POLITICS

A top White House official on Friday will offer to maintain current nuclear weapons limits with Russia, while making the case for putting rising power China at the center of future arms control efforts.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum met with UK's Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith at the Dubai International Financial Centre on Wednesday

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it was no longer taking part in operations by a U.S.-led task force protecting Gulf shipping, which has been subjected to renewed tanker seizures by Iranian naval forces in recent weeks. The UAE was responding to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday which, citing U.S. and Gulf sources, said the Gulf state was frustrated by the lack of U.S. response to recent tanker seizures by Iran. This was a "mischaracterisation" of conversations between the two countries, a UAE statement said.

The Ministry of Culture and Youth and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE announced it will support world heritage, document conservation and capacity-building programs across many sites in Africa. The announcement was made during an event led by the Africa Group at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Launched in 2006, AWHF is an inter-governmental organization aiming to support the conservation and protection of natural and cultural heritage in Africa

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received a call from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday. Albanese called the UAE President to discuss the longstanding ties between the two nations and ways to build on their strategic partnerships in various fields. During the call, they also exchanged views on some regional and international issues, particularly recent developments impacting both countries

The phone call between the two leaders came four months after they had signed a joint cooperation agreement in January.

The UAE was among the 25 nations that participated in the 6th Indian Ocean Conference in Bangladesh.

The UAE President assured the Pakistani General of the UAE's commitment to supporting "all that achieves unity and stability," as well as causes that "meet the aspirations of its people for progress and prosperity," reported state news agency WAM. The two leaders held the phone meeting as Pakistan dealt with political and economic crises due to an ongoing conflict between the government and the political party Pakistan Tekreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Sheikh Mohamed is on an official visit to Paris to discuss the long-standing ties between the UAE and France with his French counterpart.

UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Thani bin Zeyoudi made an official visit to Brussels, Belgium this week.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan's trip -- the first visit to Syria's capital by a Saudi official since the start of the country's civil war in 2011 -- marks a new era in ties between Iran-backed Damascus and Riyadh.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received a phone call from Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

The signing ceremony was held at the League of Arab States (LAS) Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey's elections will be held on May 14 -- a month earlier than scheduled -- as the opposition still searches for a unified candidate to stand against him.

The announcement sets the stage for a vote that could either extend Erdogan's Islamic style of rule into a third decade or turn the country on a sharply more secular -- and potentially predictable -- course.

A snap local election will be held in Pakistan's most populous province, officials said, after the provincial leader, an ally of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, triggered the poll, putting pressure on the government ahead a planned general election.

Six months from an election in which Turkey's opposition has its best shot at unseating President Tayyip Erdogan in 20 years, a jail sentence against one of its brightest hopes has raised the stakes in the struggle to agree a presidential challenger.

A Turkish court sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to jail on Wednesday and imposed a political ban on the opposition politician who is seen as a strong potential challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections next year.

Invitations have gone out to leaders in the Middle East and North Africa for the Chinese-Arab gathering, the diplomats said.

Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, urged Americans to elect a Republican Congress in U.S.

The European Commission estimates that around 35 million illicit weapons are in the hands of civilians across the 27-nation bloc.

At a dead-end road in a crime-hit town in central Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu stands on a mobile stage enclosed by a glass wall

Li Qiang oversaw Shanghai's grinding two-month COVID-19 lockdown this year as party boss of China's commercial hub.

Mallikarjun Kharge, an 80-year-old from the lowest rung of India's caste system, is seen as a Gandhi family loyalist.