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...
Geostrategy
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...
Arts & Culture
Jordan king, Sisi and Abbas call to ‘maintain pressure’ for Gaza ceasefire
A royal palace statement issued after the meeting said the three leaders had "reiterated the need to maintain pressure to...
- The trio "warned against attempts to re-occupy parts of Gaza or establish 'safe zones' in the strip, stressing the need to enable Gazans to return to their homes"
- They "reaffirmed their rejection of any Israeli plans to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, urging international denouncement and rejection of these plans"
Amazon cuts hundreds of jobs
The cull will reach 27,000 positions across the company.
- Amazon said it was slashing hundreds of staff in its entertainment division, targeting both movie streaming service Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studio
- The cull comes as part of Amazon's biggest ever job cutting plan launched last year, which it said will reach 27,000 positions across the company
Business
Uber, Kia sign EV partnership
It is aimed at "enhancing electric vehicle offerings".
- Uber and Kia said they are committed to "collaborate on Kia's planned development and deployment" of its new series of electric vehicles
- The partnership of the two companies is aimed at "enhancing electric vehicle offerings available on Uber's mobility platform," they said
Economy
US regulators authorize first bitcoin funds on public markets
The authorization of the ETFs - which are comparable to stocks or mutual funds as far as accessibility to everyday...
- Regulators approved proposals for 11 ETFs to list on leading exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a 22-page order
- Exchange-traded funds are traded on public markets, granting investors exposure to price movements in asset prices without taking direct ownership of the underlying assets
Arts & Culture
Son set to light up Asian Cup as Qatar takes center stage again
The 24 teams spanning Australia to Palestine will battle for regional glory over the next four weeks, culminating in the...
- The 18th edition of the Asian Cup was supposed to have been held last summer in China but was moved to World Cup host Qatar because of China's Covid-19 rules
- Qatar will mostly use stadiums that staged World Cup matches, a notable absentee being Stadium 974, the temporary arena made partly of shipping containers
Geostrategy
WHO urges Israel to allow aid delivery in ‘indescribable’ Gaza
"Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference....
- Ghebreyesus said that WHO teams have had to cancel six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 due to lack of assurances of safe passage.
- "People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious," he said.
Geostrategy
Germany resumes arms exports to Saudi Arabia after 5 years
Berlin has loosened its stance on weapons exports to the kingdom recently, with the government praising Saudi Arabia's "constructive approach"...
- Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit confirmed a report that Berlin gave a green signal for the export of 150 Iris-T air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia.
- The newly approved Iris-T missiles could "be fired from aircraft at airborne targets, that is to say missiles, drones and so on", he said.
Business
Chinese experts decode Apple’s encrypted AirDrop messaging
Beijing, China - Chinese state-backed experts have found a way to identify people who use Apple's encrypted AirDrop messaging service, according...
- AirDrop allows users to send content to Apple devices in close proximity without an internet connection, encoded so they cannot be viewed by other people
- Chinese officials said experts "cracked the tough technological problem of the transmission of inappropriate information with anonymous traceability via AirDrop"
Geostrategy
India’s Russian oil imports fall to 11-month low as price cap rises
Indian refiners bought 1.45 million barrels per day of Russian oil last month, their lowest amount since last January and...
- Since the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, India has bought hundreds of millions of barrels of cut-price Russian crude, saving itself billions of dollars
- But the price of Russian crude has risen in the face of OPEC+ production cuts and increased demand from China, analysts say, making it less attractive to Indian customers
Geostrategy
Blinken tells Abbas US backs ‘tangible steps’ for Palestinian state
Blinken "underscored the United States' position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the...
- Palestinian statehood was anticipated following the Oslo Accords of the 1990s but talks have been moribund for years
- As part of efforts to stabilize the territory, Blinken called on Israel to hand over revenues owed to the Palestinians in full
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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...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Iran tells mediators it won’t negotiate ‘while under attack’: official
Mediators Qatar and Oman were told by Iran that Tehran "will not negotiate while under attack", an official briefed on...
Geostrategy
Trump due in Canada as G7 confronts Israel-Iran crisis, may consider joint stance
Trump has praised Israel's strikes, noting it used US weapons, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied his public calls...
Geostrategy
Israel pounds Iran from west to east in deepest strikes yet, Tehran police headquarters hit
Israel's military said its air force hit Mashhad airport in Iran's far east, making it the longest-range strike of the...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
‘Nothing left’: Israelis grapple with damage from Iran strike
Bat Yam, Israel -- A shocked Julia Zilbergoltz said she had never experienced anything like the Iranian missile strike that...
- In Israel's north, four people were killed earlier when a strike hit the town of Tamra, taking to 13 the death toll in the country since the start of the attacks began on Friday.
- Israeli television channels broadcast footage of devastation from four sites where missiles struck in the early hours of Sunday.
Geostrategy
Tens of thousands dressed in red rally in Dutch protest for Gaza
Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam organized the demonstration through the city to the International Court of Justice,...
- "More than 150,000 people here dressed in red just want concrete sanctions to stop the genocide in Gaza," said Michiel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib.
- A previous protest in The Hague on May 18 drew more than 100,000 people, according to organizers, who described it as the country's largest demonstration in 20 years.
Geostrategy
MENA brief Jun 15: Erdogan warns of ‘devastating war’, Gaza internet restored
Iran announced it will scale back cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing deep dissatisfaction over what it...
- With strategic ties to both Iran and the United States, Baghdad is engaging both capitals in a bid to maintain its neutral stance.
- The UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has engaged in telephone diplomacy with several counterparts, focusing on regional de-escalation.