Israel to invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own independent arms industry
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own...
Geostrategy
Gazans fear renewed displacement after Israeli strikes
Residents say the strikes have targeted neighborhoods east of the so-called Yellow Line -- a demarcation established under the truce...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Tabatabai: Hezbollah military chief who led the group in Yemen, Syria
Beirut, Lebanon - Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah's top military chief whom Israel killed on Sunday, had taken the role after...
- He is the most important Hezbollah figure to have been killed since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between the militant group and Israel
- The strike hit an apartment building in Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs, where the group holds sway, killing five people, according to Lebanon's health ministry
Geostrategy
Trump peace plan: Washington, Kyiv say a peace deal must ‘fully uphold’ Ukraine sovereignty
US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve his plan to end the nearly four-year conflict,...
- US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve his plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, which began after Russia launched a full-scale invasion
- Kyiv was seeking changes to the draft that accepted a range of Russia's hardline demands, with the 28-point plan requiring the invaded country to cede territory, and cut its army
Geostrategy
G20 grapples with splintering world order
"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters....
- He and the other leaders at the summit -- which was boycotted by the United States -- held a searching discussion on how the G20 can survive in a fragmenting world.
- The United States is to host next year's G20 summit, with Trump planning to hold it at a Florida golf club he owns.
Geostrategy
Israeli strikes kill 21 in Gaza, dozens more wounded: Civil defense
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, Bassal said one strike hit a house in Deir el-Balah in the...
- The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the strikes.
- It urged the international community to put "immediate pressure" on Israel to "stop the massacres".
Geostrategy
Amazon climate deal a ‘win’ for global unity but fossil fuels untouched
Nearly 200 countries approved the deal by consensus after two weeks of exhaustive negotiations on the fringes of the rainforest,...
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who staked political capital on the success of COP30, said the pact was proof that a fractured world could still unite in crisis.
- There was less euphoria in Belem, where defeated European ministers admitted they only took the watered-down deal to keep the entire process from imploding.
Geostrategy
G20 summit opens in South Africa without Trump
The Johannesburg gathering is being attended by a host of world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister...
- Trump is boycotting, with his government saying South Africa's priorities -- notably boosting global cooperation on trade and climate action -- run counter to US policy.
- Despite the headwinds, host South Africa was projecting optimism that it would get backing for its G20 aims to reduce economic inequalities, shrink debt for low-income countries
Geostrategy
Trump pushes Ukraine to accept his plan for ending the war ahead of Nov 27 deadline
"He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump...
- "He'll have to like it, and if he doesn't like it, then you know, they should just keep fighting," Trump told reporters who asked about Zelensky's less-than-enthusiastic response
- "At some point he's going to have to accept something," Trump added during the Oval Office meeting with New York City's future mayor Zohran Mamdani
Geostrategy
UAE says will invest up to $50 billion in Canada
The fresh North American investment pledge came after UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised in May to pump...
- Under the terms of the agreement, the UAE will invest in energy, artificial intelligence, logistics, mining and other priority national and strategic industries in Canada.
- Foreign direct investment stock from the UAE in Canada stood at $8.8 billion in 2024, while Canadian direct investment stock in the UAE totaled $242 million that same year.
Geostrategy
COP30 deal under threat as nations clash over fossil fuels
The draft text unveiled by COP30 host Brazil made no mention of "fossil fuels" or the word "roadmap" that President...
- Divisions remain not just over fossil fuels but trade measures and finance for poorer nations to adapt to climate change and move to a low-carbon future.
- More than 30 countries had warned in a letter to Brazil that they would reject any deal that did not include a plan to move away from fossil fuels.
Arts & Culture
Frida Kahlo painting auctions for $54.6 mn, record for woman artist
New York, United States - A self-portrait by legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold for $54.66 million in New York...
- The auction house said Kahlo's work was "painted in 1940 during a pivotal decade in her career, marked by her turbulent relationship with Diego Rivera."
- The artwork depicts the artist sleeping in a bed that appears to float among clouds in the sky, laying beneath a skeleton with legs that are wrapped with sticks of dynamite
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Israel to invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own independent arms industry
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Ancient cures and AI: WHO seeks evidence for traditional medicine
New Delhi, India -- The World Health Organization opens a major conference on traditional medicine on Wednesday, arguing that new...
Science
Famed Jerusalem stone still sells despite West Bank economic woes
Sair, Palestinian Territories - Despite the catastrophic state of the Palestinian economy, Faraj al-Atrash, operator of a quarry in the...
Business
Netflix boss promises Warner Bros films would still be seen in cinemas
Netflix will continue to distribute Warner Bros. films in cinemas if its takeover bid for the storied studio is successful,...
Business
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Geostrategy
First European Union airline flight in 35 years lands in Baghdad
Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq's transport ministry said Tuesday that a flight operated by Greece's Aegean Airlines had been the first...
- European airlines have not operated direct flights to Baghdad International Airport for security reasons since the early 1990s, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
- But, after decades of turmoil, Iraq has recently begun to regain a sense of stability and the government is striving to attract foreign investment to bolster the country's economy.
Geostrategy
Israeli army to demolish 25 residential buildings in West Bank camp: local authorities
The Israeli army is to demolish 25 residential buildings in the north West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp later this...
- In early 2025, Israel's military launched an operation it says is aimed at rooting out Palestinian armed groups from refugee camps
- During the operation, Israel has destroyed hundreds of houses in the dense network of alleys that make up the refugee camps
Geostrategy
Ukraine hails ‘real progress’ in Zelensky’s talks with US envoys to end the war with Russia
Kyiv's negotiator Rustem Umerov wrote on social media that the marathon diplomacy in the German capital had been "constructive and...
- Ukraine hopes to convince Washington that a ceasefire must be agreed without prior territorial concessions to Russia
- Trump has pushed strongly for an end to the war but an initial 28-point plan last month was seen as favouring Moscow's position