The United Arab Emirates signed a record 14-billion-euro contract for 80 French-made Rafale warplanes and committed billions of euros in other deals as President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a Gulf tour on Friday.

After years of economic stagnation, authorities in the occupied West Bank say they are struggling to pay salaries for public employees, as soaring inflation, dwindling donor aid and Israel’s withholding of vital tax revenues strangle the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) already crippled budget.

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa will be allowed to travel so she can accept her Nobel Peace Prize in person after a court gave her permission to leave the Southeast Asian country to visit Norway later this month.

Negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal were set to be suspended yesterday, Iranian media said, as European diplomats expressed “disappointment and concern” at the latest proposals from Iran.

The United Arab Emirates ordered 80 Rafale fighter jets and 12 military helicopters on Friday, deepening economic and political ties with France through an arms contract worth 17 billion euros ($19.20 billion).

Fresh talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers restarted on Monday, with the EU chair saying he felt “extremely positive” while admitting that “difficult issues” have yet to be tackled.

Intent on making a flawless impression as the first host of the world’s fair in the Middle East, Dubai sought to leave nothing to chance.

An Egyptian court yesterday fined prominent human rights activist Hossam Bahgat for “insulting” the country’s electoral commission on social media, a judicial source said.

Israel yesterday cautioned world powers to beware of what it described as Iranian “nuclear blackmail” as diplomats convened in Vienna to discuss resurrecting a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reaffirmed Bangladesh's position for the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and the viable state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Iran has accused the UN’s nuclear agency of bowing to pressure from its Western financiers to “discriminate” against Tehran, as strains persist ahead of new talks to revive the 2015 atomic deal.

Riot police were deployed in force yesterday in the Iranian city of Isfahan, a day after violent protests over the drying up of a lifeblood river.

Tunisian authorities said yesterday they had rescued almost 500 migrants whose boat ran into trouble off the North African country’s coast during a bid to reach Europe.

Three Lebanese judges have resigned over interference by politicians in the work of the judiciary, including a probe into last year’s Beirut blast, a judicial source said Thursday.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters yesterday rallied against last month’s military power grab, rejecting an agreement struck between the top general that saw the prime minister reinstated, witnesses said.

An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced to death by hanging 22 Islamist militants for 54 attacks including the attempted assassination of a former interior minister, a judicial source told AFP.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s head yesterday said there had been “no progress” in talks with Iran to resolve disputes over the

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett yesterday signalled readiness to step up Israel’s confrontation with Iran and reiterated that his country would not be bound by any new Iranian nuclear deal with world powers.

Ten members of Iran’s military went on trial Sunday in connection with the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet in 2020, the judiciary said.

The woman who was engaged to marry Jamal Khashoggi has asked singer Justin Bieber to cancel his scheduled Dec. 5 performance in Saudi Arabia's second-largest city Jeddah, urging him to not perform for the slain Saudi journalist's "murderers."