Israeli leader is first to visit gulf country
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli leader to make an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, after flying to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, the de facto Emirati leader.
The visit is the latest sign of deepening ties between Israel and parts of the Arab world, a process that accelerated in 2020 when Israel began to sign diplomatic pacts with four countries — which were brokered by President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett’s predecessor as prime minister — that had previously avoided formal relations with Israel because of its conflict with the Palestinians.
Bennett is to meet with Mohamed on Monday. He said his visit highlighted how relations between Israel and the Emirates were “excellent and extensive.” He added: “We must continue to foster and strengthen them, and build the warm peace between the two peoples.”
Mohamed’s invitation to Bennett underscored the shifting priorities of gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates, for whom the threat of a nuclear Iran is now of far greater concern than an immediate resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Once a regional backwater, the Emirates has in recent decades used its oil revenues to become a major force in the Middle East, funding and providing military support to allies in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere.
For decades, only Egypt and Jordan had formal relations with Israel, with most Arab leaders preferring to delay a detente until the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Rains produce deadly flooding
Swollen rivers burst their banks in north and northeastern Spain, with the flooding blamed Sunday for the death of at least one person.
Emergency services said they retrieved the body of a 61-year-old man from inside his submerged van in the Navarra region. The man was reported missing Friday and his vehicle was spotted the following day, but the fastflowing river made a rescue operation impossible, officials said.
The combination of a heavy, days-long storm and thawing snow brought a surge in the River Ebro and its tributaries, Spanish meteorological services said.
The Ebro’s flow rate doubled from Friday to Sunday and surpassed
the rate that in 2015 caused widespread flooding in the region, authorities said. The flooding swamped numerous roads and streets, notably in the medieval city of Tudela in the Ebro Valley about 155 miles north of Madrid.
Avalanche hits skiers, kills 1
An avalanche swept through part of a Washington state ski resort used to access backcountry skiing, killing a 60-year-old man and temporarily trapping five others.
The avalanche struck Saturday in the Silver Basin area of Crystal Mountain, which is located about 85 miles southeast of Seattle, said Pierce County Sheriff ’s Department Sgt. Darren
Moss.
The victim wasn’t breathing after being pulled from the snow and didn’t revive despite CPR efforts by another skier. The other skiers in the group rescued themselves with the help of two witnesses who saw them get swept up by the snow. All were wearing avalanche beacons.
While all of those caught in the avalanche were experienced backcountry skiers, a warning had been issued against skiing in the area, which was just inside the boundaries of Crystal Mountain Resort.
In addition to shutting the area where the slide occurred, the resort earlier in the day closed a gondola because of winds reaching 100 mph. The avalanche came amid the season’s first major snowfall. The area
was under a winter storm warning until Sunday, with the National Weather Service saying up to 15 inches of snow is possible for areas above 2,000 feet.
Park to require timed tickets
A Utah national park famed for its otherworldly sandstone arches will require visitors to get timed entry tickets during its high season next year, the second Utah park to implement such a system as visitation swells.
Arches National Park officials say they’re not trying to decrease the number of visitors during the six-month period, but rather spread them out over the course of the day. The move came a week after Zion National
Park said it would require reservations to hike the famed cliffside Angels Landing trail.
At Arches, visitation skyrocketed 66% over the last decade, and is on track to break another record this year with nearly 1.7 million visitors as of the end of October, said park spokesperson Kait Thomas. At times, Arches has gotten so crowded officials have had to close the gates for hours to delay entry.
The system will be in place between April and October next year, and tickets are only required from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. People can enter without a ticket outside those hours and months.
Reservations can be booked on a first-come, first-served basis on the website recreation.gov starting Jan. 3.