US vows Hamas disarmament in talks on next Gaza phase as regional officials met
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged the disarmament of Hamas but voiced hope for headway on reaching...
Geostrategy
US, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt to hold talks on next phase of Gaza truce in Miami
Under the second stage, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Russia to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant
Almaty, Kazakhstan - Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom will lead the construction of the first atomic power plant in Kazakhstan,...
- Kazakhstan, a vast resource-rich country in Central Asia, is currently the world's top uranium producer, providing 43 percent of supplies
- The new power plant, whose construction was approved in a referendum in late 2024, will be built near the half-abandoned village of Ulken near Balkhash Lake
Geostrategy
Israel warns ‘Tehran will burn’ after wave of Iranian missile fire hit Tel Aviv
Following decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time that Israel and Iran have traded fire...
- "We have created aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran... Tehran is no longer immune," said spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin
- Iran has hit back with waves of drone and missile strikes, with a barrage of dozens lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv overnight
Geostrategy
UN conference on Palestinian statehood delayed: Macron
Paris, France - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that next week's UN conference on a two-state solution for...
- Macron made the announcement after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites
- Macron said in early June that he expected the conference in New York would take steps "towards recognising Palestine", without being more specific
Geostrategy
Activists marching to Gaza say were stopped in Libya, Egypt
Pro-Palestinian activists seeking to march to Gaza with the stated aim of breaking Israel's blockade on the territory were stopped...
- The Global March to Gaza had earlier said around 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries would gather in Cairo on Friday to head to the war-devastated Palestinian territory
- According to the plan, participants were set to travel by bus to the city of El-Arish in heavily securitised Sinai Peninsula before walking 30 miles towards the border with Gaza
Geostrategy
US judge extends detention of pro-Palestinian protest leader
Pro-Palestinian student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil remained in US detention Friday despite an expected release, his lawyer said, following reported...
- US District Judge Michael Fabiarz had issued an order Wednesday that the government could not detain or deport Khalil, a legal permanent resident
- But by Friday afternoon, the Trump administration "represented that the Petitioner is being detained on another, second charge," the judge wrote
Geostrategy
Iran fires back at Israel after onslaught targets nuclear facilities
Air raids sirens and explosions rang out across Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the airwaves to warn...
- Air raids sirens and explosions rang out across Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the airwaves to warn he expected "several waves of Iranian attacks."
- Smoke could later be seen billowing above the skyscrapers in downtown Tel Aviv, an AFP journalist reported, as Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had attacked dozens of targets
Geostrategy
Nations advance ocean protection, vow to defend seabed
UN Ocean Conference wrapped up Friday with world leaders taking major steps toward marine protection and vowing a showdown when...
- The summit was just the third -- and largest yet -- dedicated entirely to what the United Nations calls an "emergency" in the world's oceans.
- More than 60 heads of state and government joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and environmental campaigners over five days in the southern city of Nice.
Geostrategy
Iran calls Israeli strikes ‘declaration of war’ amid international calls for restraint
Trump warns Tehran that the "next planned attacks" will be "even more brutal" and said Iran should cut a deal...
- Top brass killed included the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, and the chief of staff of its armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri.
- Trump said Israel fully informed him of its raids ahead of time, but insisted the United States was not involved.
Arts & Culture
Picasso on a plate: unseen ceramics up for auction in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland -- A clutch of one-off and hitherto unseen ceramic plates and dishes by Pablo Picasso are going under...
- Emblematic motifs from Picasso's artistic universe -- pigeons, fish, a goat, a bull, and a bird adorn the colorful plates and dishes.
- Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. The prolific Spanish painter died in 1973, aged 91.
Arts & Culture
Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host Asian playoffs for World Cup: AFC
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the...
- Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian qualifiers, namely Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE will be divided into two groups of 3 teams.
- They will battle each other in a centralized format from October 8 to 14, 2025, the AFC said in a statement.
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US vows Hamas disarmament in talks on next Gaza phase as regional officials met
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged the disarmament of Hamas but voiced hope for headway on reaching...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Business
Latest News
US Treasury chief: Beijing’s rare earths control is ‘China versus the world’
Washington, United States -- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent slammed Beijing's rare earth export curbs Wednesday as "China versus the...
Geostrategy
Asian markets rally as Fed cut hopes trump trade war fears
Stocks jumped Wednesday as trade war fears were overshadowed by comments from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell that suggested the...
Economy
Trump says ‘will disarm’ Hamas: ‘It will happen quickly and perhaps violently’
Trump's comments came the day after he swung through the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire deal, with questions...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Hamas back on Gaza streets, acts against gangs and armed clans
For many Palestinians rebuilding their homes and lives amid Gaza's rubble, the sight of the Hamas forces was reassuring. Many...
- When bus loads of prisoners freed from Israeli jails arrived in Gaza on Monday, fighters from Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades provided crowd control.
- Hamas accused Israel of breaking the truce by opening fire during the clashes. The military said it had only fired when unidentified Palestinians approached the Yellow Line.
Economy
IMF lifts 2025 global growth forecast, warns of ongoing trade ‘uncertainty’
In its flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO) report -- compiled before the most recent US-China tariff spat -- the IMF...
- The global inflation rate is expected to remain elevated at 4.2 percent this year, and 3.7 percent in 2026.
- The IMF raised its prospects for economic growth for the United States, the world's largest economy, by 0.1 percent this year and next, to 2.0 percent in 2025.
Business
OpenAI announces Broadcom deal as spending spree continues
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced Monday it is teaming up with chip giant Broadcom to design and build its...
- The partnership is the latest in a series of recent announcements by OpenAI as it seeks to strengthen its position as the preeminent company of the generative AI revolution
- The partnership, which the companies said would launch next year, would provide 10 gigawatts in computing power, requiring roughly the energy needed to power a major city