Publishers fight back against US book bans
Frankfurt, Germany -- Escalating attempts to remove works featuring themes such as LGBTQ lifestyles and race relations from US bookshelves...
Geostrategy
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...
Geostrategy
Business
ADB partners committed US$11.4bn to cofinance Asia-Pacific projects in 2022
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Asian Development Bank's financing partners committed US$11.4 billion to confinance projects in 2022 that boosted the resilience...
- The report reveals that ADB and its partners enabled the countries to face current and emerging shocks.
- ABD and its partners financed projects that helped developing members strengthen trade and small businesses.
Geostrategy
Dangerous provocation: Muslim nations condemn Quran burning
Under a heavy police presence, Salwan Momika stomped on the Quran before setting several pages alight in front of Stockholm's...
- The incident occurred as Muslims around the world began marking the Eid al-Adha holiday and as the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close.
- Iraq's influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr called for a demonstration outside theh embassy in Baghdad to demand the removal of the ambassador.
Geostrategy
Key judicial reform clause thrown out, says Israeli PM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "thrown out" a key provision of his controversial judicial reform plan that...
- The proposed changes to the justice system have also drawn intense criticism from the international community.
- The proposals had sparked one the country's biggest protest movements with thousands taking to the streets since they were announced in January.
Geostrategy
Turkey to hold NATO talks with Sweden next Thursday
Turkey dropped its objections to Sweden's nordic neighbour Finland joining earlier in the year and Helsinki became a NATO member...
- NATO counterparts have been pushing Turkey to grant the green light to Sweden by the time a summit is held in Lithuania on July 11-12
- Sweden and Finland last year reversed decades of hesitation and formally applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine
Geostrategy
Iran takes Canada to UN court over terror compensation
The UN's top tribunal said on Wednesday that Iran has taken Canada to the International Court of Justice for allowing...
- Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was downed shortly after take-off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people aboard
- Canada broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 as relations frayed over Tehran's support for Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, its nuclear program
Geostrategy
Rescue ship saves 86 migrants off Libyan coast: charity
The UN's International Organization for Migration estimates that 1,724 migrants had disappeared trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so...
- Spokesman for the charity said that most of the migrants were minors, trying to cross the Mediterranean on their own, without family
- Italian authorities said the passengers can disembark at its port of Bari, which the charity said was still a three-day voyage away
Geostrategy
Kuwait, France discuss bilateral ties, cooperation on regional, global issues
Paris, France - Kuwait and France discuss bilateral relationship and cooperation on regional and global issues of shared interests on Tuesday. ...
- Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Salem emphasized the close ties between the two nations, and the high level of cooperation they have achieved across various fields
- The discussions also covered a wide range of topics, including the historical links between the two countries and strategies for strengthening their ties
Geostrategy
Iranian pilgrims at ease during hajj post Riyadh-Tehran detente
MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA- If a landmark reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran has eased tensions in the Gulf, clouds have also...
- An Iranian tour operator who has joined the hajj on several occasions said he was feeling "comfort and safety" in Saudi Arabia.
- More than 86,000 Iranians, including 300 aged over 80, are on this year's hajj, according to Iranian media reports.
Geostrategy
Covid-19 has not gone away, kills 1,000 a week in Europe: WHO
Copenhagen, Denmark - The World Health Organization's European office on Tuesday warned the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying...
- "Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away," WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said
- "Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic," Kluge said
Geostrategy
Hajj attendance falls short of record, as pilgrims crowd Mount Arafat
The data showed most of the faithful came from abroad. The Kingdom's officials had predicted more than 2.5 million pilgrims,...
- The ritual at Arafat is the high point of Hajj. The pilgrims recited Koranic verses on the hill, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.
- Helicopters hovered low overhead, monitoring crowds at the event which has a tragic history of deadly stampedes and fires.
Publishers fight back against US book bans
Frankfurt, Germany -- Escalating attempts to remove works featuring themes such as LGBTQ lifestyles and race relations from US bookshelves...
Geostrategy
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Hamas sees ‘positive’ signs for ceasefire talks as Israel cuts Gaza electricity, blocks aid flow
In a statement, Netanyahu's office said that Israel had accepted an invitation from US-backed mediators and would "send a delegation...
Geostrategy
Hamas pushes for phase two of Gaza truce talks
Hamas said its representatives met with mediators in Cairo at the weekend, emphasizing the need for humanitarian aid to re-enter...
Geostrategy
Muslim nations meet in Jeddah to unite against Trump’s controversial Gaza takeover proposal.
Trump's plan has already united Arab countries in opposition, with Saudi Arabia also hosting Arab leaders two weeks ago to...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
UNRWA warns Israel’s West Bank operation aligns with annexation ‘vision’
The Israeli operation, which the military says targets militants in the northern West Bank, was launched shortly after a truce...
- Israeli forces carry out regular raids targeting militants in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, but the ongoing operation since late January is already the longest in two decades
- Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said troops would remain for many months in the evacuated camps to "prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism."
Geostrategy
Hamas says Trump’s ‘DEAD’ threat to Gaza undermines ceasefire
"Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you...
- Trump said later he was "sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job" as his administration expedites billions of dollars in weapons.
- "These threats complicate matters regarding the ceasefire agreement and encourage the occupation to avoid implementing its terms," said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasim.
Interview
Building futuristic sustainable urban cities starts from the underground up
Underground innovation, digitization, and AI are vital for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future cities, says Sam Wiffen, director and founder...
- By 2050, the population of the world’s cities is expected to double from the World Bank’s current estimate of 4.4 billion people.
- Modern citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with urban living characterized by overcrowding, noise pollution, environmental challenges, poor infrastructure, inadequate responses.