UN experts demand Israel face consequences for alleged Gaza war crimes and genocide claims
The experts called for urgent, independent and thorough investigations into alleged serious violations of international law, saying Israel's continued impunity...
Geostrategy
20-day-old baby Jumaa al-Batran dies from ‘severe cold’ in Gaza
Marwan al-Hamas, head of field hospitals in Gaza, confirmed the death. He said it brought to five the total number...
Geostrategy
Business
UAE to introduce 15% tax rate on corporate profit from Jan 2025
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates, home to the regional headquarters of numerous multinational companies, said Monday it...
- The move will bring the UAE in line with efforts towards a global minimum corporate rate.
- The UAE, long considered a tax haven, last year began taxing the profits of companies worth more than 375,000 dirhams ($102,000) at nine percent.
Business
Oil prices higher on China boost, Syria uncertainty
Major stock markets diverged as investors reacted to political crises in South Korea and France, and tracked the perspectives for...
- Oil prices rose more than one percent as traders tracked developments in Syria after president Bashar al-Assad fled the country over the weekend as rebels swept into Damascus.
- China is battling sluggish domestic consumption, a persistent crisis in the property sector and soaring government debt -- all of which threaten Beijing's official growth target.
ECB to cut rates again amid bleak eurozone outlook
The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates again this week amid a darkening outlook, with political turbulence...
- The central bank hiked rates aggressively from mid-2022 to tame surging energy and food costs
- Eurozone's anaemic growth rates are weighing down the broader single currency area
Assad’s fall reshapes Middle East politics, redefining power dynamics across the region
The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels shocked the world by swiftly seizing Aleppo and Damascus, overshadowing global focus on the...
- Assad had for nearly 14 years held off an uprising that many believed had been exhausted, but his downfall followed a series of battlefield convulsions for other allies of Iran
- Israel has all but decapitated the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon since September, while the killing of Hamas figureheads has dealt major blows to Assad's key backer Tehran
Geostrategy
UK Prime Minister to talk trade, Middle East during Gulf visit
London, United Kingdom -- Britain's leader Keir Starmer makes his first trip to the Gulf as prime minister from Sunday, seeking...
- Starmer will first visit the United Arab Emirates and then travel to Saudi Arabia, before stopping off in Cyprus on his way back to London on Tuesday.
- Starmer's trip comes after Britain last week rolled out the diplomatic red carpet for Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani who enjoyed a state visit to the UK.
Geostrategy
Trump touts tariffs, mass deportations and NATO skepticism
In his first formal television interview -- and just six weeks before he takes office -- Trump again signaled that...
- He also stressed that his campaign promises of huge tariffs -- including against top US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China -- would be enacted.
- As to whether Americans would see higher prices as a result of those tariffs, Trump said that "I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow."
Geostrategy
Celebrations erupt across Syria to mark end of 50 years of Baath party rule
Bashar al-Assad's whereabouts not clear, but his key backer Russia said he had resigned from the presidency and left Syria....
- Protests spread like wildfire in neighbouring provinces, with anti-government demonstrators toppling statues of late president Hafez al-Assad in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus
- The Israeli army said Saturday that its troops were assisting UN peacekeeping forces in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights in repelling an attack "by armed individuals
Syria: Assad faces stunning setbacks as rebels seize Daraa, Hama, and Aleppo in quick succession
While Aleppo and Hama, the two other main cities taken from government control in recent days, fell to an Islamist-led...
- Since a rebel alliance led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched its offensive on November 27, the government has lost Aleppo and subsequently Hama in central Syria
- Syria's civil war, which began with Assad's crackdown on democracy protests, has killed more than 500,000 people and forced more than half the population to flee their homes
Geostrategy
Turkey confirms Syria talks with Russia and Iran
A meeting was expected on the forum's sidelines between Turkey, and Damascus allies Iran and Russia.
- Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan "will meet with the Russian and Iranian ministers"
- The so-called Astana process involving the three countries was launched by Kazakhstan in 2017
World Bank announces record $100 bn support for world’s poorest countries
The World Bank announced Thursday that it had raised close to $24 billion to provide loans and grants for some...
- The Bank can use this money to borrow on financial markets
- This funding will be deployed to support the 78 countries that need it most
UN experts demand Israel face consequences for alleged Gaza war crimes and genocide claims
The experts called for urgent, independent and thorough investigations into alleged serious violations of international law, saying Israel's continued impunity...
Geostrategy
Company News
Honda shares soar 16%
Business
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Musk’s AI startup raises $6bn more, Saudi and Qatari funds among investors
Paris, France -- Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk's startup xAI said it had raised $6 billion from investors in its latest...
Business
Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
Asian stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday after a tech rally on Wall Street, but their gains remained modest in...
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Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
Honda and Nissan were poised Monday to announce the start of talks on a merger to help the Japanese giants...
- Their collaboration would create the world's third-largest automaker
- Honda and Nissan's partnership could include a manufacturing tie-up
Geostrategy
Pope again condemns ‘cruelty’ of Israeli strikes on Gaza
"And with pain I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children being machine-gunned, of the bombings of...
- The mounting criticisms of Israel appear to mark a change in the pope's tone in recent weeks. He has consistently called for peace since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war
- At the end of September, the Pope also criticized Israel's "immoral" use of force in Gaza and in Lebanon
Geostrategy
Tunisia women herb harvesters struggle with drought and heat
In Tunisia's highlands, women harvest wild herbs to earn a living, but drought is making their work harder, shrinking incomes...
- Tunisia produces around 10,000 tons of aromatic and medicinal herbs each year, according to official figures.
- Rosemary accounts for more than 40 percent of essential oil exports, mainly destined for French and American markets.