Honda and Nissan in merger talks as electric vehicle competition intensifies
Tokyo, Japan --Japanese auto giant Honda and its struggling rival Nissan will reportedly begin talks on a merger to boost their...
Business
UN envoy warns Syria conflict not over yet
United Nations' special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, referring to fighting between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and...
Arts & Culture
Banana taped to a wall sells for $6.2 million
The provocative work of conceptual art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan debuted at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach...
- The sale featured seven potential buyers and smashed expectations, with the auction house issuing a guide price of $1-1.5 million before the bidding.
- As well as his banana work, Cattelan is also known for producing an 18-carat, fully functioning gold toilet called "America" that was offered to Donald Trump during his first term.
Boeing CEO says company can’t afford another mistake: report
Boeing CEO Ortberg told workers a trade war with China would weigh heavily on Boeing. The meeting came about two...
- New CEO Kelly Ortberg said a trade war with China would weigh heavily on Boeing
- On October 12, Boeing unveiled plans to reduce its global workforce by 10 percent
Hezbollah says Israel ‘cannot impose conditions’ for truce
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein announced "additional progress" in Lebanon-Israel ceasefire talks, heading to Israel to finalize an agreement amidst escalating...
- "Israel cannot defeat us and cannot impose its conditions on us," Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in an address broadcast shortly after Hochstein announced his travel plans
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in a near-simultaneous statement, said any ceasefire deal must ensure Israel still has the "freedom to act" against Hezbollah
Geostrategy
US vetoes Gaza ceasefire call at UN
The resolution demanded "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the war between Israel and the Palestinian group, along with...
- But the wording angered Israel, with a senior US official warning ahead of the vote that the resolution had "the potential only to buoy Hamas".
- Since the beginning of the conflict, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice, as the United States used its veto power several times.
Geostrategy
US envoy presses Israel-Hezbollah truce bid in Lebanon visit
Hochstein said an end to the war was "now within our grasp", while Hezbollah-allied parliament speaker Nabih Berri, said the...
- The United States and France have spearheaded efforts for a truce in the conflict
- Hochstein said an end to the war was "now within our grasp"
Iraq holds its first census in nearly 40 years
The Iraqi census is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and will provide sorely needed up-to-date demographic data for the country...
- A count conducted in 1997 excluded the three northern provinces that make up the autonomous Kurdistan region
- Demographics are likely to have shifted with the exile of hundreds of thousands
Geostrategy
Iraqis face tough homecoming a decade after IS rampage
Hassan Shami, Iraq - A decade after Islamic State group extremists rampaged through northern Iraq, Moaz Fadhil and his eight children...
- The jihadists seized a third of Iraq, ruling their self-declared "caliphate" with an iron fist, before an international coalition wrestled control from them in 2017
- Seven years on, many of the village's homes are still in ruins and lacking essential services, but Fadhil said he felt an "indescribable joy" upon moving back in August
Geostrategy
Hamas negotiators ‘not in Doha’ but political office not closed: Qatar
Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, had led months of fruitless negotiations for a truce in the Gaza...
- "The mediation process right now... is suspended unless we take a decision to reverse that which is based on the positions of both sides," spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said
- "The office of Hamas in Doha was created for the sake of the mediation process. Obviously, when there is no mediation process, the office itself doesn't have any function," he said
Geostrategy
US envoy in Beirut says ‘real opportunity’ to end Israel-Hezbollah war
US special envoy said he was in Beirut because he saw "real opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war
- US special envoy said he was in Beirut because he saw "real opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war
- "I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochstein said
Iran slams new EU, UK sanctions as unjustified: foreign ministry
ran's foreign ministry Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and Britain against Tehran over its...
- Sanctions also included the national airline, Iran Air, for transporting ballistic missiles and military supplies to Russia
- Iran's economy suffers from US sanctions following the unilateral US withdrawal in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal
Honda and Nissan in merger talks as electric vehicle competition intensifies
Tokyo, Japan --Japanese auto giant Honda and its struggling rival Nissan will reportedly begin talks on a merger to boost their...
Business
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European countries suspend Syrian asylum decisions after Assad’s fall
While Berlin and other governments said they were watching the fast-moving developments in the war-ravaged nation, Vienna signaled it would...
Geostrategy
UAE to introduce 15% tax rate on corporate profit from Jan 2025
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates, home to the regional headquarters of numerous multinational companies, said Monday it...
Business
Oil prices higher on China boost, Syria uncertainty
Major stock markets diverged as investors reacted to political crises in South Korea and France, and tracked the perspectives for...
Business
Most Read
Assad’s fall reshapes Middle East politics, redefining power dynamics across the region
The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels shocked the world by swiftly seizing Aleppo and Damascus, overshadowing global focus on the...
- Assad had for nearly 14 years held off an uprising that many believed had been exhausted, but his downfall followed a series of battlefield convulsions for other allies of Iran
- Israel has all but decapitated the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon since September, while the killing of Hamas figureheads has dealt major blows to Assad's key backer Tehran
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."