Tunisian activists urge closure of factory units after poisonings
Tunis, Tunisia -- Activists in Tunisia on Sunday called for the closure of facilities at a chemical factory in Gabes,...
Geostrategy
Relief and scepticism at London Pro-Palestinian protest
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London on Saturday, expressing scepticism and cautious hope as a ceasefire between...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Kuwait gets first non-royal foreign minister as ‘reform’ era starts
Abdullah al-Yahya, a former ambassador to Argentina, was named in the coveted role as part of a hand-picked cabinet of...
- In his inaugural speech last month, Sheikh Meshal had strongly criticized the recurring political crises that have long frustrated Kuwaitis.
- The OPEC member, home to seven percent of the world's oil reserves, has the Gulf's most powerful parliament but suffers chronic legislative deadlock
Geostrategy
Record 116 tons of cocaine seized at Belgium’s Antwerp port in 2023
Vlissingen, Netherlands - Cocaine seizures at the Belgian port of Antwerp, the top gateway into Europe for mainly South American drug...
- The cocaine is usually hidden in containers, or sometimes underneath ships in openings below the water line where they are then recovered by divers.
- Belgium, neighboring Netherlands and Spain are the top three European nations for illegal cocaine imports, mostly from Panama, Colombia and Ecuador
Geostrategy
UN warns of ‘bleak future’ facing Gazans after war ends
At least 24,448 Palestinians, more than 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, have been killed in Israeli bombardments...
- "My fear is that we have now a generation of lost kids," said UN official Lazzarini, describing children who are living in "brutal" conditions and are deeply traumatized.
- Also, UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday warned that a "full-fledged confrontation" between Israel and Lebanon would be a "total disaster".
Business
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd ink deal
The cooperation deal between the two will begin February 2025.
- The cooperation, which is set to start in February 2025, will comprise a fleet pool of nearly 300 vessels with a combined capacity of 3.4 million containers
- The CEO of Maersk Vincent Clerc said the agreement will offer a "flexible ocean network" and "strengthen our integrated logistics offering"
Arts & Culture
Money weighs on would-be Chinese parents as population falls
Long alarmed by falling fertility, the government has relaxed its decades-long one-child policy in recent years to allow three children...
- Childbirth in China usually comes after a wallet-draining process of buying a home, finding a spouse, and paying for a lavish wedding
- The average cost in 2019 of raising a child in China from birth to age 18 was 485,000 yuan ($68,000), a Beijing-based report said
Geostrategy
Israeli army shoots seven Palestinians dead in West Bank
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7, the West Bank has experienced a level of...
- The Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli strike killed four people inside Tulkarem camp early in the morning
- In a separate strike near Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported three men were killed
World Economic Forum
WTO head ‘less optimistic’ for world trade due to Red Sea strikes
The head of the international trade body said weaker global economic growth, "worsening geopolitical tensions, the new disruptions we see...
- Before the outbreak of war in Gaza, the WTO had predicted trade would grow by 0.8 percent in 2023 and projected growth of 3.3 percent this year.
- "We think there are a lot of downside risks to the forecasts we had made last year of 3.3% of growth of merchandise volumes this year. So we expect weaker performance," she said.
Geostrategy
Sudan war threatens UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Regional Network for Cultural Rights said it "strongly condemns the incursion by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)", the paramilitary...
- The Cultural Rights group said the incident, which took place on Sunday, marked the second time since December that fighting had broken out at the religious sites
- State authorities reported "an incursion by the RSF, repulsed by the air force", claiming that "calm has returned" without mentioning whether the sites suffered any damage
Turkey’s first astronaut brandishes Erdogan’s ambitions
Erdogan has displayed a keen interest in the mission, which comes against the backdrop of a raging economic crisis and...
- Alper Gezeravci, a fighter pilot and colonel in Turkey's air force, is due to take off on Wednesday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for a two-week mission
- He will be joining Swedish, Italian and Spanish astronauts aboard a shuttle provided by the private Axiom Space company, which will be conducting its third flight with NASA
Al Jazeera bureau chief leaves Gaza
Scenes of Dahdouh mourning his family and fleeing on foot from Gaza City have been broadcast globally over the weeks...
- Dahdouh said he is due to travel onwards to Qatar where he will undergo surgery for a wound sustained in an Israeli strike last month
- Khaled Elbalshy, head of the Egyptian journalists' syndicate, said the organization had spoken to Dahdouh after he left Gaza
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Tunisian activists urge closure of factory units after poisonings
Tunis, Tunisia -- Activists in Tunisia on Sunday called for the closure of facilities at a chemical factory in Gabes,...
Geostrategy
Company News
Latest News
21 Palestinians waiting for aid among 72 killed by Israeli forces in Gaza
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza...
Geostrategy
US Fed keeps interest rates unchanged in face of Trump criticism
Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters the central bank would make better decisions if it waited a few months to...
Economy
Asian stocks drop after Fed warning, oil dips with Mideast in focus
Hong Kong, China - Asian stocks fell Thursday after the Federal Reserve warned Donald Trump's trade war would likely reignite...
Economy
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Geostrategy
Syrians watch Iran-Israel crossfire as government stays silent
For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the...
- Iran was one of former ruler Bashar al-Assad's biggest backers, playing a crucial role in propping up his government by providing military advisers and the support of affiliated ar
- Israel, meanwhile, has occupied the Golan Heights since seizing it from Syria in 1967, and has kept troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone there since December
Geostrategy
Trump weighs involvement as Israel launches fresh strikes on Iran
The White House said Trump would receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday and top US diplomat Marco...
- As the war entered its seventh day, Israel's military said it was striking Tehran and other parts of Iran, but all eyes were on whether Washington would enter the fray
- Iran's supreme leader Khamenei meanwhile rejected Trump's demand for an "unconditional surrender", despite claims from the US leader that "Iran's got a lot of trouble."
Geostrategy
Khamenei vows Iran will never surrender, warns US of ‘irreparable damage’
Khamenei's speech came six days into the conflict, with US president Donald Trump saying he may or may not intervene...
- Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state in Iran, had earlier vowed the country would show "no mercy" towards Israel's leaders.
- Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said air force jets had destroyed Iran's internal security headquarters after the army announced it was striking military targets in Tehran.