Israeli fire kills 39 and wounds more than 100 Gazans near two aid centers
UN has said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 in the...
Geostrategy
Europeans tell Iran will reimpose sanctions if no progress on nuclear deal: France
Top European diplomats told their Iranian counterpart on Thursday they were determined to reactivate UN sanctions if Tehran does not...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
UAE says citizens can again travel to Lebanon
The announcement comes after Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun met with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on...
- UAE imposed the travel ban and withdrew diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, after a Lebanese minister criticized the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.
- Lebanese citizens were not banned from travelling to the UAE, although some experienced difficulties obtaining visas.
Geostrategy
Global rice output in 2024/25 likely to expand by 1.5%: FAO
Rome, Italy -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a new Cereal Supply and Demand...
- FAO’s latest forecast for 2025 wheat production is pegged at 795 million tons, on par with the previous year.
- FAO’s new forecast for world cereal utilization in 2024/25 stands at 2 870 million tons, a 1.0 percent increase over the 2023/24 level.
Geostrategy
Hamas armed wing releases video of apparently injured Israeli hostage
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, released a video Saturday showing an Israeli-Russian hostage who appeared to have...
- In the undated four-minute video, the hostage, wearing bandages on his head and left arm spoke in Hebrew, implying he had been wounded in a recent Israeli bombardment
- AFP and Israeli media identified the hostage as Russian-Israeli Maxim Herkin, who turns 37 a the end of May. His family urged media not to disseminate the video
Geostrategy
Murderer of Palestinian-American boy sentenced to 53 years
Washington, United States - An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of...
- Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted in February of fatally stabbing Wadea Al-Fayoumi and attacking the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen
- Czuba was the family's landlord and the attack took place a week after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023
Geostrategy
Israel launches new Syria strikes amid Druze tensions
Israel launched more than 20 air strikes inside Syria late Friday, a war monitor said, following up an attack near...
- The strikes came amid Israeli warnings to the Damascus government not to harm the Druze minority, following recent sectarian clashes
- An Israeli military statement said its forces had "struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria."
Geostrategy
Israel says intercepts missile fired from Yemen
The Israeli military said Friday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Huthi rebels recently claimed responsibility for a...
- Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have not claimed responsibility for the Friday launch, but said Sunday they had launched a "hypersonic missile" at the Nevatim air base
- The Huthis are part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and the United States, portraying themselves as defenders of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war
Geostrategy
Israel strikes near Damascus presidential palace over Druze violence that kills over 100 people
Israel has since then attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on Friday announced its "fighter jets struck adjacent to...
- Israel has attacked hundreds of Syrian military sites and on Friday announced its "fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the palace" in the capital Damascus
- Israel sees the new forces in Syria as jihadists and has warned them to protect the Druze minority, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying his country could otherwise respond."
Geostrategy
How much blood is enough to satisfy ‘political objectives’: WHO on Gaza
"We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza,...
- Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
- It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.
Economy
Slower growth expected in MENA region in 2025: IMF
"Growth is still projected to increase in 2025 and 2026, but at a considerably slower pace than anticipated last October,"...
- The lender lowered growth projections from 4 percent to 2.6 percent for 2025, and from 4.2 percent to 3.4 percent for 2026.
- In 2024, average growth in the region slowed to 1.8 percent -- from 2.1 percent the year before -- due to "ongoing conflicts and extended voluntary oil production cuts".
Geostrategy
UAE to lift three-year Lebanon travel ban: statement
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on its citizens travelling to Lebanon that...
- The decision was announced a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi.
- In 2021, the UAE imposed a travel ban on its citizens and withdrew diplomats from Beirut in solidarity with Riyadh after a Lebanese minister criticized Saudi intervention in Yemen.
Israeli fire kills 39 and wounds more than 100 Gazans near two aid centers
UN has said it had recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food, including 674 in the...
Geostrategy
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AI is learning to lie, scheme, and threaten its creators
In one particularly jarring example, under threat of being unplugged, Anthropic's latest creation Claude 4 lashed back by blackmailing an...
Research
Yemen’s Huthi rebels say fired missile at Israel
Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they fired a ballistic missile towards Israel on Saturday, in response to Israel's conduct towards...
Geostrategy
Iran holds state funeral for top brass slain in Israel war
Iran held a state funeral Saturday for some 60 scientists and commanders killed in its war with Israel, after its...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
Qatar urges Israel, Hamas to seize ‘window of opportunity’ for Gaza truce
US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza saying an agreement involving Israel and...
- US President Donald Trump voiced optimism on Friday about a new ceasefire in Gaza saying an agreement involving Israel and Hamas could come as early as next week
- Mediators have been engaged in months of back-and-forth negotiations with the warring parties aimed at ending 20 months of war in Gaza
Geostrategy
Putin says Russia, Ukraine peace proposals “absolute contradictory”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia and Ukraine's demands for peace were "absolutely contradictory", after two rounds of...
- Russian and Ukrainian negotiators swapped memorandums outlining their visions for how to end the three-year conflict at peace talks in Istanbul this month
- But other than large-scale prisoner exchanges, the talks have failed to result in any progress toward ending the fighting, triggered by Russian military offensive in February 2022
Geostrategy
Doctors’ aid group slams US-backed Gaza relief scheme over deadly roll-out
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operating last month and has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations, "is degrading Palestinians by...
- The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which began operating last month and has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations
- Starting in March, Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza for more than two months, leading to warnings of famine across a territory