US-Israel-Qatar meeting seeks to salvage Gaza peace deal amid strain over Israeli strike on Doha
Axios also reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and...
Geostrategy
Abu Dhabi showdown – how the F1 title can be won
Paris, France - AFP Sport assesses how the 2025 Formula One drivers' title can be won at the season finale...
Economy
Geostrategy
West Bank campus a dystopian shelter for Palestinians uprooted again
Jenin, Palestinian Territories - On deserted university grounds in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian children run outside nearly empty buildings,...
- Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the northern West Bank since Israel launched the offensive dubbed "Iron Wall" on January 21 in the area
- The United Nations agency, UNRWA, provides aid but recent Israeli legislation barring coordination with Israeli military authorities has complicated its work
Geostrategy
US defense chief shared sensitive information in second Signal chat: US media
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information on forthcoming US air strikes on Yemen in a private Signal chat group...
- Last month, the Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a Signal chat where officials discussed the March 15 strikes
- The information shared "included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen," the Times reported
Economy
Beijing slams ‘appeasement’ of US in trade deals that hurt China
China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing's expense, promising countermeasures...
- While the rest of the world has been slapped with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products
- China has vowed to fight a trade war "to the end" and has not confirmed that it is in talks with Washington, though it has called for dialogue
Geostrategy
From tariffs to deportations, Trump’s first 100 days signal imperial shift in US leadership
Trump has also stepped up the sense of an endless reality show in which he is the star, as he...
- Trump has been driven by a sense of grievance left over from an undisciplined first term that ended in the shame of the 2021 US Capitol riots after his election defeat to Joe Biden
- And while Trump freed hundreds of those attackers from jail on his first day back in office, he is taking no prisoners when it comes to consolidating the power of the White House
Geostrategy
Gaza rescuers say Israeli air strikes kill 25 and injure dozens of Palestinians
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories -- Gaza's civil defense agency reported that Israeli air strikes since dawn on Sunday have killed...
- "Since dawn today, the occupation's air strikes have killed 20 people and injured dozens more, including children and women across Gaza," said Mahmud Bassal.
- In a separate statement later, the agency reported that five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a group of civilians in eastern Rafah.
Geostrategy
US aid cuts strain response to health crises worldwide: WHO
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The United States slashing foreign aid risks piling pressure on already acute humanitarian crises across the...
- Donald Trump has effectively frozen foreign aid funding, moved to dismantle USAID and other programs, and announced plans to leave the WHO.
- Washington, which had long been the WHO's biggest donor, did not pay its 2024 dues, and it remains unclear if the United States will meet its membership obligations for 2025.
Geostrategy
Lebanon president says disarming Hezbollah ‘delicate’ as two dead in strikes
Beirut, Lebanon -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that disarming Hezbollah group was a "delicate" matter whose implementation required...
- "We will implement" a state monopoly on bearing arms "but we have to wait for the circumstances" to allow this. "Nobody is speaking to me about timing or pressure."
- Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was left weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, sparked by the Gaza war.
Economy
UAE foreign trade increases by 49% to reach $1.42 trillion in 2024
The UAE climbed from 17th to 11th globally in merchandise exports and from 18th to 14th in imports between 2021...
- The UAE accounted for 41.4 percent of the Middle East’s $1.5 trillion merchandise exports, with regional exports growing by 3.7 percent and services by 4.1 percent in 2024.
- Globally, the UAE contributed 2 percent to services exports and 1.3 percent to imports, with service exports of $176 billion and imports of $106 billion.
Business
Global tax plans targeting super rich and tech giants stall under Trump
Paris, France -- Global tax plans targeting billionaires and multinational companies are running aground, with the United States torpedoing reforms...
- Countries have accused Amazon, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet and Facebook's parent company Meta of sidestepping local taxes.
- Trump issued a warning on February 21 to countries that would hit big tech and other US companies with fines or taxes that are "discriminatory, disproportionate".
Business
Anti-hero Star Wars series “Andor” heads towards its finale
Paris, France -- If "Andor" -- which returns from Tuesday for its second and final season -- has been received...
- For Disney, the success of "Andor" stands out as a new hope for a franchise that has become hit-or-miss with audiences in recent years.
- That is why it has banked heavily on the 12-episode story, which cost a staggering $645 million to make, according to Forbes magazine.
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Revenue from Saudi cinema may exceed $1bn by 2030KSA, UAE play well as e-gaming trends across GCCExclusive: Middle East’s retail sector rides on AR and hybrid shopping to become $600bn digital economyTECOM Group profit soars 13%UAE startups eye Saudi Arabia for growth, expansionSaudi Arabia leads GCC AI healthcare raceDisparity remains as Saudis, Emiratis see wealth gains
US-Israel-Qatar meeting seeks to salvage Gaza peace deal amid strain over Israeli strike on Doha
Axios also reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Iran sanctions look set to return despite last-ditch China, Russia effort to secure a delay
China and Russia at a Security Council session on Friday put forward a draft resolution, seen by AFP, that would...
Geostrategy
Netanyahu says Palestinian state would be ‘national suicide’ for Israel and reward for Hamas
Netanyahu, who said his speech was being partially broadcast on Israeli military loudspeakers in Gaza, vowed to "finish the job"...
Geostrategy
Turkish Airlines inks big Boeing deal after Erdogan visits US
Istanbul, Turkey -- Turkish Airlines announced on Friday a deal to buy up to 225 Boeing jets, one day after...
Business
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Geostrategy
UN identifies 158 firms linked to Israeli settlements
While several companies including Alstom and Opodo had been removed from the non-exhaustive database, major firms such as Airbnb, Booking.com,...
- UN rights chief Volker Turk has condemned as a war crime Israel's policy of settlements on Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank.
- While most of the companies were based in Israel, others were based in Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Britain and the United States.
Geostrategy
Microsoft trims service to Israel over Gaza surveillance
San Francisco, United States - Microsoft on Thursday said it cut an Israeli defense unit's access to some cloud services...
- Microsoft reviewed the decision with the Israel Ministry of Defense along with steps the tech firm is taking to ensure compliance
- The move followed a two-month Microsoft probe into a Guardian report that the Israeli Defense Force used Azure to store phone call data from surveillance in Gaza and the West Bank
Economy
Trump announces steep new tariffs on pharmaceuticals, big-rig trucks, furniture, reviving trade war
US President Donald Trump announced Thursday punishing tariffs on pharmaceuticals, big-rig trucks, home renovation fixtures and furniture, reviving his global...
- The announcement is the harshest trade policy by the president since last April's shock unveiling of reciprocal tariffs on virtually every US trading partner across the globe
- Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a so-called Section 232 probe into imports of trucks to "determine the effects of national security."