GCC energy sector strengthens global role despite lower oil output
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to strengthen their position in global energy markets, supported by extensive natural resources, advanced...
Geostrategy
Meta, YouTube face trial over children harm
Opening statements in the first trial began in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where Instagram parent company Meta and Google’s...
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China’s power paradox: record renewables, continued coal
Bangkok, Thailand -- Call it the China power paradox: while Beijing leads the world in renewable energy expansion, its coal...
- China accounted for 93 percent of new global coal construction in 2024, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clear Air (CREA) found.
- China wants 3,600 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2035, but that may not meet future demand, risking further coal increases.
Geostrategy
Iran says no longer bound by ‘restrictions’ on its nuclear programme
Iran said on Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear programme as a landmark 10-year...
- The 2015 deal -- signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic republic
- But the pact had already been in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during President Donald Trump's first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitments
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US envoy Witkoff felt ‘betrayed’ by Israeli attack on Hamas in Qatar
Washington, United States - US envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's chief negotiator on the Middle East, has said that...
- "I think both Jared and I felt, I just feel we felt a little bit betrayed," Witkoff told the CBS news program "60 Minutes" in excerpts released Friday
- At the time, the strike halted the indirect negotiating process to end the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip, triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel
Geostrategy
Pakistan, Afghanistan officials to meet in Qatar after latest strikes
Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistani and Afghan officials were due to meet in Qatar Saturday to seek a path back to...
- Kabul accused Islamabad of violating the 48-hour ceasefire, which had paused nearly a week of cross-border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides
- The latest strikes targeted what Pakistan security sources said was a militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban in the Afghan border areas
Geostrategy
Trump tells Zelensky to ‘make a deal’ as Tomahawk plea misfires
Trump said as recently as last month that he believed Ukraine could take back all its territory -- but a...
- Trump said as recently as last month that he believed Ukraine could take back all its territory -- but a day after agreeing to meet Russian President Putin for a new summit
- "It's good that President Trump didn't say 'no,' but for today, (he) didn't say 'yes'" to providing Kyiv with Tomahawks, Zelensky told US broadcaster NBC on Friday
Geostrategy
Hamas says committed to Gaza truce and returning hostage remains
Responding to a call from Hamas for help locating the bodies of the 19 hostages, buried under the rubble alongside...
- A Turkish official told AFP on Friday that dozens of disaster response specialists were at the Egyptian side of the border awaiting a green light from the Israeli government.
- The 81-member team from Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) is equipped with specialized search-and-rescue tools.
Geostrategy
OpenAI halts MLK videos as deepfakes spark outrage
Washington, United States -- OpenAI has suspended its Sora 2 artificial intelligence tool from creating videos of civil rights icon...
- The slain civil rights leader's estate and OpenAI said the company would pause generations depicting King while it "strengthens guardrails for historical figures."
- Videos reanimating other dead figures including Malcolm X, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Amy Winehouse have flooded social media since Sora 2's launch on September 30.
Geostrategy
Trump says to meet Putin in Budapest after ‘great’ call, questions Ukraine’s push for Tomahawk missiles
In his latest abrupt pivot on Russia's 2022 invasion, Trump said he expected to meet Putin in Budapest within the...
- In his latest abrupt pivot on Russia's 2022 invasion, Trump said he expected to meet Putin in Budapest within the next two weeks for what would be their second summit
- Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that the threat of Tomahawks had pushed Moscow to negotiate, even as he deals with yet another Trump shift on the war
Geostrategy
Turkish experts to help find bodies in Gaza, as Trump warns Hamas
Turkey has deployed dozens of disaster relief specialists to help search for bodies under the mountains of rubble in Gaza,...
- Trump characterised the killings as a breach of the ceasefire deal he spearheaded, under which the Palestinian militant group returned its last 20 surviving hostages to Israel
- The Palestinian militants stressed their "commitment" to the ceasefire deal with Israel, and that they want to return all the remaining bodies of hostages left in Gaza
Geostrategy
Trump speaks with Putin ahead of Zelensky visit
Donald Trump held a crucial phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Thursday, a day before Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky meets...
- "I am speaking to President Putin now," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents."
- The call comes as Trump shows mounting frustration over the Kremlin leader's refusal to end the 2022 invasion of Ukraine despite their recent summit in Alaska
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GCC energy sector strengthens global role despite lower oil output
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continue to strengthen their position in global energy markets, supported by extensive natural resources, advanced...
Geostrategy
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US energy secretary says will control Venezuelan oil sales ‘indefinitely’
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that Washington will control sales of Venezuelan oil "indefinitely," a day after President...
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Yemen separatists set for Riyadh talks after fighting: official
The leader of Yemen's separatists is heading to Riyadh on Tuesday for talks, a Yemeni official told AFP, after days...
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Venezuelan parliament swears in interim president after Maduro’s ouster
Venezuela's parliament swore in Delcy Rodriguez as interim president on Monday, two days after US forces seized her predecessor Nicolas...
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US operation in Venezuela undermined international law: UN
"States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state," Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman...
- Shamdasani said the UN rights office had spent years reporting on the "continued deterioration" in Venezuela.
- But she dismissed US justifications for its actions, saying accountability for rights violations "can't be achieved by military intervention in violation of international law".
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Venezuela’s interim leader names commission to handle Maduro’s release
Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez on Sunday created a commission to seek the release of president Nicolas Maduro and his...
- Rodriguez tapped her brother Jorge, president of the National Assembly, and Foreign Minister Yvan Gil to co-chair the commission
- Accused of drug trafficking and terrorism, Maduro was detained in a New York jail Saturday and is due in court Monday
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Netanyahu says Israel won’t let Iran restore ballistic missile programme
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would not allow arch-foe Iran to restore its ballistic missile programme, just...
- "We will not allow Iran to restore its ballistic missile industry, and certainly we will not allow it renew the nuclear programme that we significantly damaged," Netanyahu said
- Netanyahu's threat comes days after Trump threatened to "eradicate" Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme, after the two leaders met in Washington last week