Lavrov, Rubio pledge to restore dialogue and work on settling Ukraine conflict, says Moscow
The call came ahead of an expected summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin amid mounting concern from Ukraine and...
Geostrategy
Trump eyes summit with Xi-Putin, shaking up world order, Macron warns against ‘capitulation’
US president's remarks on Russia and China mark a seismic shift after more than a decade of US policy which...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
UK Prime Minister to talk trade, Middle East during Gulf visit
London, United Kingdom -- Britain's leader Keir Starmer makes his first trip to the Gulf as prime minister from Sunday, seeking...
- Starmer will first visit the United Arab Emirates and then travel to Saudi Arabia, before stopping off in Cyprus on his way back to London on Tuesday.
- Starmer's trip comes after Britain last week rolled out the diplomatic red carpet for Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani who enjoyed a state visit to the UK.
Geostrategy
Trump touts tariffs, mass deportations and NATO skepticism
In his first formal television interview -- and just six weeks before he takes office -- Trump again signaled that...
- He also stressed that his campaign promises of huge tariffs -- including against top US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China -- would be enacted.
- As to whether Americans would see higher prices as a result of those tariffs, Trump said that "I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow."
Geostrategy
Celebrations erupt across Syria to mark end of 50 years of Baath party rule
Bashar al-Assad's whereabouts not clear, but his key backer Russia said he had resigned from the presidency and left Syria....
- Protests spread like wildfire in neighbouring provinces, with anti-government demonstrators toppling statues of late president Hafez al-Assad in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus
- The Israeli army said Saturday that its troops were assisting UN peacekeeping forces in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights in repelling an attack "by armed individuals
Syria: Assad faces stunning setbacks as rebels seize Daraa, Hama, and Aleppo in quick succession
While Aleppo and Hama, the two other main cities taken from government control in recent days, fell to an Islamist-led...
- Since a rebel alliance led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched its offensive on November 27, the government has lost Aleppo and subsequently Hama in central Syria
- Syria's civil war, which began with Assad's crackdown on democracy protests, has killed more than 500,000 people and forced more than half the population to flee their homes
Geostrategy
Turkey confirms Syria talks with Russia and Iran
A meeting was expected on the forum's sidelines between Turkey, and Damascus allies Iran and Russia.
- Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan "will meet with the Russian and Iranian ministers"
- The so-called Astana process involving the three countries was launched by Kazakhstan in 2017
World Bank announces record $100 bn support for world’s poorest countries
The World Bank announced Thursday that it had raised close to $24 billion to provide loans and grants for some...
- The Bank can use this money to borrow on financial markets
- This funding will be deployed to support the 78 countries that need it most
Qatar resumes Gaza mediation: source with knowledge of talks
Doha, Qatar - Qatar has resumed its role as a mediator in efforts to secure a truce in the Israel-Hamas war...
- The Gulf emirate, along with the US and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release after nearly 14 months of war
- In November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed "willingness and seriousness".
Syria: Tens of thousands of Alawites flee Homs, fearing rebel advance towards Damascus-coast strategic link
Analysts said they expected the fighters led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to push on towards the city,...
- Khaled, who lives on the city's outskirts told AFP that "the road leading to (coastal) Tartus province was glowing... due to the lights of hundreds of cars on their way out."
- In April 2014, at least 100 people, mostly civilians, were killed in twin attacks in Homs that targeted a majority Alawite neighbourhood
Business
Bitcoin passes $100,000 mark for first time, outshining wavering stock markets
Donald Trump, who has vowed to make the US the 'bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world' wrote 'Congratulations Bitcoiners...You're...
- The digital asset has now soared more than 50 percent since the election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to make the US the "bitcoin and cryptocurrency capital of the world."
- The historic level was broken after Trump picked crypto proponent Paul Atkins to take over as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the markets regulator.
South Korean president clings to power after martial law U-turn
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was still clinging to power Thursday, with his party announcing they will oppose an...
- South Korean police announced Thursday they were investigating Yoon for "insurrection"
- A new poll by Realmeter showed 73.6 percent of respondents supported impeachment
Lavrov, Rubio pledge to restore dialogue and work on settling Ukraine conflict, says Moscow
The call came ahead of an expected summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin amid mounting concern from Ukraine and...
Geostrategy
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UN: Israel’s strikes on Gaza hospitals may constitute war crimes, urges independent probe
The UN's 23-page report, "Attacks on Hospitals During the Escalation of Hostilities in Gaza," documented 136 strikes on 27 hospitals...
Geostrategy
Maysa Sabreen made first woman chief of Syrian central bank
Damascus, Syria -- Syrian authorities have appointed Maysa Sabreen as interim central bank governor, a bank official told AFP on Tuesday,...
Economy
South Korea’s Yoon: from star prosecutor to president facing arrest
Yoon is under investigation for his martial law declaration and faces criminal charges of insurrection, which could result in life...
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Business
Cambridge study warns of perils in AI-driven ‘intention economy’
London, United Kingdom -- Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) tools may soon "covertly influence" users' decision making in a new commercial frontier...
- The marketplace emerging for "digital signals of intent" could, in the near future, influence everything from buying movie tickets to voting for political candidates.
- Our increasing familiarity with chatbots, digital tutors and other so-called "anthropomorphic" AI agents is helping enable this new array of "persuasive technologies".
Asia stocks mostly down after Wall St. losses
The "Santa Claus rally" got off to a good start but US stocks then fell across the board on Friday,...
- S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both dropped more than one percent
- Jeju Air shares tumbled more than eight percent after one of its planes crashed in South Korea
Former US president Jimmy Carter dies aged 100
Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his home in Plains, Georgia -- the same small town...
- Carter died "peacefully" at his home in Plains, "surrounded by his family," the Carter Center said in a statement
- Carter was the longest-lived US president -- an outcome that seemed unlikely back in 2015 when the Southern Democrat revealed he had brain cancer