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
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...
Economy
Geostrategy
Lebanon, Syria seek reset on ties as FM visits Beirut
Lebanon and Syria on Friday committed to turning a new page on ties as Damascus's foreign minister visited Beirut, with...
- The family of Bashar al-Assad, ousted in December, exercised control over Lebanese affairs for decades and was accused of assassinating numerous officials in Lebanon
- "Today we have opened a bright new page in relations between Syria and Lebanon," said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, the first senior Syrian official to visit Lebanon
Geostrategy
Israel declares ceasefire, begins troops pullback and Gazans start returning home
After two years of brutal war, the families of Israel's remaining hostages in the territory were also hoping the truce...
- The US Pentagon confirmed Israel had completed the first phase of a pullback laid out in Trump's peace plan.
- The withdrawal set the clock running on a 72-hour deadline for Hamas to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Geostrategy
Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado dedicates award to Trump
Caracas, Venezuela -- Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the people of...
- Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela for the past year since elections that authoritarian leftist President Nicolas Maduro is accused of stealing.
- Machado, who was barred from contesting the election, campaigned instead for her stand-in, ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Business
Abu Dhabi awards contract for mega solar project
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Abu Dhabi, the capital of leading oil producer the United Arab Emirates, said Friday it...
- The 1.5-gigawatt Khazna Solar PV plant, expected to have nearly three million solar panels, will avert more than 2.4 million tons of carbon emissions per year,
- Engie and Emirati renewable-energy company Masdar won the contract to build the plant and sell EWEC the electricity.
Geostrategy
Top conservation group meets in UAE on growing threats to nature
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates -- The world's top conservation body kicked off its world congress Thursday in the Emirati...
- The congress, held every four years, sheds light on the dire state of the world's biodiversity.
- According to the United Nations's expert scientific panel on biodiversity (IPBES), biodiversity has declined every decade in the past 30 to 50 years.
Arts & Culture
Hungary’s ‘master of the apocalypse’ Krasznahorkai wins literature Nobel
Stockholm, Sweden -- The Nobel Prize for Literature was on Thursday awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai considered by many as Hungary's...
- The Swedish Academy honored him "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art".
- The Academy highlighted Krasznahorkai's first novel published in 1985, "Satantango", which brought him to prominence in Hungary and remains his best-known work.
Business
Silver price hits decades high as gold rush eases
Stock markets, meanwhile, were mixed as traders weighed a slew of issues: massive AI investments, corporate results, US interest rates,...
- The price of silver topped $50 an ounce for the first time since 1993 in the wake of sister safe-haven gold soaring to record highs.
- The metal hit $50.1900, while gold retreated after hitting a record above $4,000 an ounce on Wednesday.
Economy
Gold tops $4,000 for first time on political, economic worries
New York, United States - Gold topped $4,000 an ounce for the first time Wednesday as investors flocked to the...
- US and European stock markets rose while Asian equities fell as investors also kept tabs on the AI investment boom and the prospect of further US interest rate cuts this year
- Gold, considered a safe investment in times of uncertainty, reached an all-time high of nearly $4,060 an ounce Wednesday with silver also rising close to a record high
Geostrategy
Nearly one in six children in Gaza acutely malnourished: study
The study, the most detailed look so far at child hunger in Gaza, analysed data on more than 200,000 children...
- The study, published in medical journal The Lancet, comes after the United Nations in August declared a famine in parts of the Gaza Strip -- a finding rejected by Israel
- The study, the most detailed look at child hunger in Gaza, analysed data on over 200,000 children under five examined between January 2024 and August 2025 at UNRWA facilities
Geostrategy
Israel, Hamas agree to first phase of peace plan: To include release of hostages, aid into Gaza
In a dramatic moment, AFP journalists saw US Secretary of State Marco Rubio interrupt an event at the White House...
- Palestinian militant group Hamas would release all hostages while Israel would pull its troops back to an agreed on line, Trump said after talks in Egypt on his 20-point Gaza plan
- Qatar said the deal was the "first phase of the Gaza truce pact, which will lead to ending the war, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives, and entry of aid
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
Company News
Qatar revealed as owner of famed Courbet self-portrait
Arts & Culture
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Biden demands assault-weapons ban after 8 killed in Texas mall rampage
Responders, distressed witnesses and police described scenes of panic and horror in Allen, where video footage shared online showed the...
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...
As Trump heads to the region for peace summit, Hamas, Israel set for hostage and prisoner exchanges
Trump's lightning visit to Israel and Egypt aims to celebrate his role in brokering last week's ceasefire and hostage release...
Geostrategy
Hamas will not govern post-war Gaza: Hamas source close to negotiating committee
Doha, Qatar -- A Hamas source close to the group's negotiating committee told AFP on Sunday that it will not...
Geostrategy
China accuses US of ‘double standards’ over new tariffs threat
Beijing, China -- China accused the United States of "double standards" on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened an additional...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Qantas: stolen data from 5.7 million customers leaked online
Sydney, Australia -- Australian airline Qantas said Sunday that data from 5.7 million customers stolen in a major cyberattack in...
- Qantas said in July that hackers had targeted one of its customer contact centers, breaching a computer system used by a third party.
- They secured access to sensitive information such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and birthdays, the blue-chip Australian company said.
Arts & Culture
UAE edge closer to World Cup after beating Oman
Doha, Qatar -- The United Arab Emirates moved to within a match of their second World Cup appearance with a...
- The Emiratis, who last appeared at a World Cup in 1990, were made to work for their win, when late goals from Meloni and Lucas sealed the three points at Jassim Bin Hamad stadium.
- The UAE now sit top of Group A heading into the final round of matches on Tuesday, when victory against at Qatar would secure a first World Cup appearance in three decades.
Geostrategy
Hamas says Israeli hostages to be freed before Trump peace summit
As part of the deal's first phase, Hama will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive,...
- Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday afternoon.
- The meeting will aim "to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability