Despite months of embarrassment for Egypt over a series of alleged leaks of sensitive remarks including about Gulf allies, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appears to have avoided a major diplomatic furore.

The tapes, aired by Islamist television channels, purportedly revealed conversations which followed the military's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 when Sisi was army chief.

The United Arab Emirates said Saturday its warplanes had carried out raids against oil installations held by the Islamic State group, which controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

The state news agency WAM did not say where the raids struck, only that UAE fighter jets took off overnight Friday from their base in Jordan, another partner in the U.S.-led coalition against the jihadists.

Three top U.S. airlines groups accused Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Thursday of lavishing $42 billion in subsidies on their airlines to wrest business from competitors.

The U.S. carriers together with workers' groups issued a 55 page report detailing how "unfair" subsidies given to Gulf rivals Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Emirates have allowed them to wrest market share from the U.S. industry.

This small Gulf nation, known for its soaring skyscrapers and mercantile bent, is making itself into the most stalwart ally of the Arab world's biggest country.

The United Arab Emirates has pumped billions of dollars into Egypt and is lining up investors to try to stabilize its damaged economy, while building military cooperation. In their deepening relationship, an economically exhausted Egypt benefits from the UAE's finances, and the U.S.-allied Emirates gets a heavyweight with extensive manpower on its side in a region deeply unstable with threats of militant violence and Iranian expansion.

The United Arab Emirates reportedly stalled in granting Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan a visa to enter the country to take part in an exhibition.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday, the minister wasn't granted the visa until the exhibition – Gulfood (the World's biggest annual food and hospitality show) opened its doors.

International human rights groups urged the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to release dozens of activists jailed for plotting to overthrow the government, denouncing their trial as "grossly unfair."

The call came on the second anniversary of the start of a mass trial that concluded in July 2013 with the sentencing of 69 activists to up to 15 years each in jail.

The Arab League will consider setting up a defense unit to battle the spread of the Islamic State group at its annual summit later this month, an official said Tuesday.

Deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters that the March 28-29 meeting in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will discuss an Egyptian initiative to create a "unified Arab force".

Three British men are being detained in the United Arab Emirates on national security grounds after being arrested while plane spotting, their relatives said Tuesday.

Valerie Clitheroe said her husband Conrad, 53, and his friend Gary Cooper, 45, are being held with their former work colleague, Neil Munro, who lives and works in the UAE.

A solar-powered plane made a third successful test flight in the United Arab Emirates on Monday ahead of a planned round-the-world tour to promote alternative energy.

Organizers hope that Solar Impulse 2 may head off around the globe as early as Saturday but caution that the launch is dependent on the weather, even in the relatively cloudless Gulf.

An Emirati woman has been referred to court on charges of murdering one American in an Abu Dhabi mall and attempting to kill another at his home, officials said Sunday.

Alaa Bader Abdullah is accused of stabbing to death teacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, in a shopping mall restroom and attempting to murder another American, a doctor of Egyptian origin, by planting a bomb outside his apartment.