For years, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia projected geopolitical and economic power across the Gulf and beyond, seemingly in tandem.
But a growing rivalry and struggle for influence has come to a head -- most recently in Yemen -- following years of divergence over a tangle of competing interests that reach from regional waterways to the corridors of power in Washington, analysts say.
DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Air traffic at Yemen's Aden international airport was halted on Thursday as tensions persisted between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two Gulf powers whose rivalry is reshaping war-torn Yemen.
The Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government ordered new restrictions on flights to and from the UAE, aiming to curb escalating tensions in Yemen, a Saudi source told Reuters.
Protesters and security forces clashed in several Iranian cities on Thursday, with six reported killed, the first deaths since the cost-of-living demonstrations broke out.
The protests began on Sunday in Tehran, where shopkeepers went on strike over high prices and economic stagnation, and have since spread to other parts of the country.
On Thursday, Iran's Fars news agency reported two people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters in the city of Lordegan, in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and three in Azna, in neighbouring Lorestan province.
By Elwely Elwelly
DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Several people were killed during unrest in Iran on Thursday, an Iranian news agency and a rights group reported, as the biggest protests to hit the country for three years over soaring inflation sparked violence in several provinces.
The semi-official Fars news agency cited a "source with knowledge" as saying several people were killed in clashes on Thursday morning between police and what it said were armed protesters in Lordegan in western Iran.
Separatists from Yemen's Southern Transitional Council said on Thursday that Saudi-aligned government forces would enter territories seized by the UAE-backed group, in a step that appeared unlikely to satisfy Riyadh after it repeatedly demanded their full withdrawal.
A surprise offensive by the STC, in which the separatists took control of resource-rich Hadramawt and Mahra provinces last month, has brought the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, officially allies in Yemen, to a point of unprecedented tension.
Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.
Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Israel on Thursday said 37 humanitarian agencies supplying aid in Gaza had not met a deadline to meet "security and transparency standards", and would be banned from the territory, despite an international outcry.
The international NGOs, which had been ordered to disclose detailed information on their Palestinian staff, will now be required to cease operations by March 1.
The United Nations has warned that this will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a glittering New Year's Eve party at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, according to social media.
Netanyahu, who arrived at the US president's Palm Beach residence on Monday, was spotted alongside tuxedo-clad Trump Wednesday night in a social media post from conservative influencer Michael Solakiewicz.
Trump had joked that the Israeli leader could attend the party during meetings Monday to discuss the fragile Gaza ceasefire and other regional geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.
By Jasper Ward
Dec 31 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday a move by Israel to ban electricity or water to facilities owned by the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, a U.N. spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the move would "further impede" the agency's ability to operate and carry out activities.
Dec 31 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday that recent developments in the Yemeni provinces of Hadramout and Al Mahra threaten to bring new risks to the Gulf region.
"The EU calls for de-escalation and avoiding steps that further threaten stability of Yemen and the region," an EU spokesperson said in a statement.
"The EU reiterates its strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen, as well as its support for the Presidential Leadership Council and the Government of Yemen," the spokesperson added.
