Algeria closes its airspace to UAE aircrafts after cutting diplomatic ties

BREAKING: Algeria cuts diplomatic ties with the UAE and closes its airspace to Emirati civilian and military aircraft, citing 'provocative and hostile acts'.

Algeria just cut all diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates. And it didn't stop at recalling ambassadors. Algiers has closed its airspace to every Emirati aircraft, civilian and military, citing what it calls provocative and hostile acts by Abu Dhabi.

That is a full rupture between two of the Arab world's heavyweight players, and it lands in a region that's already on fire. These two have been circling each other for years, over Libya, over Western Sahara, over who backs whom in every proxy fight on the continent. This is the moment the cold quarrel went public.

The airspace piece is the part with teeth. Algeria sits across the top of Africa, and Emirati carriers route over it constantly. Every one of those flights now goes the long way around, and every airline dispatcher in the Gulf spent tonight redrawing maps.

When two capitals stop talking in a region this hot, the flights are usually just the first thing to disappear.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.