Trump confidant Steve Witkoff leads Iran talks amid nuclear tensions, Europe urged to rejoin diplomatic efforts
Witkoff, a businessman friend of Trump who has become his globe-trotting negotiator, last met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Pope Francis is dead at 88, world leaders pay tributes to the energetic reformer
"Today, we lost a faithful friend of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said, noting...
- His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals to choose a successor.
- In the next four to six days the Vatican's cardinals will decide on the pope's funeral date, at which point his coffin will be transferred to St Peter's Basilica.
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".
Trump confidant Steve Witkoff leads Iran talks amid nuclear tensions, Europe urged to rejoin diplomatic efforts
Witkoff, a businessman friend of Trump who has become his globe-trotting negotiator, last met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday...
Geostrategy
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Egypt ex-graft chief freed from prison, charged again: activist
A military court had found Geneina guilty in 2018 of "spreading information to harm the military", after he had said...
UN admits aid failure for Syria as quake toll hits 33,000
Supplies have been slow to arrive in Syria, where years of conflict have ravaged the healthcare system, and parts of...
At least 20 escape Syria prison holding IS inmates after quake
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said it could not verify whether prisoners had escaped, but confirmed...
Musk kicks Kanye West off Twitter for ‘incitement to violence’
West has made a series of anti-Semitic comments recently, as the one-time titan of fashion and music appears to have...
10 killed in Aleppo building collapse: Syria state media
The five-story building collapsed in the Ferdaws neighbourhood of Aleppo. Civil defence and local authorities evacuated residents from nearby buildings...
Trump to visit Saudi, Qatar, UAE in May amid tensions over Iran, trade, and security
Saudi Arabia's top diplomat held talks in Washington earlier this month to lay the groundwork for a visit by Trump...
Geostrategy
Trump, Zelensky to attend Pope Francis’s funeral Saturday
Pope Francis's funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced, as world leaders from US President Donald Trump to...
Arts & Culture
Iran says technical nuclear meeting with US postponed to Saturday
A technical, expert-level nuclear meeting between Iran and the United States will be held on Saturday, coinciding with the third...
Geostrategy
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Economy
Trump tariffs have increased financial stability risks: IMF report
The IMF's Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) was published as world financial leaders gather for meetings in Washington under the...
- GFSR's authors found that "global financial stability risks have increased significantly, driven by tighter global financial conditions and heightened economic uncertainty."
- The Fund also warned that geopolitical risk -- including military conflicts -- could raise risks to financial stability.
Arts & Culture
As world mourns, cardinals meeting to decide the date for Pope Francis’s funeral
Vatican City, Holy See - Cardinals will meet Tuesday to decide the date for Pope Francis's funeral, starting a process...
- Francis, the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke
- Tributes have poured in from around the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013
Saudi Aramco, BYD form alliance to develop low-carbon automotive innovations amid EV growth
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest producer of oil, "is exploring a number of ways to potentially optimize transport efficiency, from...
- The Saudi oil giant is already a partner with Renault of France and the Chinese automaker Geely in a joint venture to produce thermal engines
- Saudi Arabia is working to diversify its economy, which is dependent on oil export revenue, and wants to set up 5,000 EV charging stations by 2030