Israel pounds Gaza as Iran attack threat puts region on edge
The latest bombardments in Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defences and paused leave for combat units,...Geostrategy
Biden says Israel making ‘mistake’ in handling of Gaza war
Biden urged Netanyahu "to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all...Geostrategy
Xi urges Shanghai alliance solidarity, Putin praises support
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- which on Tuesday welcomed Iran as its ninth member -- encompasses a vast stretch of...During the virtual meeting, Xi "called for efforts to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security", state news agency Xinhua said.
Tehran's membership will support "collective security... expanding ties and communications (and) strengthening unity", Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said.
President Assad and Jordan’s foreign minister discuss refugees, drug smuggling
The focus of the discussion between the two was war refugees and a crackdown on cross-border smuggling, according to Jordan's...According to Jordan's foreign ministry, Assad and Safadi also discussed "humanitarian, security and political" steps towards a "comprehensive solution" to Syria's crisis
The ministry also said that Safadi brought up in his discussion with Assad the need for heightened cooperation between the two countries in order to curb drug smuggling
Israeli settler violence wreaks havoc on Palestinian economic growth and internal trade
Clothing stores, restaurants, tourism establishments and hotels are experiencing a sixty percent drop in business due to intensified violence, an...“The biggest impact is on internal trade,” says Rabeh Morrar, research director of MAS, the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute in Ramallah
The surge of settler attacks increases the challenges of an already weak and vulnerable economy that is already hit by Israeli strictures on movement
RAKEZ inks MoU with ICFA to foster trade in food, agriculture
RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE - Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) and the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA)...This alliance seeks to create opportunities for knowledge exchange, trade promotion, investment, and research and development collaboration.
The agreement is set to facilitate promotional activities for trade, market access, and business matchmaking opportunities between UAE and India.
Kuwait calls for border talks with Iran over gas field
KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT - Kuwait reinvited Iran on Monday to talks on their sea borders after Tehran said it was ready...Iran and Kuwait have held unsuccessful talks for many years over their disputed maritime border area, which is rich in natural gas.
Saudi Arabia is also a part of the dispute since it shares with Kuwait maritime gas and oil resources in the area.
Climate change spells ‘truly terrifying’ future of hunger, suffering: UN
On current policy trends, the planet will be 2.8C warmer by the end of the century, according to the UN's...UN human rights chief Volker Turk told a debate on the right to food that extreme weather events were wiping out crops, herds and ecosystems.
"Our environment is burning. It's melting. It's flooding. It's depleting. It's drying. It's dying," he said, evoking a "dystopian future".
PIF, ADQ show highest improvement in GSWF sustainability rankings
PIF ranked seventh with a score of 92 (on the GSR score of 100), followed by Mubadala (88), among the...Global SWF said it observed a very significant increase in the overall score across funds from 59 percent in 2022 to 63 percent this year.
PIF, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and ADQ, Qatar’s QIA, and Bahrain’s Mumtalakat have embraced the rating tool and taken the opportunity to improve practices.
Saudi Arabia summons Swedish ambassador over Quran burning
The kingdom had already condemned Wednesday's incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden stomped on the Muslim holy...Momika's Quran burning triggered widespread anger among masses and strong reactions from Arab countries
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called for collective measures to avoid such incidents in future
PwC culls a raft of senior execs after Australian tax scandal
PwC Australia has been mired in controversy since January this year, when it emerged that staff had leaked information from...Accounting giant PwC named eight partners who had "enabled poor behaviours to persist with no accountability" -- including former Australian chief executive Tom Seymour
Australian police have been investigating the leak since late May, while the parliament's powerful finance committee is gearing up to grill executives at a series of public hearing
Yellen to visit China, raising need to ‘responsibly manage’ ties
In Beijing, Yellen will discuss how the United States views its economic relationship with China, a senior Treasury official said...Yellen is expected to discuss with her counterparts the importance for both countries to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern
Yellen's planned July 6-9 trip comes just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met China's top leader President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing