Ethiopia inaugurates Africa’s biggest dam, drawing Egyptian protest
Guba, Ethiopia -- Ethiopia inaugurated the continent's largest hydroelectric project on Tuesday in what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called a...
Geostrategy
UK’s Starmer to meet Palestinian leader Abbas
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to meet Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas Monday, as the UK government edges towards...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Amnesty voices concern over Iran’s ‘intensified hijab crackdown’
Amnesty International expressed concern over the crackdown launched by Iran against women deemed to have violated the Islamic republic's dress...
- Amnesty said that Iran has begun a new crackdown on women's dress after the intensity of protests died down
- The country's conservative clergy who dominate the leadership and parliament passionately defend the dress code
Microsoft, Google beat profit expectations
Tech titans announced better-than-expected earnings.
- An earnings statement reported that net profit for Microsoft was $20.1 billion in the April to June period, up 20 percent year-on-year and above expectations
- Microsoft shares lifted off last week when the company said it would charge $30 extra per user to turbocharge its Microsoft 365 product with AI power
Geostrategy
8 civilians, 7 soldiers killed in separate Yemen blasts
A government security official said that "an arms dealer was killed along with his wife and five of his children...
- An official in the government forces reported that four Yemeni soldiers were killed Tuesday evening
- The government military official said "the Houthis infiltrated the road and planted four explosive devices"
Geostrategy
Tunisians rally on second anniversary of Saied’s power grab
During Tuesday's protest, Ennahdha spokesman Imed Khemiri denounced "the return of a policy of intimidation... which restricts freedom of expression...
- Addressing the crowd, veteran politician Ahmed Nejib Chebbi denounced a "total failure" by Saied in managing the state
- The opposition has kept up its protests against Saied's dramatic July 2021 move sacking the government and suspending parliament
Geostrategy
Iranian authorities arrest several Bahais for links with Israel
Tehran, Iran - Iranian authorities have arrested several followers of the Bahai faith accused of spying for Tehran's arch-foe Israel, local...
- "A number of members at the core of the Bahai spy party have been arrested in Gilan province" in Iran's north, said Fars news agency.
- Fars reported the group was alleged to have links "with the Zionist center known as Bayt al-Adl located in the occupied Palestinian territories".
Business
General Motors Q2 profits up
Revenues were recorded at $44.7 billion, up 25 percent.
- General Motors (GM) reported profits of $2.6 billion, up 52 percent from the year-ago level.
- GM scored higher deliveries compared with the year-ago period in both North America and China.
Economy
IMF upgrades growth projection for 2023 on resilient service sector
The IMF said the global inflation picture has improved somewhat, with consumer prices now forecast to increase by 6.8 percent...
- The global growth forecast for this year was raised by 0.2 percentage points from the IMF's last forecast in April.
- However, IMF said global growth is expected to slow to three percent this year and then stay there.
Economy
US Federal Reserve meets to consider raising rates to 22-year high
After a pause in June, the Fed is widely expected to push ahead with what would be its 11th interest...
- Futures traders assign a probability of close to 99 percent that the Fed will lift its base rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, according to CME Group.
- The quarter percentage-point hike predicted by analysts and traders would raise the Fed's benchmark lending rate to a range between 5.25-5.50%, its highest level in 22 years.
Geostrategy
UN begins pumping oil from decaying tanker off Yemen
"The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world's largest ticking time bomb," UN Secretary-General...
- The transfer of 1.14 million barrels of Marib light crude from the 47-year-old FSO Safer to the new vessel is expected to take around three weeks.
- The UN hopes the $143 million operation will eliminate the risk of an environmental disaster that it estimates would cost $20 billion to clean up.
Geostrategy
Three Palestinians killed by Israel troops: Palestinian ministry
Violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year has killed at least 201 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian. They include,...
- The Israeli army said three "armed terrorists" had opened fire on its soldiers from a vehicle in a Nablus neighbourhood and the troops fired back "to neutralise" them
- Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities
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Ethiopia inaugurates Africa’s biggest dam, drawing Egyptian protest
Guba, Ethiopia -- Ethiopia inaugurated the continent's largest hydroelectric project on Tuesday in what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called a...
Geostrategy
Company News
Intel to slash workforce
Business
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China’s Baidu releases new, free AI model to compete with DeepSeek
Baidu announced in a WeChat post that its latest X1 reasoning model -- which the company claims performs similarly to...
Business
Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to ‘surrender’, amid efforts for a ceasefire
Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive in the western border region of Kursk over the past week, recapturing much of...
Geostrategy
Gold tops $3,000 for first time on Trump tariff threats
Gold surpassed $3,000 for the first time Friday as US President Donald Trump's trade wars boost the safe-haven asset, while...
Economy
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Geostrategy
Iran says response to Trump’s letter under ‘assessment’
Iran will conduct a "thorough assessment" before responding to US President Donald Trump's letter urging nuclear talks and warning of...
- The letter - which Trump said was addressed to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - was delivered to Tehran by the UAE
- It was not immediately clear if Khamenei, who has the final say in matters of state, had personally received the letter
Geostrategy
Egypt, Jordan, Hamas, PLO hail Trump remarks on not ‘expelling’ Palestinians from Gaza
It was not immediately clear whether Trump's comments signalled further backtracking from his widely criticised proposal to take over the...
- Arab states have already offered a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority
- Arab foreign ministers met in Qatar on Wednesday with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss reconstruction for Gaza
Geostrategy
Arab ministers, US envoy discuss Gaza reconstruction amid ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar
The plan by Muslim-majority nations has been rejected by both Israel and its key ally the United States, but has...
- The 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) formally adopted a plan put forward by the Arab League at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia
- The Egyptian-spearheaded plan emerged as a proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority