Israel’s aid blockade leaves Gaza’s pregnant women hungry and at risk
Like most women at the Gaza City hospital where she attends her pregnancy check-ups, Fatima Arafa's face looks fatigued, a...
Geostrategy
European Union says Israel has agreed to ‘expand’ Gaza aid access
"This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid...
Geostrategy
Economy
ECB goes on offensive as inflation pressure mounts
The European Central Bank will raise its interest rates on Thursday for the first time in over a decade, but...
- The European Central Bank will raise its interest rates on Thursday for the first time in over a decade, but the bank is already under pressure to do more amid record inflation
- Inflation in the eurozone sat at 8.6 percent in June, the highest ever recorded for the currency club and well above the ECB's two-percent target
Geostrategy
Iran supreme leader pardons, commutes sentences of prisoners
Iran's supreme leader has pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 2,200 prisoners, including some on death row, to...
- The supreme leader routinely grants collective pardons on major religious occasions
- The judiciary's website, Mizan Online, said 43 of the prisoners had been sentenced to death
Economy
China urges lenders to extend credit to property sector
China's banking regulator has urged lenders to extend more credit to real estate developers, as a growing number of homebuyers...
- The consumer mortgage boycott has worsened fears of financial contagion in the country's troubled real estate sector
- Furious at postponed deliveries of pre-sold homes, homebuyers have halted payments for already sold units in at least 100 residential projects
Business
Oil wealth stirs up Baghdad-Kurd enmity amid deadlock
Iraq's oil wealth is rekindling tensions between federal authorities and the autonomous Kurdish region, in a row that could compromise...
- Iraq sits on enormous oil reserves, and revenues from the sector feed 90 percent of the federal government budget
- It exports an average of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), while production in Kurdistan amounts to just over 450,000 bpd
Geostrategy
Iran, Russia, Turkey presidents to talk Syria war in Tehran
With the war in Ukraine still raging, Russian President Vladimir Putin travels Tuesday to Tehran for talks with his Iranian...
- All three are involved in Syria, with Russia and Iran supporting the Damascus regime against its opponents, and Turkey backing rebels
- Tuesday's summit comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a new offensive in northern Syria against Kurdish militants
Geostrategy
Iran has technical capacity to build nuclear weapon: official
Iran has the technical capacity to build a nuclear weapon but has not taken a decision to do so, an...
- The disclosure comes as efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers remain stalled
- The 2015 nuclear deal offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for imposing limits on its nuclear program and sought to guarantee Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon
Geostrategy
EU to discuss imposing harsher sanctions against Russia
The European Union will discuss tightening sanctions against Russia on Monday, as Moscow is accused of using the continent's largest...
- Brussels is expected to hold initial sanctions discussions Monday as Moscow is accused of using the continent's largest nuclear power plant
- With the conflict grinding on and increasingly spilling out into global energy and food crises, the EU's foreign ministers are considering banning gold purchases from Russia
Geostrategy
Biden’s fraught Middle East tour sees no diplomatic breakthrough
On issues ranging from energy prices to human rights and Israel's role in the region, Biden could point only to...
- Biden said concrete results on increased oil production would not be seen "for another couple weeks" -- and it was unclear what those might be.
- Although Saudi Arabia lifted overflight restrictions on Israeli carriers, the kingdom said the move was "not in any way a precursor to any further steps".
Economy
Iraq launches drive to preserve national icon: date palms
Thousands of young date palms, Iraq's national symbol, form lines that extend from the edge of the desert near the...
- Iraq's prized trees are central to a push aimed to preserve a long-threatened ancestral culture
- The number of palm trees in the area has fallen from six million, before the Iraq-Iran war, to less than three million today
Geostrategy
Israel pounds Gaza Strip with missiles after rocket fire
Israeli warplanes raided the Gaza Strip before dawn on Saturday in what it said was a retaliatory strike for rocket...
- WAFA said Israeli missiles were fired at two locations, one "near a tourist resort" where nearby houses were severely damaged
- In further retaliation for the Gaza rocket fire, Israel suspended a decision to increase the number of permits granted for Gazans to work in the Jewish state
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Israel’s aid blockade leaves Gaza’s pregnant women hungry and at risk
Like most women at the Gaza City hospital where she attends her pregnancy check-ups, Fatima Arafa's face looks fatigued, a...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Israeli army says operation under way in Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital
Al-Shifa is the Gaza Strip's largest hospital. The Israeli army had in November last year carried out an operation in...
Climate change undermines global security, says NATO chief
Baku, Azerbaijan--NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday stressed the need to fight global warming, and called climate change a "crisis...
Geostrategy
Putin hails election victory, says would not be ‘intimidated’
If he completes another full Kremlin term, Putin will have stayed in power longer than any Russian leader since Catherine...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Israeli PM says civilians can leave crowded Rafah before invasion
Israel has repeatedly threatened a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, where people shelter in tents crammed up against the...
- Netanyahu had on Friday said he approved the military's plan for an operation in Rafah as well as "the evacuation of the population."
- The US - which provides Israel military assistance - has said it wants a "clear and implementable plan" to ensure civilians are "out of harm's way."
Geostrategy
German Chancellor calls for Gaza deal with ‘longer-lasting ceasefire’
JERUSALEM – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday called for a deal to free hostages held in war-ravaged Gaza accompanied...
- In Jerusalem, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a "negotiated two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Netanyahu is under intense domestic political pressure to free hostages seized during Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack
Geostrategy
Attack on Gaza’s Rafah inevitable, says Israeli PM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to send ground forces into Gaza's southern Rafah city. The right-wing premier, whose security...
- Israel has repeatedly threatened to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah.
- US has said it cannot support a Rafah operation without a "credible, achievable, executable plan" to shelter civilians.