Trump’s second term begins: Highlights Middle East hostage return, promises diplomacy over conflict among top priorities
Trump vowed to be a “peacemaker and unifier,” citing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release as key steps toward peace,...
Geostrategy
Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine test Washington’s strategy under Trump leadership
The Trump administration faces a Middle East shaped by shifting alliances, unresolved conflicts, and evolving regional priorities, demanding a measured...
Geostrategy
Business
Crypto fraudster Bankman-Fried faces sentencing
Calling Bankman-Fried's seven-count conviction reflective of the defendant's "unmatched greed and hubris," the government's sentencing request argues for significant jail...
- US prosecutors are seeking a prison term of 40-50 years after a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty
- His attorneys depicted their client as a diligent young man motivated by philanthropy
Geostrategy
Cross-border fire between Hizbollah and Israel leaves 16 dead
Israeli rescue teams searching a damaged building in the border town of Kiryat Shmona "found a 25-year-old who was unconscious,...
- Hizbollah said it had fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel after its neighbour carried out a deadly strike on southern Lebanon
- The pro-Iranian movement said four of its fighters and two rescuers were killed, while its ally the Amal movement said it had lost two members
Geostrategy
Israel backtracks on canceled Rafah talks: US official
Israel's prime minister cancelled the visit after the US abstained on the UNSC vote, allowing it to pass. But Israel backtracked,...
- Netanyahu last week agreed to a request by Biden to send a team to Washington to hear US concerns
- The United States also insisted its abstention did not represent a shift in policy on Israel
Geostrategy
Israeli troops shoot dead three Palestinians in West Bank
Residents told AFP that Israeli forces entered Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp just after midnight (2200 GMT on Tuesday)...
- Residents told AFP that Israeli forces entered Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp just after midnight (2200 GMT on Tuesday) and forced their way into several houses.
- The health ministry said two men, Muhammad Sabti and Hamza Harawi, were killed in an air strike, and Ayman Azouqa was shot dead by Israeli troops.
Geostrategy
UN expert faces threats after Israel Gaza ‘genocide’ remarks
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said this week there were reasonable...
- The pressure, she said, "pisses me off, of course it does. But it ... creates even more pressure not to step back."
- Israel last month announced a visa ban on Albanese over comments denying that Hamas's October 7 attack was "anti-Semitic".
Geostrategy
Quran burner Salwan Momika says leaving Sweden for Norway
Stockholm, Sweden - An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who stoked international outrage by repeatedly desecrating the Quran last year said Wednesday...
- Salwan Momika, a Christian Iraqi who burned Qurans at a slew of protests in Sweden over the summer, told AFP that he had left Sweden and arrived in Norway.
- The Swedish Migration Agency revoked Momika's residency permit in October, citing false information in his original application.
Arts & Culture
Clowns try to put smiles back on faces of Gaza children
Palestinian Territories - The children of Gaza have little to eat, have had to flee their homes and have survived...
- Clowns and acrobats performed for children in the Nuseirat refugee camp's school where their displaced families have been sheltering the bombing.
- Wassim Lobed, whose support group organized the show, said they are trying to provide psychological relief to trauma-hit children.
Business
Hyundai to invest $50bn in South Korea
The automaker will make a bigger push to produce EVs.
- With the $50.5bn investment announced, Hyundai said it wants to "secure future growth engines in an uncertain business environment through constant change and innovation"
- Under the plan, Hyundai will create 80,000 jobs in South Korea and build three new EV factories, with the aim of increasing annual EV production to 1.51 million units by 2030
UN Palestinian agency chief says funding secured until end of May
Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and...
- UNRWA is in crisis since Israel accused that a dozen of its employees were involved in October 7 Hamas attack
- UNRWA chief warned last month that the funding crunch was so great the organization might not be able to operate beyond March
Geostrategy
Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza dead, say families
Jerusalem--One of the Israeli hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack has been killed and his body is being...
- The slain hostage, Uriel Baruch, 35, a father of two, was taken from the Supernova music festival by Hamas fighters
- Fighters from Hamas seized 253 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war
Trump’s second term begins: Highlights Middle East hostage return, promises diplomacy over conflict among top priorities
Trump vowed to be a “peacemaker and unifier,” citing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release as key steps toward peace,...
Geostrategy
Company News
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Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon’s displaced met with suspicion
Lebanon remains split over the group's decision to open a front against Israel in solidarity with Gaza and drag the...
Saied re-elected Tunisia president with 90.7% of the vote
Tunis, Tunisia - Kais Saied has been re-elected president of Tunisia with 90.69 percent of votes cast, electoral authority ISIE said...
HRW: Israeli strikes endanger civilians on Lebanon-Syria border
Human Rights Watch said the strikes were "impeding civilians trying to flee and disrupting humanitarian operations", adding: "The situation places...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
October 7 anniversary: Hamas praises ‘glorious’ moment in its resistance, Netanyahu says ‘we will win’
Hamas called the Palestinian resistance a testament of resilience against Israeli aggression, while Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's commitment to crush Hamas...
- Last year's October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity
- At least 41,870 Palestinians, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began
Geostrategy
Israeli airstrikes escalate in Lebanon as UN and Macron demand urgent ceasefire and de-escalation
As Israeli airstrikes rock Beirut, the UN demands peace and hostages’ release, and Macron criticizes Israel’s military actions, warning against...
- The UN secretary-general denounced Hamas and called for an immediate end to the "shocking violence and bloodshed" in Gaza and Lebanon
- French President Emmanuel Macron called Saturday for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza, provoking a sharp response from Israeli PM Netanyahu
Geostrategy
Iran FM threatens ‘even stronger’ retaliation to any attack
"Our reaction to any attack by the Zionist regime is completely clear," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in the...
- He spoke after an Israeli military official told AFP, the army was "preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack."
- The conflict has also drawn in Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and on September 23 Israel sharply intensified its campaign against the militant group