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Science

Russia reports pressure drop in space station service module

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The Nauka (Science) Multipurpose Laboratory Module is seen during its docking to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 29, 2021 in this still image taken from video. Image taken July 29, 2021. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW, July 31 (Reuters) – The head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said on Saturday that pressure in a Russian service module on the International Space Station had dropped as a result of an air leak.

Pressure had fallen over a two-week period before a Russian research module, the Nauka, threw the station out of control when its engines fired shortly after docking on Thursday, but Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said the two events were not linked.

The fall in pressure was a result of a known minor air leak in an isolated transfer chamber of the Zvezda service module and pressure will be raised in the next 24 hours, Roscosmos said in a statement.

“It was an expected and not a ‘sharp’ drop in the still problematic Zvezda and it is not linked to the research module,” Rogozin tweeted in response to media reports.

Pressure in the service module dropped on July 29, the day the Nauka research module docked, to about one third of its level on July 14 but would be increased, Rogozin tweeted.

The air leak in the Zvezda module, which provides living quarters for crew members and life support systems, was detected last year. It poses no danger to the crew but persists despite attempts to fix it by sealing cracks.

Russia said on Friday that a software glitch, and possible lapse in human attention, were to blame for an emergency caused by inadvertently reignited jet thrusters of the Nauka research module. read more

On Saturday, Russian crew entered the research module after the air was tested and cleaned, Rogozin tweeted.

Russia held a scientific council meeting on Saturday to discuss the future use of the Russian segment of the space station, which was sent into orbit in 1998 and is supposed to work until 2028.

“The chief constructors council noted after considering the current condition of the Russian ISS segment that the use of the Russian ISS segment after 2024 creates additional risks due to the ageing of equipment,” Roscosmos said.

Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Giles Elgood

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

EXCLUSIVE Investigative media outlet fleeing Russia to escape crackdown, editor says

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Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet “Proekt”, speaks during an interview with Reuters in New York, U.S., July 27, 2021. Picture taken July 27, 2021. REUTERS/Maria Tsvetkova

  • Russia banned investigative outlet as ‘undesirable’
  • Chief editor leaves Russia, has no plans to return
  • Kremlin denies targeting media over politics, cites law

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) – Roman Badanin, chief editor of investigative news outlet Proekt, has left Russia with no plans to return and is evacuating his staff to avoid possible prosecution after Proekt was outlawed in a media crackdown, he told Reuters.

Proekt has published a series of deeply researched and unflattering investigations into Russia’s ruling elite. Russian authorities declared it an “undesirable” organisation on national security grounds on July 15, effectively banning it. read more

The move was part of a widening crackdown ahead of September’s parliamentary election that has targeted media regarded by authorities as hostile and foreign-backed.

Badanin, in an interview in New York, said he had no plans to return to Russia soon since he could face criminal prosecution. Under a 2015 law, members of “undesirable” groups can be fined or jailed for up to six years for ignoring the ban.

The Kremlin denies media are targeted for political reasons and says any action taken against outlets or their staff result from specific circumstances and are motivated by the need to uphold the law.

Badanin said he did not know where he would settle and that he was only in New York temporarily. He was on holiday with his wife and children abroad when Proekt was labelled “undesirable” and he decided on the spot not to return to Russia.

He said staff at Proekt were also exposed due to a criminal investigation into alleged slander against the outlet as well as a push by authorities to label some journalists, including several that work at Proekt, as “foreign agents”.

The term carries negative, Soviet-era connotations and subjects those designated to extra government scrutiny and labelling requirements. Police last month raided the homes of Badanin, his deputy Mikhail Rubin and one of Proekt’s reporters in the slander case. Rubin was briefly detained. read more

“We are trying to evacuate staff – if the staff members agree, of course – to one of the nearby countries,” Badanin said.

He said Rubin is also in New York and has no plans to return to Moscow. Both have been labelled “foreign agents”.

Badanin said Proekt would continue to function in some form, although details of how that would work in practice remain unclear. “The main difference is that a large part of the team will be out of Russia in order to avoid the possibility of any legal and extra-legal action against them,” he said.

Several other non-state outlets have complained of mounting government pressure though none have been labelled “undesirable”.

Additional reporting by Anton Zverev
Writing by Tom Balmforth
Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich

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World

Isolated Myanmar calls for international help as COVID cases surge

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July 28 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military ruler is looking for greater cooperation with the international community to contain the coronavirus, state media reported on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country struggles with a surging wave of infections.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called in a speech for more cooperation on prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19, including with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and “friendly countries”, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the military ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with regular protests and fighting between the army and newly formed militias. Various countries including the United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military rulers over the coup and the repression of pro-democracy protests in which hundreds have been killed.

The junta leader said vaccinations needed to be increased, through both donated doses and by developing domestic production, aided by Russia, the newspaper said, adding Myanmar would seek the release of funds from an ASEAN COVID-19 fund.

Myanmar recently received two million more Chinese vaccines, but it was believed to have only vaccinated about 3.2% of its population, according to a Reuters tracker. A drive to vaccinate some 40,000 inmates in densely packed prisons, which have seen major virus outbreaks recently, started on Wednesday, state-run MRTV reported.

The military has appeared wary of outside help in past disasters, forcing Myanmar’s people to help each other, though a previous junta did allow in aid via ASEAN after a devastating cyclone in 2008.

There have been desperate efforts by people to find oxygen in many parts of the country. The Myanmar Now news portal, citing witnesses, reported that at least eight people died in a Yangon hospital at the weekend after a piped oxygen system failed.

A medical staff wearing a protective suit stands near an ambulance, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Yangon, Myanmar, September 27, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin/File Photo/File Photo

Reuters could not independently confirm the report and the North Okkalapa General Hospital and a health ministry spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Infections in Myanmar have surged since June, with 4,980 cases and 365 deaths reported on Wednesday, according to health ministry data cited in media. Medics and funeral services put the toll much higher.

Last week, prisoners in Yangon staged a protest over what activists said was a major COVID-19 outbreak in the colonial-era Insein jail, where many pro-democracy protesters are being held. read more

Vaccinations began at Insein and a prison in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday and would be extended to inmates countrywide, MRTV reported, citing the prisons department.

Efforts to tackle the outbreak have been further hampered by some of the worst flooding in years in eastern Myanmar. read more

Despite Min Aung Hlaing agreeing to an ASEAN peace plan reached in April, the military has shown little sign of following through on it and has instead reiterated its own, entirely different plan to restore order and democracy.

The military justified its coup by accusing Suu Kyi’s party of manipulating votes in a November general election to secure a landslide victory. The electoral commission at the time and outside observers rejected the complaints.

But in a further sign of the junta’s tightening grip on power, the military-appointed election commission this week officially annulled the November results, saying the vote was not in line with the constitution and electoral laws, and was not “free and fair”, MRTV reported.

Reporting by Reuters Staff
Writing by Ed Davies and John Geddie
Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie

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World

Russia’s Abramovich didn’t buy Chelsea for Putin, court hears

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  • Abramovich and Rosneft sue writer over Putin book
  • Abramovich was not Putin’s cashier – lawyer says
  • Abramovich didn’t buy Chelsea to corrupt West – lawyer
  • Rosneft says it didn’t expropriate Yukos assets

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) – Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is not President Vladimir Putin’s “cashier” and nor did he buy Chelsea FC as a vehicle to corrupt the West, his lawyer told England’s High Court in a defamation hearing over a book about Putin’s Russia.

In the 2020 book, British journalist Catherine Belton chronicles Putin’s rise to power and how many of his associates from the former Soviet spy services rose to positions of wealth and influence after he won the top Kremlin job in 1999.

A lawyer for Abramovich told the court that passages in the book “Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West”, published by HarperCollins, were clearly defamatory. Abramovich is suing both HarperCollins and Belton.

“The claimant is described in the book as Putin’s cashier and the custodian of Kremlin slush funds,” Hugh Tomlinson, a lawyer for Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, told the High Court about the book.

“What is said to be happening is that Mr Abramovich is making his wealth available to Putin… secretly to Putin and his cronies – that is the view the reasonable and ordinary reader would take,” Tomlinson said of Belton’s book.

HarperCollins has said it would “robustly defend this acclaimed and ground-breaking book and the right to report on matters of considerable public interest”.

Belton is a former Financial Times Moscow correspondent and now a Reuters special correspondent. Belton, who attended the hearing, declined to comment. Law firm Wiggin is representing HarperCollins.

ROSNEFT

Tomlinson said Belton’s book relied on what he cast as “unreliable” sources such as Sergei Pugachev, a Russian businessman who later fell foul of the Kremlin.

He said the book alleged that Putin ordered Abramovich to purchase Chelsea soccer club as “part of a scheme to corrupt the West” and to “build a bulkhead of Russian influence.”

“The ordinary and reasonable reader would inevitably come out with the view that Roman Abramovich was instructed to buy Chelsea… so he was being used as the acceptable face of a corrupt and dangerous regime,” Tominlinson said.

Lawyers for Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company, said in documents submitted to court that they took issue with passages in the book which said the company expropriated the YUKOS oil company and purchased the assets at a rigged auction.

Rosneft’s lawyers argued that the book alleged that Rosneft used Russia to engage in “organised theft” of Yukos, once Russia’s biggest oil company which was carved up and sold off after owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky fell foul of the Kremlin.

Russia, “with the connivance of several judges subjected to improper pressure, illicitly expropriated assets formerly held by OAO Yukos Oil Company (“Yukos”) and its ultimate owners,” Rosneft said of one of the book’s claims.

“And combined with Rosneft to allow the latter to purchase the Yukos assets at an unfair price in a farcically rigged auction,” Rosneft’s lawyers said of the book’s claims.

Rosneft and CEO Igor Sechin did not respond to written requests for comment on the case when contacted by Reuters.

Lawyers for Rosneft took issue with passages in the book which claimed that Sechin was behind the attack on Yukos.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London and Vladimir Soldatkin and Tatiana Ustinova in Moscow; Editing by Giles Elgood and Jon Boyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Two decades after 9/11, British spies turn focus back to Russia and China

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MI5 Director General Ken McCallum is photographed in London, Britain October 14, 2020. UK Government/Handout via REUTERS

  • Western intelligence shifted focus to terrorism after 9/11
  • MI5 chief urges greater vigilance over hostile state actions
  • UK spies say Russia, China seek to steal technology, sow discord

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) – Britain’s top domestic spymaster cautioned citizens on Wednesday to treat the threat of spying from Russia, China and Iran with as much vigilance as terrorism, in a shift of focus back to counter-espionage nearly two decades after the 9/11 attacks.

The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States made tackling terrorism the biggest priority for Western intelligence agencies, with vast resources being focused on the threat from home-grown and foreign-based militants.

But the growing assertiveness of post-Soviet Russia, the rise of China, and Iran’s sometimes daring espionage has forced the West’s spies to return their focus to counter-intelligence, or spies tracking, countering and tackling other spies.

Security Service (MI5) Director General Ken McCallum said foreign spies killed, stole technology, sought to corrupt public figures, sow discord and attack infrastructure with potentially devastating cyberattacks.

“Some hostile actors are prepared to come to the UK to kill,” McCallum said in a speech at Thames House, MI5’s London headquarters.

Since a 2018 nerve agent attack in England targeting former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, MI5 has disrupted hostile power activity that might have resulted in an attempted killing, he said, though he declined to give details.

‘STATE THREATS’

MI5’s biggest job is still tackling terrorism – and McCallum warned of the dangers emanating from Syria and Afghanistan – but said there was an important need to refocus attention on the threats from state actors such as Russia, China and Iran.

“We are aiming to double the amount of MI5 resources going into state threats activity,” he said. “Our counter-terrorism business has been heavily dominant for the last two decades and the state threats work has unavoidably been squeezed.”

British spies say China and Russia have each sought to steal commercially sensitive data and intellectual property as well as to interfere in domestic politics and sow misinformation.

Beijing and Moscow say the West is gripped with a paranoia about plots. Both Russia and Chine deny they meddle abroad, seek to steal technology, carry out cyberattacks or sow discord.

U.S. prosecutors have charged four Iranians, alleged to be intelligence operatives for Tehran, with plotting to kidnap a New York journalist and human rights activist who was critical of Iran. read more

MI5 began as a counter-intelligence service in 1909, first focusing on the threat from Germany and then, after World War Two, focusing on the Cold War threat posed by the Soviet Union’s agents.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Costas Pitas, Michael Holden and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Pro-West party leads Moldova election, preliminary data shows

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  • West, Russia vie for influence in impoverished ex-Soviet state
  • Pro-Western president hopes to win majority to tackle graft
  • Accuses outgoing parliament of blocking economic reforms
  • Ex-president Dodon’s allies say pro-West camp threaten state

CHISINAU, July 11 (Reuters) – Pro-Western Moldovan President Maya Sandu’s PAS party was leading snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, data from the central election commission showed, on a platform of fighting corruption and carrying out reforms.

Sandu hopes to win a majority in the 101-seat chamber to implement reforms she says were blocked by allies of her pro-Russian predecessor, Igor Dodon.

After the counting 37.16% of ballots, PAS had 42.34% of the vote, while its main rival, Dodon’s Socialists and Communists bloc, had 33.86%, the data showed.

Preliminary results are likely to be announced on Monday.

The West and Russia vie for influence in the tiny ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million people, which is one of Europe’s poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favours closer ties with the European Union, defeated Dodon last year but was forced to share power with the parliament elected in 2019 and the government run by lawmakers aligned with Dodon.

In April, Sandu dissolved parliament, in which PAS had 15 lawmakers while Dodon’s Socialists had 37 and together with allies he controlled a majority of 54 deputies.

“I’ve voted for a new parliament with honest people who will allow us to get rid of those who have robbed Moldova all these years,” Sandu said after the vote.

“I urge citizens to vote and take another step towards cleaning Moldova of thieves and the corrupt,” said Sandu, who wants to overhaul the judicial system, increase salaries and amend the constitution to make it easier to punish graft.

Moldova, sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania, has been dogged by instability and corruption scandals in recent years, including the disappearance of $1 billion from the banking system.

Dodon, a regular guest in Moscow, has formed an electoral bloc with the communists who have accused Sandu of pursuing a pro-Western policy that would lead to the collapse of the state.

“It depends on our voice today who will rule Moldova tomorrow. I urge you to vote for professionals, patriots of Moldova, and not those who will put Moldova under external control,” Dodon said after the vote.

Writing by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Gareth Jones, William Mallard and Raissa Kasolowsky

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World

Lithuania says Belarus is flying in migrants, plans border barrier

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VILNIUS, July 7 (Reuters) – Lithuania on Wednesday accused Belarus of flying in migrants and said it would build a barrier on the border to prevent them crossing illegaly into its territory.

Belarus decided to allow migrants to cross into Lithuania in response to European Union sanctions imposed after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its territory and arrested a dissident blogger aboard.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said Belarus has been offering migrants flights to Minsk, citing evidence found on at least one migrant who had reached Lithuania.

“There are travel agencies, direct flights that connect Minsk with Baghdad for example, and there are agencies both in Belarus and other countries that operate and attract ‘tourists’ to Minsk,” Simonyte told Reuters.

She said the main airport from where people flew into Belarus was Baghdad, but she would not rule out people also flying in from Istanbul.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on May 26 that his country would no longer prevent migrants from crossing its western border into the EU.

Simonyte said Lithuania would take action to stop migrants crossing the border by increasing patrols and building a barrier.

“We will begin building an additional physical barrier, which divides Lithuania and Belarus, which would be a certain sign and a certain deterrent to organisers of the illegal migration flows,” she told a news conference.

She also said the country, a Schengen free travel area member, was considering imposing border controls with neighbouring EU countries to stop the migrants travelling from it towards Western EU countries.

Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Writing by Alan Charlish; Editing by Jon Boyle and Giles Elgood

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World

Iran begins process of making enriched uranium metal; U.S., E3 dismayed

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VIENNA/WASHINGTON, July 6 (Reuters) – Iran has begun the process ofproducing enriched uranium metal, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, a move that could help it develop a nuclear weapon and that three European powers said threatened talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iran’s steps, which were disclosed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and which Tehran said were aimed at developing fuel for a research reactor, also drew criticism from the United States, which called them an “unfortunate step backwards.”

U.S. and European officials made clear that Iran’s decision would complicate, and potentially torpedo, indirect U.S.-Iranian talks seeking to bring both nations back into compliance with the 2015 deal, which was abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The deal imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme to make it harder for Tehran to develop fissile material for nuclear weapons in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. After Trump withdrew, Iran began violating many of its restrictions.

Tehran has already produced a small amount of uranium metal this year that was not enriched. That is a breach of the deal, which bans all work on uranium metal since it can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. read more

“Today, Iran informed the Agency that UO2 (uranium oxide) enriched up to 20% U–235 would be shipped to the R&D laboratory at the Fuel Fabrication Plant in Esfahan, where it would be converted to UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) and then to uranium metal enriched to 20% U–235, before using it to manufacture the fuel,” an IAEA statement said.

A confidential IAEA report seen by Reuters said the agency had confirmed that Iran had taken the second of the four steps described, making clear it has begun the process.

Britain, France and Germany said on Tuesday they had “grave concern” about Iran’s decision, which violates the nuclear deal formally named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). read more

“Iran has no credible civilian need for uranium metal R&D and production, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon,” they said in a joint statement issued by Britain’s foreign ministry.

“With its latest steps, Iran is threatening a successful outcome to the Vienna talks despite the progress achieved in six rounds of negotiations,” they said, and urged Iran to return to the talks, which began in April and adjourned on June 20. No date has been set for a next round.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Washington was not setting a deadline for the talks but noted “that as time proceeds Iran’s nuclear advances will have a bearing on our view of returning to the JCPOA.”

Price said the United States found it “worrying” that Iran was continuing to violate the agreement “especially with experiments that have value for nuclear weapons research.

“It’s another unfortunate step backwards for Iran,” he said.

Reporting by Francois Murphy in Vienna and by Humeyra Pamuk and Arshad Mohammed in Washington;
Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Landay and Simon Lewis in Washington and by David Milliken in London;
Writing by Francois Murphy and Arshad Mohammed
Editing by David Goodman and Sonya Hepinstall

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Business

French champagne industry group fumes over new Russian champagne law

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PARIS/MOSCOW, July 5 (Reuters) – France’s champagne industry group on Monday blasted a new Russian law forcing foreign champagne producers to add a “sparkling wine” reference to their bottles and called for champagne exports to Russia to be halted.

The law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, requires all foreign producers of sparkling wine to describe their product as such on the label on the back of the bottle — though not on the front — while makers of Russian “shampanskoye” may continue to use that term alone.

The French champagne industry group called on its members to halt all shipments to Russia for the time being and said the name “champagne”, which refers to the region in France the drink comes from, had legal protection in 120 countries.

“The Champagne Committee deplores the fact that this legislation does not ensure that Russian consumers have clear and transparent information about the origins and characteristics of wine,” group co-presidents Maxime Toubart and Jean-Marie Barillere said in a statement.

French Trade Minister Franck Riester said he was tracking the new Russian law closely, in contact with the wine industry and France’s European partners.

“We will unfailingly support our producers and French excellence,” he said on Twitter.

Moet Hennessy, the LVMH-owned French maker of Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon champagnes, said on Sunday it would begin adding the designation “sparkling wine” to the back of bottles destined for Russia to comply with the law.

LVMH (LVMH.PA) shares were down around 0.2% on Monday afternoon, underperforming the Paris bourse, which was up 0.34%.

Shares in Russian sparkling wine maker Abrau-Durso (ABRD.MM) were up more than 3% after rising as much 7.77% in early trade.

Abrau-Durso president Pavel Titov told Radio France Internationale on Saturday his firm does not have sparkling wines that would be called “champagne” in its portfolio and said he hoped the issue would be resolved in favor of global norms and standards.

“It is very important to protect the Russian wines on our market. But the legislation must be reasonable and not contradict common sense … I have no doubts that the real champagne is made in the Champagne region of France,” he said.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Leigh Thomas in Paris and Alexander Marrow in Moscow;
Writing by Geert De Clercq
Editing by Alison Williams, Andrea Ricci and Catherine Evans

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Saudi Arabia pushes back on UAE opposition to OPEC+ deal

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DUBAI, July 4 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s energy minister pushed back on Sunday against opposition by fellow Gulf producer the United Arab Emirates to a proposed OPEC+ deal and called for “compromise and rationality” to secure agreement when the group reconvenes on Monday.

It was a rare public spat between allies whose national interests have increasingly diverged, spilling over into OPEC+ policy setting at a time consumers want more crude to aid a global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, voted on Friday to raise output by some 2 million barrels per day from August to December 2021 and to extend remaining cuts to the end of 2022, but UAE objections prevented agreement, sources had said. read more

“The extension is the basis and not a secondary issue,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television channel.

“You have to balance addressing the current market situation with maintaining the ability to react to future developments … if everyone wants to raise production then there has to be an extension,” he said, noting uncertainty about the course of the pandemic and output from Iran and Venezuela.

The UAE said on Sunday it backs an output increase from August but suggested deferring to another meeting the decision on extending the supply pact. It said baseline production references – the level from which any cuts are calculated – should be reviewed for any extension. read more

The standoff could delay plans to pump more oil through to the end of the year to cool oil prices.

“Big efforts were made over the past 14 months that provided fantastic results and it would be a shame not to maintain those achievements. … Some compromise and some rationality is what will save us,” the Saudi energy minister said.

“We are looking for a way to balance the interests of producer and consumer countries and for market stability in general, especially when shortages are expected due to the decrease in stockpiles,” he added.

Responding to oil demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, OPEC+ agreed last year to cut output by almost 10 million bpd from May 2020, with plans to phase out the curbs by the end of April 2022. Cuts now stand at about 5.8 million bpd.

OPEC+ sources said the UAE contended its baseline was originally set too low, but was ready to tolerate if the deal ended in April 2022. The UAE has ambitious production plans and has invested billions of dollars to boost capacity.

Prince Abdulaziz, who stressed Riyadh’s “sacrifice” in making voluntary cuts, said no country should use a single month as a baseline reference, adding there was a mechanism to file objections and that “selectivity is difficult”.

The regional alliance that saw Saudi Arabia and the UAE join forces to project power in the Middle East and beyond — coordinating use of financial clout and, in Yemen, military force — has loosened as national interests came to the fore.

Abu Dhabi extricated itself from the Yemen war in 2019, saddling Riyadh. Saudi Arabia this year took the lead to end a row with Qatar despite reluctance from its Arab allies.

The kingdom has also moved to challenge the UAE’s dominance as the region’s business and tourism hub as Riyadh vies for foreign capital to diversify its economy away from oil.

Reporting by Marwa Rashad in London, Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai and Alaa Swilam in Cairo; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Peter Cooney and Daniel Wallis

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