Hamas tells AFP ready to transfer Gaza governance to Palestinian committee
"Protocols are prepared, files are complete, and committees are in place to oversee the handover, ensuring a complete transfer of...
Geostrategy
Geostrategy
US envoy in Beirut says ‘real opportunity’ to end Israel-Hezbollah war
US special envoy said he was in Beirut because he saw "real opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war
- US special envoy said he was in Beirut because he saw "real opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war
- "I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochstein said
Geostrategy
UN climate chief at deadlocked COP29: ‘Cut the theatrics’
As the UN climate talks limp into a second week in Azerbaijan, the world is no closer to a finance...
- Nations have until Friday to break the impasse over how to raise $1 trillion a year for developing countries to cope with global warming.
- Climate-vulnerable countries want developed nations to commit to substantially raising their existing pledge of $100 billion a year.
Economy
Egypt’s middle class cuts costs as IMF-backed reforms take hold
Cairo, Egypt -- Egypt's economy has been in crisis for years, but as the latest round of International Monetary Fund-backed reforms...
- The world lender has long backed measures in Egypt including a liberal currency exchange market and weaning the public away from subsidies.
- Foreign debt quadrupled since 2015 to register $160.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Much of the debt is the result of financing for large-scale projects.
Arts & Culture
Magritte’s ‘Empire of Light’ to fetch nearly $100m at New York auction
New York, United States -- With a Magritte painting estimated to sell for nearly $100 million, drawings by pop artist Keith...
- The seminal 1954 work is one of a series of paintings from the Surrealist master depicting the interplay of shadow and light.
- Its estimated price is $95 million, which would easily shatter the previous record for a Magritte, $79 million in 2022.
Geostrategy
End of a love affair: news media quit X over ‘disinformation’
Paris, France -- News outlets have begun quitting X, formerly Twitter, once a favorite of global media but now accused of...
- Sweden's newspaper of reference, the left-liberal Dagens Nyheter (DN), on Friday became third major media outlet to stop publishing its articles on X.
- "Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his and Donald Trump's political ambitions," said editor-in-chief Peter Wolodarski.
Geostrategy
Lebanon economic losses top $5 billion in year of clashes: World Bank
Beirut, Lebanon -- More than a year of clashes that recently escalated into war have cost Lebanon more than $5 billion...
- The losses are "largely concentrated in the commerce and tourism and hospitality sectors... as well as in the agriculture sector", the Bank said in a report.
- "The final cost of damage and losses for Lebanon associated with the conflict is expected to significantly exceed those presented in this assessment," the report said.
Business
Salik 9M net profit $223m
The company's third-quarter profit increased by 8.8 percent.
- Salik reported 355.6 million revenue-generating trips, which increased 5.1 percent YoY to drive total revenue of AED1.640 billion.
- Revenue from toll usage, comprising 86.7 percent of total revenue, rose 5.1 percent YoY to AED1,422.2 million in the nine-month period.
Geostrategy
Saudi-hosted summit says Mideast peace requires end to Israeli occupation
The summit's closing statement said that "a just and comprehensive peace in the region... cannot be achieved without ending the...
- The international community should "launch a plan with specific steps and timing under international sponsorship" to make a sovereign Palestinian state a reality, it added.
- The leaders also condemned "horrific and shocking crimes" by Israel's army, saying they occurred "in the context of the crime of genocide".
Business
Avia to buy 40 Boeing aircraft
The transaction for the purchase of 737 MAX 8 jets valued at $4.9bn.
- Avia's first firm order with the aviation giant comes with an option to add another 40 jets later, Boeing and Avia said in a statement.
- The purchase announcement came shortly after striking workers at Boeing last week approved a new contract proposal, ending a more than seven-week stoppage that cost it billions
Geostrategy
Saudi crown prince demands Gaza, Lebanon ceasefires at Arab summit
Prince Salman also called on Israel not to attack Iran, highlighting improving ties between Saudi Arabia and its former regional...
- Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the international community must "immediately halt the Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon".
- A draft resolution for the summit stresses "firm support" for "national rights" for the Palestinian people, "foremost among which is their right to freedom".
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Business
Israel returns 15 bodies to Gaza after hostage remains identified
It came after Israel announced that a body handed over by Hamas on Tuesday was that of Dror Or, one...
Geostrategy
Insurance giant Allianz signals job cuts in AI shift
Frankfurt, Germany -- German insurance giant Allianz signalled Wednesday looming job cuts due to its adoption of artificial intelligence, with...
Business
Robots take centre stage at Singapore ‘Olympiad’
Singapore -- The World Robot Olympiad opened in Singapore on Wednesday with hundreds of international students, some as young as...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
G20 grapples with splintering world order
"Too many countries are retreating into geopolitical blocs or the battlegrounds of protectionism," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters....
- He and the other leaders at the summit -- which was boycotted by the United States -- held a searching discussion on how the G20 can survive in a fragmenting world.
- The United States is to host next year's G20 summit, with Trump planning to hold it at a Florida golf club he owns.
Geostrategy
Israeli strikes kill 21 in Gaza, dozens more wounded: Civil defense
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, Bassal said one strike hit a house in Deir el-Balah in the...
- The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the strikes.
- It urged the international community to put "immediate pressure" on Israel to "stop the massacres".
Geostrategy
Amazon climate deal a ‘win’ for global unity but fossil fuels untouched
Nearly 200 countries approved the deal by consensus after two weeks of exhaustive negotiations on the fringes of the rainforest,...
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who staked political capital on the success of COP30, said the pact was proof that a fractured world could still unite in crisis.
- There was less euphoria in Belem, where defeated European ministers admitted they only took the watered-down deal to keep the entire process from imploding.