country:oman

Route du Rhum - #Femmes : Florence Arthaud déplore la frilosité des sponsors
▻http://www.lematin.ch/sports/depeches/route-rhum--femmes-florence-arthaud-deplore-frilosite-sponsors-entretien/story/16245349

Les sponsors sont toujours un peu frileux quand il s’agit de confier un gros bateau à une femme. J’étais un peu dégoûtée, lors de la dernière Route du Rhum (en 2010), quand ils ont rouvert la course aux grands voiliers. C’était le 20e anniversaire de ma victoire et j’avais l’intention d’y participer sur un immense trimaran, Oman (30 m de long, ndlr). Mais je n’ai pas réussi à avoir ce bateau, ils ont préféré le donner à un homme . Ça m’a définitivement dégoûtée et je me suis dit ’bon, j’arrête !’

#sexisme #sport #argent

Yemen Crisis Spells Trouble in Saudi Arabia’s Backyard - The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

▻http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/yemen-crisis-spells-trouble-in-saudi-arabias-backyard

Washington’s Gulf partners in the coalition against ISIS are increasingly distracted by the takeover of the Yemeni capital by pro-Iranian Houthi tribesmen.

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/images/sized/uploads/Images/Feature/ReutersPerpetual/YemenSanaaHouthiShiiteRebelsRTR478MB-198x132.jpg

On October 1, the interior ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, joined by the head of Saudi intelligence, held an “emergency” meeting in the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah to discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation in Yemen, where the government of President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi has lost control of the capital, Sana. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have been guiding an “initiative” to smooth political reform since the 2012 collapse of the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. An official statement afterward, apart from platitudes like the “necessity to restore all official headquarters and institutions,” included the ominous phrase that the GCC states will not idly tolerate “foreign interference,” an obvious reference to Iran.

#yémen #arabie_saoudite #golfe

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: The Resistance in Gaza is on quest for tangible victory | Al Akhbar English
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/sayyed-hassan-nasrallah-resistance-gaza-quest-tangible-victory

want to borrow the words of one of the leaders of the Palestinian Resistance that Gaza’s problem is that it is caught between a problem of confidence with Israel on one hand – a fundamental and substantial problem – and between two axes on the other, the Qatari-Turkish axis and the Egyptian-Saudi-Emirati axis. The reasons for this division are understandable and well-known, but unfortunately it is a sharp and jarring division at a time when this division should be overcome one way or another. We, for example, after consultations with the brothers in the Palestinian factions and the brothers in Iran, suggested to the Iranians to get in touch with the Turks, Qataris, Egyptians and Saudis even if it is through the United Arab Emirates or Oman. As far as the Resistance axis is concerned, we are not concerned with scoring points or using the Resistance movement in internal and regional considerations. There is a fundamental goal, and that is stopping the war on Gaza and lifting the siege. When there are clashes, the priority is for people to talk to each other. But in the midst of the events, the Egyptian position, for example, was difficult as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi personally. Even the Qatari position towards Egypt, through Al-Jazeera, was negative. If you want to help Gaza, then you should talk to Egypt. The Palestinians themselves say that any solution or compromise is not possible without Egypt. This requires the two competing axes to give priority to Gaza over all the other discussions and conflicts, which has still not happened in an appropriate manner.
–

Bahrain furious over exclusion from UK visa waiver - Culture & Society - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/bahrain-furious-over-exclusion-from-uk-visa-waiver-560982.html

Bahrain has said it will fight a UK decision not to include it in a list of Gulf states whose citizens no longer require a visitor’s visa, Gulf Daily News has reported.
The kingdom is furious passport holders from neighbouring states the UAE, Oman and Qatar no longer require a visa for a stay of up to six months, if they have completed an electronic visa waiver (EVW) form.
Bahraini diplomats and holders of “special passports”, such as judges and government officials, are eligible for the EVW but average citizens are not.
Shura Council chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh said it was “incomprehensible” that citizens of other GCC states were eligible for visa-free travel while Bahrainis were not.

According to figures compiled by the UK’s Office of National Statistics as part of its annual International Passenger Survey, Bahrain residents visited the UK an estimated 30,000 times last year spending £2,094 ($3510) per visit on average, GDN said.
Meanwhile, residents of Qatar visited 61,000 times spending £2,930 per visit on average and UAE residents visited 262,000 times spending £2,008 per visit.
About 18,000 visits by Omani residents were recorded, with an average spend per visit of £4,905.

#Land_grabbing – A new political strategy for Arab countries
▻http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23786-land-grabbing-a-new-political-strategy-for-arab-countries

Some governments of member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have adopted explicit policies to encourage their citizens to invest in food production overseas as part of their long-term national food security strategies.

Such policies cover a variety of instruments, including investment subsidies and guarantees, as well as the establishment of sovereign funds focusing exclusively on investments in agriculture overseas.

Countries falling victims of the land acquisition mania range from Western countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Romania to countries in Latin America, Asia or Africa.

Globally, the largest targeted countries are Brazil with 11 percent by land area; Sudan with 10 percent; Madagascar, the Philippines and Ethiopia with 8 percent each; Mozambique with 7 percent; and Indonesia with 6 percent, according to the World Bank.

“The main driving force seems to be biofuels expansion, with exceptions in Sudan and Ethiopia, which are seeing a trend towards growth of food from Middle Eastern and Indian investors,” Hussain points out.

#terres #alimentation #business #agrocarburants

Pan-Arab daily expects tough Saudi measures against Qatar over Gaza stance
Text of report by London-based Arabic e-newspaper Ra’y al-Yawm on 28 July

[Unattributed report: Saudi Arabia Is Preparing for Taking Escalatory Measures Against Qatar After the Id, and Prince Al-Faysal’s Attack on Doha and Accusing It of Antagonizing Egypt and Its Role in Supporting HAMAS and the War on Gaza Are a Prelude to an Imminent Conflagration."]

For the Gulf officials to exchange congratulations on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan and to call one another over the telephone on the occasion of the blessed Id al-Fitr, this is something that is within the framework of the norms and traditions that are usually followed, but for one of them to make a quick tour of the Gulf capitals 48 hours before the advent of Id al-Fitr, this is something unusual and indicates something that is highly important that cannot be delayed.

We are speaking here about the tour which Prince Muqrin Bin-Abd-al-Aziz, deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia and second deputy prime minister, has made to Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman and ended without visiting the State of Qatar, which is a Gulf country, something which means that this tour concerns it and the relations with it, and that the message which Prince Muqrin is carrying from the Saudi leaders deals with one of two main issues:

The First: Is that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and after the meeting which took place between Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin-Hamad Al Thani and the Saudi monarch King Abdallah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz in Jedda last Tuesday, has received guarantees and promises from its Gulf sister that stress the implementation of the Riyadh’s document signed last November and the articles in it that are related to the security and stability of the Gulf countries and not harming them, which subsequently means returning the ambassadors of three countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain) to Doha.

The second: Is that the Saudi leadership has reached a firm conviction that the State of Qatar has not fulfilled its promises to which it was committed towards the implementation of the Riyadh document, something that requires taking other measures against it, which are greater than the step of the withdrawal of ambassadors, such as closing the airspace or the suspension of Qatar’s membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The deadline of six months Saudi Arabia has given to the State of Qatar was due to end late in the month of Ramadan and by the end of Id-al-Fitr’s holiday, and perhaps this is the reason that made Prince Muqrin choose the timing of his Gulf tour carefully just two days before the Id.

Both possibilities are likely since the news that have been leaked about Prince Muqrin’s Gulf tour are very slight and the tour was carried out amid full secrecy, and all that has been said by the official news agencies was that “discussions dealt with the bilateral relations and the situation in the Gulf and the region.” However, it is clear that the second possibility, which is to take tougher measures against the State of Qatar, is probably the most likely one, and there are several indications in this respect:

First: Muqrin’s tour has excluded Doha, which indicates that Doha is targeted. Had the first possibility been likely, which is returning the ambassadors to it, it would not have been excluded, and every Gulf step from this or that side is intentional and indicates a message from this or that side, whether the way he was received, the team accompanying him, the identity of the prince who is receiving him at the airport and his job and hierarchical order in the family, or even the colour of cloak in some cases.

Second: The Saudi-Qatari relations are witnessing great tension these days against the backdrop of the disagreement between the two countries on the current regime in Egypt, the support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and the current war in Gaza. While the State of Qatar strongly supports HAMAS in this war and launches an initiative in parallel with the Egyptian initiative and makes great political and media efforts to stop the war, Saudi Arabia strongly supports the Egyptian initiative and accuses HAMAS of igniting this war with Qatari and Turkish support to implicate the ruling Egyptian regime and embarrass it on the Arab and international levels. An article by Prince Turki al-Faysal in the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on Saturday pointed out this fact when he “held HAMAS responsible for the repercussions of the massacres that are going on in Gaza as a result of its arrogance and the repetition of the past mistakes,” pointing out that “Qatar and Turkey are ! concerned with depriving Egypt of its leadership role more than preventing Israel from destroying Gaza.” He accused HAMAS and not Israel of being responsible for the war, which reminds of a similar Saudi charge to Hizballah during the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in 2006.

Third: The State of Qatar has not altered its supportive stand for the Muslim Brotherhood for even one millimeter, and continued its “unfriendly” stands towards the Egyptian regime. This has clearly been reflected in the coverage by Al-Jazeera of the developments of the situation in Egypt and the intensification of the charges of failure and betrayal by the Egyptian regime towards the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and of closing the Rafah crossing in face of the wounded and the relief teams even if such charges have been made by guests, experts, commentators, or Palestinian officials from HAMAS.

Fourth: The relations between Qatar and Iran, which are developing quickly, and the signing of defence agreements by the two countries, and the occurrence of a “change” in the Qatari stand towards the Syrian crisis, as well as the hegemony of the Saudi wing in the Syrian opposition and the Opposition Coalition in particular, and excluding those who are loyal to Qatar from the Political Body, the latest of whom is Prime Minister Ahmad Tu’mah during the leadership elections held in Istanbul one week ago.

Fifth: The gradual restoration of relations between the Lebanese Hizballah and the State of Qatar on a noteworthy pace. The observers have seriously noted that Al-Jazeera has broadcast the full speech which [Hizballah Secretary General] Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah delivered on Friday on the occasion of the International Jerusalem Day.

Therefore, we should expect surprise and important developments on the level of the Qatari relations with the Saudi, UAE, and Bahraini triangle by the end of Id al-Fitr holiday, which began in the Gulf states yesterday, and the only interpretation of Prince Muqrin’s tour, who has not made any similar tour since he was appointed in his post nearly one year ago, is that he wanted to inform all the Gulf leaders with whom he met of the details of the expected Saudi decisions.

It is clear that Saudi Arabia, and the same as has been said in the article of Prince Turki al-Faysal, has decided to launch a media war as a prelude to a political war against the State of Qatar, since Prince Al-Faysal cannot write an article that includes these serious charges to the State of Qatar without consulting on them with his leadership, and within the framework of a greater estrangement between the two countries that is going to happen.

Source: Ra’y al-Yawm, London, in Arabic 0000 gmt 28 Jul 14

BBC Mon ME1 MEEauprt 300714 mj

Le porte-avion que les Ricains expédient dans le Golfe « au cas où une intervention militaire serait nécessaire en Irak » se nomme donc « George H.W. Bush ». #fuck_yeah_chutzpah

Irak : la Défense américaine envoie un porte-avions dans le Golfe
▻http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2014/06/14/97001-20140614FILWWW00141-irak-la-defense-americaine-envoie-un-porte-avion-

Le porte-avions George H.W. Bush, qui se trouve actuellement dans le nord de la mer d’Oman, sera accompagné par le croiseur lance-missile Philippine Sea et le destroyer Truxtun, précise-t-il, ajoutant que le groupe aéro-naval arrivera à destination dans la journée.

Je visualise assez bien la scène à la Maison blanche :
– il s’appelle vraiment comme ça notre bateau ?
– oui
– on n’en a pas d’autre avec un nom moins, euh… ?
– non

https://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdwhzmefGC1r9i0fuo2_250.gif

REVEALED: GCHQ’s BEYOND TOP SECRET Middle Eastern INTERNET SPY BASE • The Register
▻http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/03/revealed_beyond_top_secret_british_intelligence_middleeast_internet_s

Above-top-secret details of Britain’s covert #surveillance programme - including the location of a clandestine British base tapping undersea #cables in the Middle East - have so far remained secret, despite being leaked by fugitive NSA sysadmin Edward Snowden. Government pressure has meant that some media organisations, despite being in possession of these facts, have declined to reveal them. Today, however, the Register publishes them in full.

The secret British spy base is part of a programme codenamed “CIRCUIT” and also referred to as Overseas Processing Centre 1 (OPC-1). It is located at Seeb, on the northern coast of Oman, where it taps in to various undersea cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Seeb is one of a three site #GCHQ network in Oman, at locations codenamed “TIMPANI”, “GUITAR” and “CLARINET”. TIMPANI, near the Strait of Hormuz, can monitor Iraqi communications. CLARINET, in the south of Oman, is strategically close to Yemen.

#Oman jails ex-minister for three years over #bribery
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/oman-jails-ex-minister-three-years-over-bribery

An Omani court has sentenced a former minister to three years in jail over graft charges, in a first for the Gulf sultanate which has vowed to combat #Corruption, newspapers reported Monday. They said ex-commerce minister Mohammed bin Nasser al-Khusaibi was found guilty of bribing another official to award a contract linked to a Muscat airport expansion project to a company in which he was a shareholder. The Muscat court on Sunday also slapped Khusaibi with a hefty 800,000-riyal ($2-million) fine, the Oman Daily Observer said. read more

GCC countries to set up Gulf police | GulfNews.com
▻http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/gcc-countries-to-set-up-gulf-police-1.1326744

Manama: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) interior ministers on Wednesday endorsed a recommendation to set up a Gulf police (GCCPOL).
The ministers also agreed at their meeting in Kuwait, the chair of the current GCC session, to set up a permanent GCC bureau at the United Nations in the Austrian capital Vienna led by Oman, Bahraini and Kuwaiti media reported.
The GCCPOL will be headquartered in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, the ministers agreed.

ميدل ايست أونلاين :.الاتفاق في حمص.. والتفاهمات السرية في الرياض وطهران :.
▻http://www.middle-east-online.com/?id=176361

الاتفاق في حمص.. والتفاهمات السرية في الرياض وطهران

Article bien dans l’air du temps, sur un site qui n’a pas trop l’habitude de jouer sur cette corde-là.

En gros, des sources saoudiennes (c’est ça qui est important) parlent de marchandages très avancés entre l’Iran et l’Arabie saoudite, avec Oman comme intermédiaire, comme en témoigne l’accord de Homs en Syrie. On parle notamment du prochain gouvernement irakien. Les Saoudiens voudraient bien aussi obtenir des garanties sur le Yémen et sur la non-intervention des Gardiens de la révolution avec les Houtistes. De son côté, Téhéran souhaite un deal régional, comportant aussi la Syrie et le Liban. Il reste que l’iran, précise l’article, entretient des relations excellentes, en plus d’Oman, avec les Emirats et le Koweït...

Oman extends curbs on expat workers

▻http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?id=695570&news_type=Top&lang=en

Khaleej Times - 16 April, 2014

Hiring of expatriates by private companies in those two sectors will be banned for six months from May 4, the official Oman News Agency quoted minister.

Oman said it would extend curbs on the hiring of foreign workers in construction and housekeeping as part of efforts to save more jobs for local citizens and limit outflows of money from the economy.

News Story | Exclusive Iran And India Finalize Railroad Deal | Monitor Global Outlook

▻http://monitorglobaloutlook.com/news-story/exclusive-iran-and-india-finalize-railroad-deal

Iran and India will build a railway connecting Afghanistan to the Gulf of Oman, a senior Iranian economic official tells Monitor Global Outlook.

▻http://monitorglobaloutlook.com/wp-content/uploads/IRAN-PORT.jpg

Iran and India have finalized plans to build a railway connecting Afghanistan’s mineral-rich Bamyan province to Iran’s southern Free Trade Industrial Zone and Port of Chabahar, a senior Iranian economic official tells Monitor Global Outlook.

The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the managing director of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR) and his counterpart in India in March, is part of a joint plan to expand the Chabahar port’s loading capacity. It will offer India a gateway to trade in Afghanistan and Central Asian markets that avoids Pakistani territory. For Iran, the railways would be a new means to transport its steel for both domestic consumption and eventual export.

#iran #afghanistan #transport #train #transport_ferroviaire

ازمة صامتة بين السعودية والجزائر وسلطنة عمان بسبب برنامج تلفزيوني سعودي كفّر الطائفة الاباضية واستباح اعراض نسائها وحلل قتل ابنائها
▻http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=66320

Ghardaïa, un bon exemple de la méthode saoudienne pour « salafiser » un conflit. Jouant des griefs économiques, lesquels se greffent sur des antagonismes ethnico-culturels (tout cela très bien expliqué ici ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/239620), l’Arabie soudite allume l’étincelle confessionnelle en (re)diffusant sur la chaîne religieuses Iqra’ (propriété du prétendument libéral Walid Ibn Talal) un documentaire expliquant que l’ibadisme (l’école doctrinale adoptée depuis des siècles par les commerçants berbères de Ghardaïa, également présente en Oman) est une horreur religieuse tout juste bonne à être persécutée.

Résultat : émeutes et six morts. Les autorités algériennes protestent contre les « frères saoudiens »...

Accord entre Oman et l’Iran pour construire un gazoduc sous-marin - L’Orient-Le Jour
▻http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/858487/accord-entre-oman-et-liran-pour-construire-un-gazoduc-sous-marin-.htm

Oman a signé mercredi un accord initial avec l’Iran pour construire un gazoduc sous-marin d’un milliard de dollars pour importer du gaz de la République islamique, a annoncé le ministre omanais du Pétrole et du Gaz.

L’accord a été conclu au premier jour d’une visite à Oman du président iranien Hassan Rohani, visant à développer les liens entre Téhéran et son allié du Golfe, et apaiser les tensions avec les autres pays arabes de cette région.

Cet accord fait suite à un mémorandum d’accord signé en 2009 pour construire un gazoduc sous-marin long de 200 km.

« Nous avons signé un accord initial pour construire un pipeline sous-marin sous le Golfe d’Oman pour transporter du gaz de l’Iran à Oman », a indiqué Mohammad Ben Hamad Ben Saïf Al-Romhi.

Le projet devrait être achevé d’ici la fin 2017 et coûtera environ un milliard de dollars (721 millions d’euros), a-t-il précisé.

Wealthy Omanis face losing fuel subsidy - Industries - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/wealthy-omanis-face-losing-fuel-subsidy-541261.html

Oman’s fuel subsidy could be reduced or cut altogether for high-income earners under a recommendation by a government committee set up to look at the sultanate’s costly energy subsidies, it was reported.
The government has been under pressure to scrap its subsidy for petroleum products, particularly petrol and diesel, which is expected to reach OMR860m ($2.23bn) in the 2014 budget, up from OMR740m ($1.92bn).
The figure constitutes 53 percent of the government’s total subsidy and participation budget of OMR1.61bn ($4.18bn), the Times of Oman newspaper reported.

#INFOGRAPHIE • Les grandes espérances | Courrier international
▻http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2014/03/03/les-grandes-esperances

http://www.courrierinternational.com/files/imagecache/article/2014/hebdos/1217/1217-infographie-A.jpg

MARCELO DUHALDE. Ce graphiste chilien collabore notamment au Times of Oman. Dans cette infographie publiée le 27 décembre 2013, il compare les #espérances_de_vie des différents pays en 2013. Malgré la disparité observée, entre le début du XXe siècle et aujourd’hui, notre longévité a plus que doublé. Grâce à l’utilisation des #antibiotiques, qui a fait gagner dix ans à l’humanité. Et à l’#antiseptie, qui a diminué drastiquement la #mortalité maternelle et infantile.

Oman and Iran : Peace dividends | The Economist

▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2014/03/oman-and-iran?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/peace_dividends

BUSINESSMEN say that investor interest in Oman has jumped since the tiny Gulf state in 2013 hosted clandestine talks between America and Iran that led to the interim deal on the latter’s nuclear programme. Trade between the two countries reached $600m in 2013; up threefold from 2010. If sanctions on Iran are fully lifted, Oman will benefit further.

The tiny country of 3.3m has acted as a go-between for America and Iran since the Iranian revolution in 1979 that split the two former allies. As a Gulf friend of America, but also a maritime neighbour of Iran, which lies just 39km across the Strait of Hormuz, Oman didn’t have the luxury of picking sides. As Iran was isolated by sanctions, Oman’s rulers maintained that Iran had a role as a regional power.

In 2009, an opportunity arose for Oman to bring the two sides together. When three American hikers were arrested in Iran, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos sent an envoy to broker their release, footing the $1m bill for bail. Later, he offered up his villas in Muscat for talks. Despite one of them being in the fancy Qurum area where the elite live, the meetings remained secret.

Oman’s role has gone down well at home. Locals are proud, helping to subdue discontent that has simmered since 2011 when small protests erupted in several cities. The sectarian tone of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Bahrain has spooked many Omanis, over half of whom are Ibadis, an offshoot of Islam that is neither Sunni nor Shia. Bringing Iran back into the international fold, they argue, could limit Tehran’s urge to seek asymmetric influence through conflict and deflate some of the anti-Iranian rhetoric from arch-rival Saudi Arabia.

Perhaps as importantly, over hundreds of years as a trading nation, the Omanis have learned that peace is good for business. The United Arab Emirates has long hosted an Iranian community and informal trade. But while some small business and oil smuggling goes on in Oman’s north, the country is starting from almost scratch.

Week In Photos (22 February- 28 February)
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/photoblogs/week-photos-22-february-28-february

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/6cols/photoblogs/297962-01-09.jpg

A performer floats through the sky as she takes part in the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014. (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev-AFP) A performer floats through the sky as she takes part in the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 23, 2014. (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev-AFP) Cyclists ride their bikes during the sixth and last stage of the cycling Tour of Oman between al-Sifa and Matrah Corniche, on February 23, 2014, in the Omani capital Muscat. (Photo: Mohammed al-Shaikh-AFP) Cyclists ride their bikes during the sixth and last stage of the cycling Tour of Oman between al-Sifa and Matrah Corniche, on February (...)

Battlefield 4 Second Assault, Mantle, DX11, GTX 780Ti et R9 290X, pas plus pas moins !
▻http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/actus/jeux-video/24197-battlefield-4-second-assault-mantle-dx11-gtx-780ti-et-r9-29

http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/images/stories/_jeux_videos/bf4_second_assault_mantle_pcgh_t.jpg

Second Assault de Battlefield 4 est un DLC qui reprend 4 maps incontournables de Battlefield 3. Il y a Opération Métro, le Golfe d’Oman, la Frontière Caspienne et enfin Tempête de Feu... [Tout lire]

#Jeux_vidéo

http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/images/stories/_jeux_videos/bf4_second_assault_mantle_pcgh_t.jpg

Différences graphiques entre Battlefield 3 et Battlefield 4 sur les mêmes maps
▻http://www.comptoir-hardware.com/actus/jeux-video/24185-differences-graphiques-entre-battlefield-3-et-battlefield-4

Le DLC Second Assault de Battlefield 4 vient de sortir cette semaine, et les anciens de Battlefield 3 devraient y passer pour une raison simple : ce DLC comporte 4 maps incontournables de BF3. Les élues sont Opération Métro, Caspain Border, Oman Gulf et Opération Tempête de Feu... [Tout lire]

#Jeux_vidéo

Fronde d’Oman contre l’Arabie saoudite
▻http://orientxxi.info/magazine/fronde-d-oman-contre-l-arabie,0494

En rupture avec la discrétion feutrée qui caractérise les relations entre les pays « frères » du Golfe, Oman a jeté un pavé dans la mare en s’opposant publiquement et catégoriquement à la vision saoudienne d’un resserrement des liens entre pétromonarchies pour faire front à l’Iran. (...) Source : Orient XXI

Christopher Davidson | The Coming Collapse of the Persian Gulf |
Foreign Affairs

▻http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140096/christopher-davidson/the-arab-sunset?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-the_arab_sunset-122813

Since their modern formation in the mid-twentieth century, Saudi Arabia and the five smaller Gulf monarchies — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — have been governed by highly autocratic and seemingly anachronistic regimes. Nevertheless, their rulers have demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of bloody conflicts on their doorsteps, fast-growing populations at home, and modernizing forces from abroad.

One of the monarchies’ most visible survival strategies has been to strengthen security ties with Western powers, in part by allowing the United States, France, and Britain to build massive bases on their soil and by spending lavishly on Western arms. In turn, this expensive militarization has aided a new generation of rulers that appears more prone than ever to antagonizing Iran and even other Gulf states. In some cases, grievances among them have grown strong enough to cause diplomatic crises, incite violence, or prompt one monarchy to interfere in the domestic politics of another.

It would thus be a mistake to think that the Gulf monarchies are somehow invincible. Notwithstanding existing internal threats, these regimes are also facing mounting external ones — from Western governments, from Iran, and each other. And these are only exacerbating their longstanding conflicts and inherent contradictions.

Gulf union: Oasis dream or desert mirage? - Al Arabiya News
▻http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2013/12/13/Gulf-union-Oasis-dream-or-desert-mirage-.html

The 34th Gulf Cooperation Council summit ended with leaders applauding Iran’s “new direction,” while sidestepping the divisive issue of Gulf union by saying talks are “continuing,” despite Oman’s public rejection of such a proposal.

The promised formation of a unified military command structure was one of the key outcomes of the summit, with the communique also voicing concern over Iran’s plans to build more nuclear power plants on the Gulf, saying these “threaten the environmental system and water security.”

Pending details, one of the positive outcomes is the endorsement of a number of unified rules regarding the integration of financial markets of the member states, which could lead to deeper and more liquid capital markets.

Where is the GCC heading?

The Arab Spring highlighted relative stability in the GCC nations. However, they have not been immune to the firestorm, with its immediate political and security challenges.

The council continues to grapple with multiple and growing challenges, including high youth unemployment, limited economic diversification, fiscal sustainability threatened by bloated government spending, oil revenue dependence and price volatility.

All this amid continuing reverberations from the financial crisis, which underlined the region’s over-dependence on Western markets and vulnerability to spill-over and contagion effects.

In the immediate future, there will be more challenges from the Arab Spring, as well as Iran’s growing regional and global footprint, and consequently its impact on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ future and decision-making. In principle, these challenges should lead the GCC to seek deeper modes of cooperation.

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The union issue is on the agenda of the GCC summit to be held on Tuesday in Kuwait.
“We are against a union,” Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.[...]

“We will not prevent a union, but if it happens we will not be part of it,” Alawi told AFP on the sidelines of the gathering.