US launches eleventh consecutive night of Iran strikes as diplomacy stalls
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained willing to engage with Tehran if it demonstrated a genuine commitment...
Geostrategy
UAE says retraction of Dubai ‘explosions’ report will not halt probe
Dubai, UAE -- The government has said that Reuters' decision to withdraw and apologise for a report claiming explosions were...
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Geostrategy
Davos meet founder Klaus Schwab steps down from WEF board
Geneva, Switzerland -- The World Economic Forum said on Monday that its founder Klaus Schwab has stepped down from the...
- Schwab told the WEF's board that "as I enter my 88th year, I have decided to step down from the position of Chair and as a member of the Board of Trustees, with immediate effect.
- The WEF said Vice Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was appointed board chairman in the interim and that a search committee for replacement had been appointed.
Geostrategy
Pope Francis is dead at 88, world leaders pay tributes to the energetic reformer
"Today, we lost a faithful friend of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said, noting...
- His death sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals to choose a successor.
- In the next four to six days the Vatican's cardinals will decide on the pope's funeral date, at which point his coffin will be transferred to St Peter's Basilica.
Geostrategy
West Bank campus a dystopian shelter for Palestinians uprooted again
Jenin, Palestinian Territories - On deserted university grounds in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian children run outside nearly empty buildings,...
- Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the northern West Bank since Israel launched the offensive dubbed "Iron Wall" on January 21 in the area
- The United Nations agency, UNRWA, provides aid but recent Israeli legislation barring coordination with Israeli military authorities has complicated its work
Geostrategy
US defense chief shared sensitive information in second Signal chat: US media
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared information on forthcoming US air strikes on Yemen in a private Signal chat group...
- Last month, the Atlantic editor-in-chief was accidentally added to a Signal chat where officials discussed the March 15 strikes
- The information shared "included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen," the Times reported
Geostrategy
From tariffs to deportations, Trump’s first 100 days signal imperial shift in US leadership
Trump has also stepped up the sense of an endless reality show in which he is the star, as he...
- Trump has been driven by a sense of grievance left over from an undisciplined first term that ended in the shame of the 2021 US Capitol riots after his election defeat to Joe Biden
- And while Trump freed hundreds of those attackers from jail on his first day back in office, he is taking no prisoners when it comes to consolidating the power of the White House
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Gaza rescuers say Israeli air strikes kill 25 and injure dozens of Palestinians
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories -- Gaza's civil defense agency reported that Israeli air strikes since dawn on Sunday have killed...
- "Since dawn today, the occupation's air strikes have killed 20 people and injured dozens more, including children and women across Gaza," said Mahmud Bassal.
- In a separate statement later, the agency reported that five people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a group of civilians in eastern Rafah.
Geostrategy
US aid cuts strain response to health crises worldwide: WHO
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The United States slashing foreign aid risks piling pressure on already acute humanitarian crises across the...
- Donald Trump has effectively frozen foreign aid funding, moved to dismantle USAID and other programs, and announced plans to leave the WHO.
- Washington, which had long been the WHO's biggest donor, did not pay its 2024 dues, and it remains unclear if the United States will meet its membership obligations for 2025.
Geostrategy
Lebanon president says disarming Hezbollah ‘delicate’ as two dead in strikes
Beirut, Lebanon -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that disarming Hezbollah group was a "delicate" matter whose implementation required...
- "We will implement" a state monopoly on bearing arms "but we have to wait for the circumstances" to allow this. "Nobody is speaking to me about timing or pressure."
- Hezbollah, long a dominant force in Lebanon, was left weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, sparked by the Gaza war.
Business
Global tax plans targeting super rich and tech giants stall under Trump
Paris, France -- Global tax plans targeting billionaires and multinational companies are running aground, with the United States torpedoing reforms...
- Countries have accused Amazon, Microsoft, Google owner Alphabet and Facebook's parent company Meta of sidestepping local taxes.
- Trump issued a warning on February 21 to countries that would hit big tech and other US companies with fines or taxes that are "discriminatory, disproportionate".
Geostrategy
‘Resist Tyranny’: Another round of anti-Trump demonstrations hit major US cities
Many took aim at Trump's deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting "No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here," a reference...
- In New York, people gathered outside the city's main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like "No Kings in America" and "Resist Tyranny."
- In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process.
US launches eleventh consecutive night of Iran strikes as diplomacy stalls
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remained willing to engage with Tehran if it demonstrated a genuine commitment...
Geostrategy
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Israel says Gazans who landed in S. Africa unexpectedly had third-country approval
Israeli authorities said on Saturday that 153 Palestinians who turned up unexpectedly in South Africa, triggering questions from its president,...
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Saudi prince, eyeing defense pledge, to meet Trump after long US absence
Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalization with Israel at this stage, with Prince Mohammed's priority set for firmer...
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Rubio says US ‘optimistic’ for UN resolution on Gaza, backing an international force
US Secretary of State said the United States was speaking with different countries on ways to "balance their interests here,...
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Macron warns any planned West Bank annexation a ‘red line,’ to provoke a European reaction
He spoke as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas visited Paris one month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following...
- He spoke as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas visited Paris one month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of war
- Macron and Abbas announced the creation of a joint committee "for the consolidation of the state of Palestine", the French leader said
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Demand for air con set to triple by 2050, warns UN
Geneva, Switzerland -- Global demand for air conditioning could more than triple by 2050, the United Nations warned on Tuesday,...
- The UN Environment Programme said demand could surge due to increases in population and wealth around the world, combined with more extreme heat.
- Rising demand for more polluting and inefficient cooling systems "would almost double cooling-related greenhouse gas emissions over 2022 levels", said UNEP.
Geostrategy
Sharaa’s US visit: Syria joins alliance against Islamic State after White House talks
Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the...
- Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, was the first Syrian leader to visit the US since the country's independence in 1946
- According to the official, Syria will also be allowed to resume diplomatic relations with Washington "to further counterterrorism, security, and economic coordination."