Post SCO summit, China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin start talks in Beijing, says state media
The Chinese and Russian leaders criticised Western governments during the summit on Monday, where Xi slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain...
Geostrategy
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ‘strongly condemns’ civilian toll in Gaza
The 10-member SCO said they also strongly condemned US and Israeli strikes on Iran in June, in the statement issued...
Geostrategy
Business
Nvidia crosses $1trn in market value on Wall Street
Chip company Nvidia exceeded $1 trillion in market value as Wall Street stocks mostly rose, following an agreement between President...
- Nvidia jumped more than seven percent on bullish sentiment over its role in artificial intelligence breakthrough technology.
- Most large tech companies advanced early Tuesday, with shares of Facebook parent Meta and Apple both up more than one percent.
Geostrategy
Extension of Kurdish parliament unconstitutional, says Iraq supreme court
Iraq's supreme court ruled as unconstitutional the extended mandate of autonomous Kurdistan's parliament, rendering invalid votes taken by the chamber...
- The president of the top federal court in Baghdad, found unconstitutional the year-long extension of the chamber's mandate.
- As a result, decisions taken by the Kurdistan parliament since October 2022 "are constitutionally invalid", the judge said.
Geostrategy
Moscow issues 1.5m passports in occupied Ukraine territories
Russia has for years been issuing passports to people living in the eastern Donbas areas held by pro-Moscow separatists since...
- People from the occupied regions told AFP this month that they had been pressured into taking up a Russian passport.
- The EU has said it will not recognize Russian passports issued by Moscow in the "illegally-occupied" regions of Ukraine.
Geostrategy
Putin slams Ukraine as Moscow hit by multiple drone attacks
As drones struck in and around Moscow, Russian drones targeted Kyiv for a third straight day while Ukraine gears up...
- The Russian defense ministry said that eight drones were used in the attack, adding that five of them were downed and three disabled.
- Putin said Moscow's air defense had worked in a satisfactory manner, noting that the attacks were Kyiv's "response" to a Russian strike on Ukraine's army intelligence headquarters.
Science
Global action needed to reduce ‘extinction risk’ from AI, say experts
A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling...
- ChatGPT has demonstrated an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts -- and sparking billions of dollars in investments.
- Critics and insiders have raised the alarm over everything from biased algorithms to the possibility of massive job losses as AI-powered automation seeps into daily life.
Market Report
Stock markets give out mixed signals as traders await US debt ceiling vote
Stock markets wobbled as a deal to hike the US debt ceiling and avoid a painful default goes to a...
- Ultra-conservative Republicans feel House Speaker should have secured far deeper spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
- The left wing of the Democratic Party is equally unhappy that President Joe Biden agreed to any spending limits at all.
Geostrategy
Iran ‘resolves’ one of UN nuclear watchdog’s concerns
Iranian media reports came just days before the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to...
- The IAEA's concerns about the sites are one of the remaining obstacles to the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, which was left in tatters by the withdrawal of the US in 2018.
- The Marivan site in Abadeh county in the southern province of Fars is the first of the three sites to be addressed under a work plan agreed by Iran and the IAEA in March last year.
Geostrategy
Saudi national freed from captors in ‘special operation’ by Lebanese army
Beirut, Lebanon--A Saudi national who had been kidnapped in Beirut has been freed in a "special operation" by the Lebanese army...
- The army said that Saudi national Mashari al-Mutairi was freed from kidnappers in special operation by the army on the Syrian border
- The Saudi national was kidnapped by unidentified assailants dressed as security personnel in a four-wheel drive vehicle on the Beirut seafront
Geostrategy
Israelis revive flashpoint West Bank settlement
Neither the army nor the defence ministry commented on their role in Monday's developments at Homesh when contacted by journalists....
- The journalists saw Israeli soldiers guarding around 20 people carrying out construction work at the Homesh site, which Israel evacuated nearly two decades ago
- The latest development comes weeks after the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged his government had no plans to reconstruct the site
China launches mission with first civilian to space station
Shenzhou-16 is the first mission to Tiangong since it entered its "application and development" stage, authorities said. Shenzhou-16 will carry out...
- The Shenzhou-16 crew took off atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 9:31 am (0131 GMT)
- The launch was a "complete success" and the "astronauts are in good condition", said Zou Lipeng, director of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
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Post SCO summit, China’s Xi and Russia’s Putin start talks in Beijing, says state media
The Chinese and Russian leaders criticised Western governments during the summit on Monday, where Xi slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain...
Geostrategy
Company News
Amazon to invest $17bn in Spain
Business
Latest News
Israel vows ‘harsh response’ to Hezbollah attack
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed a "harsh response" to a Hezbollah rocket launch targeting a military position on Monday
Geostrategy
Macron to hold talks with Crown Prince Salman on Saudi visit
Macron is beginning the first state visit by a French president to Saudi Arabia since Jacques Chirac in 2006, cementing...
Geostrategy
Desertification talks open in Saudi Arabia as experts fire warning
UN talks aimed at halting the degradation and desertification of vast swathes of land start in Saudi Arabia. Forest loss...
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Geostrategy
US President Biden pardons son Hunter before White House exit
Washington D.C. -- US President Joe Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing...
- Hunter Biden was convicted earlier this year of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun - a felony
- Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother for cocaine charges and Trump pardoned the father of his son-in-law for tax evasion
Geostrategy
Bashar Al Assad of Syria seeks support from allies as extremist rebels take over key city of Aleppo
Extremist-dominated rebel alliance, including ISIS supporters, runs over Syrian city of Aleppo allegedly backed by Turkey. Russia and Iran push...
- Extremist rebels' offensive saw Syrian government forces lose control of Aleppo for the first time since the start of the country's civil war
Geostrategy
Gulf summit in Kuwait urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza
Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah called on the international community to implement "an immediate ceasefire, providing international protection for...
- Sheikh Meshal hit out at what he characterized as the "double standards in the application of relevant international laws, charters and resolutions."
- The Kuwaiti ruler spoke in support of Saudi Arabia's work to form a global body pushing for an independent Palestinian state.