France’s screen siren Brigitte Bardot dies at 91
Saint-Tropez, France - French film sensation Brigitte Bardot, a symbol of sexual liberation in the 1950s and 1960s who reinvented herself...
Arts & Culture
Turkish authorities make further arrests in football betting scandal
The betting scandal in Turkish football deepened on Friday as 29 people, including 14 footballers, were arrested, the Istanbul public...
Economy
Geostrategy
As diplomats gather in Miami, Kremlin denies three-way US-Ukraine-Russia talks in preparation
The Kremlin on Sunday denied that three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States were on the cards, as...
- Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev arrived in Miami, where Ukrainian and European teams have also been gathering for the negotiations
- The top Kremlin aide also told Russian journalists Sunday that he had "not seen" the revised US proposal to end the conflict
Geostrategy
Israel’s security cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank, a move to scuttle ‘a Palestinian state’
The decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement...
- The latest approvals come days after the UN said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank had reached its highest level since at least 2017.
- Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank.
Geostrategy
Macron meets UAE leaders to deepen strategic partnership, discuss defense, AI, trade and drug trafficking
Macron is due to meet with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss "strengthening the strategic partnership" between...
- The French president traditionally celebrates the end-of-year holidays with troops deployed abroad, of whom there are more than 900 in the UAE.
- France cooperates with the UAE on areas including artificial intelligence and trade, and now wants to secure the Gulf state's support in its war on drug trafficking.
Geostrategy
China’s rare earths El Dorado gives strategic edge
Ganzhou, China -- Buried in the reddish soil of southern China lies latent power: one of the largest clusters of...
- The hills of Jiangxi province are home to most of China's rare earth mines, with the materials used in a range of products, including smartphones and missile guidance technology.
- The flourishing industry is closely protected by Chinese authorities and media access is seldom granted.
Geostrategy
Gazans mourn six killed in Israeli shelling on shelter
Gaza's civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, initially said on Friday that the Israeli...
- Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal updated the toll to six, including children, on Saturday, adding that two people were unaccounted for under the rubble.
- The director of Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told AFP the victims were a four-month old infant, a 14-year-old girl, two men and two women.
Geostrategy
German wheelchair user flies into space, a first
Houston, United States -- A German woman engineer on Saturday became the first wheelchair user to blast into space, taking...
- Benthaus suffered a spinal cord injury after a mountain biking accident and now uses a wheelchair.
- "After my accident, I really, really figured out how inaccessible our world still is" for people with disabilities, she said in a video released by the company.
Geostrategy
Zelensky says US mooted direct Ukraine-Russia talks on ending war in Miami
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Washington had proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in...
- The last time Ukrainian and Russian envoys held direct talks was in July in Istanbul, which led to prisoner swaps
- Russian and European involvement marks a step forward from when America held separate negotiations with each side
Geostrategy
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...
- Hamas's Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said on Sunday the militant group had a "legitimate right" to hold weapons
- Rubio acknowledged difficulties in achieving peace in Gaza, saying that the ceasefire amounted to a "miracle".
Geostrategy
Hamas official says Miami talks must end Israel’s truce violations in Palestinian territory
A top Hamas official said Friday that talks in Miami to advance the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire must...
- The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 395 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire came into effect
- Israel also accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire, with the Israeli military reporting three soldiers killed since the truce entered into force
Geostrategy
Lebanese, Israeli officials discuss Hezbollah disarmament, security in border areas: PM office
Israel said a Friday meeting involving civilian and military representatives from both Lebanon and Israel was part of broader efforts...
- Earlier this month, Lebanon and Israel agreed to send civilian representatives to the committee's meetings
- It was the second time civilian representatives from both countries had taken part in a meeting as part of the committee
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France’s screen siren Brigitte Bardot dies at 91
Saint-Tropez, France - French film sensation Brigitte Bardot, a symbol of sexual liberation in the 1950s and 1960s who reinvented herself...
Arts & Culture
Company News
Latest News
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...
Iran Guards seize foreign-crewed oil tanker in Gulf: state media
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday seized an oil tanker in the Gulf carrying more than a dozen foreign crew members,...
Geostrategy
Israel to invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own independent arms industry
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would invest $110 billion over the next decade to develop its own...
Geostrategy
Libyans united in grief for army chief killed in plane crash
General Mohammed al-Haddad and his four aides died on Tuesday after a visit to Ankara, with Turkish officials saying an...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Palestinian Authority says Israel tightening control over West Bank with new settlements
The Palestinian Authority condemned on Tuesday Israel's recent approval of 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing it of...
- On Sunday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the authorities had greenlit the settlements
- The latest move brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, Smotrich's office said
Economy
“New Suez Canal on rails”: Egypt high-speed trains to connect Red Sea, Mediterranean
Workers have started laying tracks in the desert east of Cairo for Egypt's first high-speed train, which will link the...
- The Green Line, as it is known, is the latest of a long list of megaprojects undertaken by El-Sisi's government in the past decade
- The Green Line will run across the country's north, from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean
Geostrategy
Gazans fear renewed displacement after Israeli strikes
Residents say the strikes have targeted neighborhoods east of the so-called Yellow Line -- a demarcation established under the truce...
- Earlier this month, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir described the Yellow Line as the "new border line" with Israel.
- For Palestinian officials, the line is seen as a tool for permanent displacement.