Tunisian brutalist landmark faces wrecking ball, sparking outcry
Tunis, Tunisia -- Tunisia's brutalist landmark the Hotel du Lac -- a 1970s postcard icon said to have inspired a...
Arts & Culture
Putin and Modi in China for summit hosted by Xi
President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries on Sunday to...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
Clashes between Iran, Afghanistan forces at border
Clashes broke out between Iranian and Taliban forces at the border between the two countries, Iranian police said without reporting...
- Even though Tehran and Kabul are bound by diplomatic relations, Iran does not recognize Afghanistan's Taliban government.
- Iran demanded that Afghanistan respect its "water rights", charging that an upstream river dam there is restricting the flow into a lake.
Business
Twitter withdraws from EU disinformation code
Twitter has decided to leave the EU's disinformation code, a voluntary pact that groups together the major social platforms, but...
- Since buying the social network six months ago, billionaire Elon Musk seems to have relaxed the moderation of problematic content.
- The code was written by the industry players themselves and contains over three dozen pledges such as better cooperation with fact-checkers.
Geostrategy
Iraq plans ambitious Europe-Middle East road, rail project
Iraq presented an ambitious plan to turn itself into a regional transportation hub by developing its road and rail infrastructure,...
- War-ravaged and beset by rampant corruption, oil-rich Iraq suffers from dilapidated infrastructure.
- Developing the road and rail corridor would allow Iraq to capitalize on its geographical position.
Geostrategy
UN backs Sudan envoy as army seeks his replacement
NEW YORK, US - United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked" by a letter from Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah...
- The army and paramilitary RSF are currently in the fifth day of a one-week ceasefire brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia.
- It is the latest in a series of moves by the army chief, who last week officially sacked RSF chief as his deputy in the ruling sovereign council.
Arts & Culture
IIFA Awards: Bollywood struts its stuff in UAE
The Gulf, with its millions of South Asian residents and migrant workers, is a "huge market" for Bollywood, said industry...
- Salman Khan and Abhishek Bachchan are among the A-listers in Abu Dhabi, capital of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates where more than a third of the 10 million population is Indian
- The stars will tread the green carpet - adopted in 2007 in a nod to climate change - after a year when Bollywood, Mumbai's Hindi movie machine, has misfired post-pandemic
Geostrategy
Drone strike targeted lawmaker’s home: Libya parliament
The UN-recognized Government of National Unity said the strikes hit "hideouts used by gangs of smugglers in fuel, narcotics and...
- The UN mission in Libya said it was in contact with concerned national authorities, calling on both to respect relevant national and international laws
- Libya is split between a nominally interim government in Tripoli in the west, and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar
Geostrategy
Saudi, US mediators see ‘improved respect’ for Sudan ceasefire
Within minutes of the ceasefire taking effect late Monday, witnesses in the capital Khartoum reported air strikes and gunshots. The...
- The United States and Saudi Arabia, which brokered the latest deal, reported "serious violations" since it took effect, particularly on Wednesday.
- As civilians, aid groups and mediators pleaded for a stop to the fighting, Sudan's defense ministry issued a call to arms.
Geostrategy
Iran, Belgium free jailed persons in prisoner swap
Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele after almost 15 months in custody, in a prisoner exchange for an Iranian...
- Oman said it had helped broker an "exchange deal" and that an Iranian previously held in Belgium was on his way to Tehran.
- Iran announced that the freed Iranian is diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was jailed in Belgium over a 2018 plot.
Business
Travel industry looks to Chinese tourists to cap post-Covid rebound
Jet makers, airline executives and hotel tycoons at this week's Qatar Economic Forum spoke of an apparently insatiable demand for...
- William Ellwood Heinecke, the owner of the Minor International hospitality group, said that in Q1 2023 the number of Chinese tourists in Thailand was 85% lesser than in 2019.
- "I think we are definitely in rebound, but more importantly we haven't seen China come back yet," he said, predicting the boom would be completed in the second half.
Geostrategy
In Sudan’s capital, risking death in search of water
After nearly six weeks of street battles between forces loyal to rival generals and with temperatures regularly topping 40 degrees...
- On April 15, when fighting broke out between Sudan's army and the paramilitary RSF, the station supplying several districts of North Khartoum with running running water was damaged
- Since then, about 300,000 of its inhabitants have not seen a drop of water run from their taps and some have reopened wells or used pots to draw water from the Nile River
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Tunisian brutalist landmark faces wrecking ball, sparking outcry
Tunis, Tunisia -- Tunisia's brutalist landmark the Hotel du Lac -- a 1970s postcard icon said to have inspired a...
Arts & Culture
Company News
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Turkish-backed jihadists breach Aleppo, displacing thousands and cutting vital highway to Damascus
By Friday, the jihadists and their allies had taken more than 50 towns and villages in the north and entered...
Trump threatens 100% tariff on BRICS countries over currency plans
Washington, United States - President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on the BRICS group nations...
Iran-Europe nuclear talks on as global tensions escalate ahead of Trump’s return
The stakes were laid bare in a warning from Britain's foreign intelligence chief that Iran's nuclear ambitions posed a major...
Geostrategy
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Arts & Culture
Crypto boss Justin Sun eats banana art he bought for $6.2 million
Hong Kong, China -- Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun on Friday fulfilled a promise he made after spending $6.2 million on an...
- Titled "Comedian", the conceptual work created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York last week, with Sun among seven bidders.
- Sun this week also became an advisor to World Liberty Financial, a crypto initiative backed by US president-elect Donald Trump, following a $30 million investment.
Saudi Arabia hosts UN talks on drought, desertification
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia will host the COP16 UN conference on land degradation and desertification next week as the...
- The subject of desertification is close to home for the Gulf kingdom, which has one of the biggest deserts on the planet
- Land degradation disrupts ecosystems and makes land less productive for agriculture, leading to food shortages and spurring migration
Israel PM again warns Iran after top diplomat talks of revising nuclear doctrine if more sanctions imposed
The renewed war of words between the Middle East foes came as Iran prepares to hold key nuclear talks with...
- Israel is the region's sole, if undeclared, nuclear-armed state, and it has long made preventing any rival from matching it its top defence priority
- Netanyahu said that the ceasefire that went into effect in Lebanon the following day would allow Israel to focus on Iran, but he did not elaborate on what action he envisaged