Free Republic

A month before President Trump’s inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the “spy sheikh,” and attending a cryptocurrency conference. Less than five months later, Witkoff’s son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh’s company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders—and...

<p>My election has taken place during the year of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. That Council represents a milestone in the formulation of the Creed shared by all Churches and Ecclesial Communities. While we are on the journey to re-establishing full communion among all Christians, we recognise that this unity can only be unity in faith. As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.</p>

President Trump shed his shoes Monday to take in the splendor of the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates — a rare visit by a sitting American chief executive to an overseas Muslim house of worship. “It’s so beautiful,” Trump, clad in stocking feet as a mark of respect, told reporters inside the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. “This is an incredible culture.” Trump, 78, was joined at the ornate white marble edifice by Abu Dhabi’s crown prince Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan, who recently signed a deal with Disney to develop a theme park on nearby Yas Island. The...

Disney, which infamously sparred with Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., over what the company claimed was a "Don’t Say Gay" bill, now plans to build a new theme park in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Middle Eastern country that criminalizes homosexuality. The entertainment company announced on Wednesday that it will open its seventh park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE. "This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and...

The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday announced plans to add another theme park to its Experiences portfolio — its seventh in total. The new resort is being planned for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, on Yas Island. The island, which has an area of about 10 square miles, is already home to several theme parks, including Ferrari World and Warner Bros. World. “This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and creativity,” Bob...

The body of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi who went missing last week, has been found, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed Sunday morning. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates announced this morning (Sunday) that a body had been found in the country and that the identity of the deceased was in the process of being verified. The Prime Minister's Office and Foreign Ministry stated, "The UAE intelligence and security authorities have located the body of Zvi Kogan, who has been missing since Thursday, 21 November 2024. The Israeli mission in Abu Dhabi has been in contact...

Indonesia seize luxury yacht Equanimity sought in 1MDB probe: Police JAKARTA (REUTERS) - Indonesia on Wednesday (Feb 28) seized a luxury yacht on the island of Bali sought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of a multi-billion dollar corruption investigation linked to Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). “We have been inspecting the crew since yesterday and now we are taking action since we have received approval from the court to seize the boat,” Agung Setya, director of economic and special crimes at the Indonesia’s criminal investigation bureau, told Metro TV. Television footage in Indonesia...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Thursday announced the completion of the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant, calling it a “significant step”. Abu Dhabi’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant will produce 40 terawatt-hours of electricity annually after its fourth and final reactor has entered commercial operation, the state-owned Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) said in a statement. It will generate 25 percent of the electricity needs of the hot, desert Gulf state, where air-conditioning is ubiquitous — nearly the equivalent of New Zealand’s annual consumption, ENEC said.

Facial recognition technology will soon be enabled at every security checkpoint inside Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport ... The Smart Travel project, currently being implemented inside the futuristic flight hub serving the capital of the wealthy United Arab Emirates, will replace the traditional screening process — and the whipping out of travel documents, like a passport or ID card. ... The capability will reportedly also be implemented at duty-free shops, lounges and boarding gates as well. The goal is to have the biometric concept — which has courted controversy in the United States — fully running in 2025 at nine...

Failed CNN boss Jeff Zucker still wants to stay in the media game. To that end he is leading an offer to buy the bankrupt British publishing group behind the Daily Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine. The New York Post reports Zucker, the chief executive of Abu Dhabi-backed investment group RedBird IMI, is ready to pitch $750 million to the Barclay family that would allow them to repay their nearly $1.4 billion debt to Lloyds Banking Group. RedBird, a venture capital firm that has $1 billion in capital, would then have an option to convert the loan secured against the...

Prized falcon sells for Dh600,000 on final day of Adihex Bidders from across region flock to Abu Dhabi during week-long celebration of Emirati culture and tradition A falcon worth Dh600,000 is auctioned off at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition at Adnec, Abu Dhabi on Friday. Ruel Pableo for The National A falcon worth Dh600,000 is auctioned off at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition at Adnec, Abu Dhabi on Friday. Ruel Pableo for The National A prized falcon fetched Dh600,000 ($163,380) at an auction held on the final day of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting...

House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer issued a subpoena on Wednesday requiring the FBI to turn over an unclassified record that reportedly details allegations of a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.The subpoena comes after Republican Senator Chuck Grassley’s office was made aware of the FBI-generated whistleblower form. The FD-1023 form allegedly outlines a scheme involving the exchange of money for policy decisions.“It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose,” Grassley and Comer wrote in a letter to FBI...

Evidence of potential construction of a Chinese military site has been observed by American spy services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Washington Post obtained top-secret intelligence that the construction activity had been identified around Abu Dhabi in December 2022. Those documents were leaked by National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on a Discord server, who faces 15 years in prison. The activity in question occurred around a year after the UAE, a US ally, had announced that they would stop the construction after US officials suggested that the area would end up being used by Beijing for military purposes, per...

“He told me that he, or he and a group, were going to make a significant contribution to the Democratic Party. … I said 'wow, that’s a lot of money.’” Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio took the stand in a federal trial on Monday that seeks to hammer down the details of what appears to be a money-funneling scheme that features a Malaysian financier funneling tens of millions of dollars through a prominent 90s rap artist for the purpose of donating to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. DiCaprio plays into the saga because he was said to have partied...

Vice President Harris will lead a presidential delegation to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, following the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday, the White House announced. Harris will travel to the UAE to “offer condolences on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration and the American people on the passing of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” Harris’s press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement.

Al Arabiya English Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to become the Prime Minister of Israel for the third time. He has until December 21 to form a government before taking office. In a wide-ranging interview with a group of print and television journalists at Al Arabiya, Mr. Netanyahu discussed Israel’s relations with Arab states, the US alliance structure in the Middle East, unrest in Iran, Israel’s new hard-right government, the future of the US-brokered maritime border agreement with Lebanon, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Mr. Netanyahu reiterated the paramount importance of normalization with Saudi Arabia, which would be a “quantum leap” toward...

The Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi is nearly complete and mere weeks away from opening its doors to Chrislam and the One World Religion The world now accepts the idea of a Roman Catholic peace covenant brokered between a pope and an imam, and within this covenant a room is reserved for the Jews. Like all movements of man, it has a palatial headquarters, known as the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, which is now just week away from being completed. It is considered one of the marvels of our age, alongside of the Abraham Accords. The stage...

There Is Only One Abrahamic FaithThere is only Abrahamic Faith, and that is Christianity—which is Catholicism. Remember that the Jews who reject Christ do claim, “Abraham is our father.” (John 8:39.) But Jesus immediately denies this assertion by saying: If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill Me, a Man Who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did…You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s...

Pope Francis says Abu Dhabi document ‘came from God’ and you ‘can’t understand it otherwise’'It was something that came from God,' Francis said. 'You can't understand it otherwise, because none of us had this in mind.'“I have been thinking a lot these days – and we talked about it with the Grand Imam – about how the idea of the Abu Dhabi Document came about,” Francis said. The Pope went on to explain how the idea of the Abu Dhabi document was born during a lunch with the Grand Imam where they broke bread and gave it to each other...

WASHINGTON —The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday denied U.S. landing rights for a charter plane carrying more than 100 Americans and U.S. green card holders evacuated from Afghanistan, organizers of the flight said. "They will not allow a charter on an international flight into a U.S. port of entry," Bryan Stern, a founder of non-profit group Project Dynamo, said of the department's Customs and Border Protection agency. Stern spoke to Reuters from aboard a plane his group chartered from Kam Air, a private Afghan airline, that he said had been sitting for 14 hours at Abu Dhabi airport after...