotted opportunity in disaster. He called for an end to international sanctions on his country and within days, some were suspended. Other Middle Eastern states sent planeloads of aid and senior officials from those countries soon followed for the first high-level visits in years. In the three months since, Mr. al-Assad has made a remarkable comeback, going from more than a decade of near-total global isolation after a series of atrocities, to being welcomed back into the Arab fold with virtually no strings attached. Mr. Assad was shunned for brutally suppressing his country’s Arab Spring uprising in 2011, which morphed into a civil war that has ground to a standstill, but has still not ended.

☆ Fleeing Sudan, Some Find Saudi Ships ‘a Golden Opportunity’ to Escape
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

PORT SUDAN, Sudan — A few weeks ago, Ahmed al-Hassan was a medical student in Sudan working on a campaign to help refugees from a neighboring country. Then, the forces of two rival generals went to battle in the streets of the capital, Khartoum, and he was forced to flee himself. He left behind his home, his textbooks and the paperwork proving he was a student — stuffing basic necessities into a suitcase and a backpack — to escape with his ailing mother from the bullets, warplanes and shelling. After a harrowing 14-hour bus ride across the country, they arrived in the seaside city of Port Sudan, where thousands of Sudanese and foreigners have gathered in hopes of catching a boat or a plane out of the country to safety. Standing in a line of evacuees waiting to board a rescue ship to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning — a 10-hour voyage across the Red Sea — Mr. al-Hassan, 21, said he knew that he was one of a lucky few Sudanese with the means and connections to find a way out of the conflict threatening to tear his country apart: He was born in Saudi Arabia, and has legal residency there, giving him and his mother a way out in the part of the evacuation efforts that Saudi authorities are overseeing.

☆ Stampede in Yemen Kills 78 People Gathering to Receive Holiday Donations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Vivian Nereim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least 78 people died in a stampede in Yemen while gathering to receive charitable donations from local merchants ahead of a major Islamic holiday, a sign of how desperate many Yemenis have become after eight years of a civil war that has deepened poverty and hunger in the Arab world’s poorest country. The Houthis’ health ministry said on Thursday that 77 people were injured in the stampede, with 13 of them in critical condition. A Houthi interior ministry spokesman, Brig. However, two witnesses told The Associated Press that before the stampede, armed Houthi militia members had fired guns into the air, hitting an electrical wire and causing the crowd to panic. The crowd had gathered in hope of receiving the equivalent of about $10 each from a charity funded by local businessmen, the report said.

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