April 28 (Reuters) - A superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov was able to transit the blockaded Strait of Hormuz after undergoing maintenance in Dubai because neither Iran nor the United States objected, a source close to Mordashov said on Tuesday.

It has been unclear how the multi-deck pleasure vessel, worth over $500 million, gained permission to sail on Saturday through the commercially important waterway at the heart of the U.S.-Iran conflict, where traffic has been severely restricted since February.

By Yousef Saba

April 28 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has pursued an assertive foreign policy and carved its own sphere of influence across the Middle East and Africa, a strategy in the spotlight after it withdrew from OPEC and OPEC+ on Tuesday.

The grouping of oil exporters has traditionally served as an important forum for Gulf monarchies.

Below are key facts about the UAE’s foreign policy strategy and its role in specific countries.

WHAT IS THE UAE'S STRATEGY?

CAIRO/GAZA, April 28 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes killed three Palestinians, including a 9-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said.

Medics said an Israeli drone killed the child, Adel Al‑Najjar, in eastern Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, while an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in Gaza City, killing two people and wounding several others.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either incident.

At Nasser Hospital’s morgue, relatives arrived to bid farewell to the small, white‑shrouded body of Najjar.

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain on Tuesday sought to uphold a ban on pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, which it has designated a terrorist organisation, after a court ruling that the move unlawfully interfered with freedom of expression.

Palestine Action, which had increasingly targeted Israel‑linked defence companies in Britain with a particular focus on Israel's largest defence firm Elbit Systems, was proscribed under terrorism laws last year.

DUBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it quit OPEC and OPEC+, dealing a heavy blow to the oil exporting groups and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, at a time when the Iran war has caused a historic energy shock and unsettled the global economy.

The stunning loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the group, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - British police said on Tuesday they were investigating a suspected arson attack at a memorial wall in a north London area which is home to a large Jewish community, amid a recent spate of incidents in the British capital.

London's Metropolitan Police said the investigation was being led by Counter Terror Policing, though it was not being treated as a terrorist incident.

They said that no arrests have been made and that the memorial wall was not damaged.

Oil prices jumped on Tuesday to their highest level since the US-Iran ceasefire, pressuring US stocks as lack of progress on an accord to reopen the Strait of Hormuz added to inflation worries.

Meanwhile, tech stocks took a hit and investors turned their attention to corporate earnings and the outlook for interest rates.

Efforts to end the Middle East war appeared at a standstill on Tuesday, with the United States considering Tehran's latest offer to unblock the strait, and Iran saying Washington could no longer dictate terms.

April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will host an exceptional meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became a front in the Iran war two months ago.

A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on February 28.

DUBAI, April 28 (Reuters) - Iran's top security body has approved a temporary scheme for businesses to access the global internet with fewer restrictions, a government spokesperson told Iranian media on Tuesday, after the authorities had imposed a blackout since the start of the war against the U.S. and Israel.

Most Iranians have been unable to access the worldwide web for the last 60 days according to the internet observatory NetBlocks, with only a few citizens having access to expensive and advanced VPNs that circumvent the restrictions.

By Raghed Waked and Zohra Bensemra

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - It has been nearly two months, but Rabih Khreiss still has trouble recognising his new life.

The father-of-nine could once put food on the table through his car workshop in southern Lebanon, but is now barely surviving in a tent in the capital Beirut.

Like so many others, the Khreiss family fled their southern hometown of Khiyam in the early hours of March 2, moments after learning that the Hezbollah armed group had fired into Israel in what would become the opening salvos of a new war.