• US stocks open mixed ahead post fresh economic data

    New York, US- Wall Street stocks saw a mixed start to Thursday, as traders digested the latest economic data ahead of the Good Friday holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.2 percent to 39,829.51. The broad-based S&P 500 Index was flat at 5,247.74, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index retreated...
  • OECD predicts rise in global economy amid Middle East ‘risk’

    The OECD raised its 2024 world economic growth forecast Monday but warned that the Middle East conflict posed a risk, with disruptions in Red Sea shipping threatening to increase consumer prices. Global growth "proved unexpectedly resilient" in 2023, reaching 3.1 percent as inflation declined faster than anticipated..
  • McDonald Q4 profit up

    McDonald's cited war in the Middle East as a drag.
  • Houthis vow response after US, UK strike dozens of Yemen targets

    Saturday's strikes hit "36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea", the United States, Britain and other countries that provided support for the operation said in a statement.
  • US downed 8 drones off Yemen, hit 4 on ground

    Washington, US - American forces shot down eight drones near Yemen and destroyed four more on the ground, the US military said on Saturday, announcing a series of incidents that took place the previous day. The strikes and shootdowns in and around Yemen came as American forces launched a wave of air...
  • Egypt forms review team on restoring pyramid after outcry

    Cairo, Egypt - Egypt's antiquities ministry said on Saturday it was setting up a committee to review the restoration of Giza's Menkaure Pyramid after a public outcry over the project. A week ago, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, posted a Facebook video showing workers setting blocks...
  • Damascus says US occupation of Syrian territory ‘cannot continue’

    The United States has some 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in neighboring Iraq as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State group, a jihadist organization that once controlled swathes of both countries.
  • US retaliatory strikes hit Iran-linked targets in Syria, Iraq

    "The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond," US president Joe Biden said.
  • Most markets advance after tech titans fuel Wall Street surge

    Shares in Amazon, Apple and Facebook owner Meta all climbed during Thursday's session. All three companies were due to report results after the market closed
  • Pegasus used in Jordan to spy on key figures, says report

    Paris, France - Hackers have used the notorious Pegasus spyware to break into the phones of dozens of journalists and activists in Jordan over the past four years, according to the findings of an investigation released Thursday. The Access Now NGO highlighted 35 cases of hacking that date back to 2019,...
  • US stocks rebound from sell-off on Fed disappointment

    New York, United States - Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday, rebounding from the prior session's pullback as markets awaited more big tech earnings later in the day. Major indices had tumbled on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened expectations for an imminent cut in interest rates. Adam Sarhan...
  • Japanese lander disabled again but could restart after two weeks

    Tokyo, Japan - After a brief awakening, Japan's Moon lander is out of action again but will resume its mission if it survives the two-week lunar night, the space agency said Thursday. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its...
  • Norway warns of consequences over UNRWA funding cut

    "We urge fellow donor countries to reflect on the wider consequences of cutting their funding to UNRWA," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement to AFP. "UNRWA is a vital lifeline for 1.5 million refugees in Gaza," he said, adding that "to avoid collectively punishing millions of...
  • Pfizer reports loss in Q4

    The drugmaker's revenues fell 41 percent to $14.2 billion.
  • Pakistan and Iran vow to restore ties after cross-border strikes

    Tehran carried out strikes against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan on January 16, the same week the nation's military targeted Iraq and Syria. Two days later, Pakistan responded in kind with a pre-dawn raid on "militant targets" in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province, one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim regions in...
  • Baghdad, Washington to discuss removal of foreign troops from Iraq

    Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq and the United States on Saturday held a "first round" of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with the Middle Eastern country expecting discussions to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence. The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia...
  • Washington approves sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken led an intense diplomatic effort to broker the deal, telling the Turkish president three times during a trip to Ankara just after the February 2023 earthquake that there would be no planes if Turkey blocked Sweden's NATO bid, the US official said.
  • Boeing faces heat over quality control after Alaska Airlines fiasco

    The Alaska Airlines episode represents the most serious operational problem for Boeing since two crashes on 737 MAX 8 planes in 2018 and 2019 resulted in 346 causalities and led to a lengthy grounding of the jet.
  • US economy defy expectations to grow stronger in Q4 2023

    Washington, US - US economic growth was stronger than expected in the final months of 2023, government data showed Thursday, offering a boost to President Joe Biden as he starts his reelection campaign. The world's biggest economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, fueled by...
  • NATO kicks off biggest military exercise since Cold War

    The Western military alliance has said some 90,000 troops will take part in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise designed to test its defenses in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. "The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North...
  • Deaf boy can now hear after gene treatment

    The US hospital which carried out the treatment said the milestone represents hope for patients around the world with hearing loss caused by genetic mutations.
  • P&G posts mixed quarterly results

    Earnings per share dropped 12 percent to $1.40.
  • Macy’s rejects $5.8bn takeover deal

    The company also owns the Bloomingdale's store chain.
  • Trump closes in on Republican presidential nomination in New Hampshire

    Manchester, United States - Donald Trump aims to sew up the Republican presidential nomination after the contest narrowed to a two-horse race with Florida governor Ron DeSantis's withdrawal less than 48 hours before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. Short of a defeat in the Granite State, or a close second-place...
  • Houthis say US ship hit in latest attack, promise safe passage for Russian, Chinese ships

    In its own statement, the US military's Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East, said the Houthis on Thursday night "launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-Owned, Greek-operated tanker".
  • IEA says oil production to rise but demand to be halved in 2024

    Paris, France - World oil supply will continue to rise this year, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, as it predicted that demand growth would continue a downward slide throughout 2024. The Paris-based IEA, which advises oil-consuming nations, said it expects increase in global oil demand to halve from 2.3...
  • Money weighs on would-be Chinese parents as population falls

    Long alarmed by falling fertility, the government has relaxed its decades-long one-child policy in recent years to allow three children per family, while rolling out subsidies and calling on women to become homemakers. But the incentives and exhortations are doing little to change what demographers describe as an economic crisis...
  • Washington seeks ‘de-escalation’ in Middle East, says top US official

    Davos, Switzerland - The United States wants a "de-escalation" in the Middle East despite its strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. "We seek to stop the spread of conflict and to create the conditions for de-escalation," Sullivan said at the World Economic Forum...
  • Big win in Iowa moves Trump closer to Biden re-match

    The extent of his victory demonstrated the 77-year-old's success in turning his prosecutions into a rallying cry that has galvanized his followers as he takes his momentum into New Hampshire, the next state to nominate, next Tuesday. "I really think this is time now for everybody, the country, to come...
  • Iran asks US and Britain to ‘stop war against Yemen’

    Tehran, Iran - Iran urged on Monday the United States and Britain to "stop the war against Yemen" following their recent strikes on targets of the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels. US and British forces have hit scores of targets in Yemen after weeks of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea,...
  • China says ‘firmly opposed’ to all official US-Taiwan exchanges

    "China has always firmly opposed any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, and resolutely rebutted the United States for interfering in Taiwan's affairs in any way and under any pretext," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference.
  • Egypt denies suspending navigation through Suez Canal

    Cairo, Egypt - Egypt Saturday said that navigation movement in the canal is regular from both directions, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Lieutenant General Osama Rabie denied allegations of any temporary suspension of navigation due to the situation in the Bab al-Mandab.‏ ‏In a statement, the Chairman of the...
  • Yemen rebels: US, UK interests ‘legitimate targets’ after strikes

    Britain, the United States and eight allies said the strikes aimed to "de-escalate tensions". But Iran and other governments condemned the Western action or warned that unrest could worsen. The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting on the strikes on Friday, days after adopting a resolution...
  • IMF okays $700 million disbursement for cash-strapped Pakistan

    Washington, United States - The IMF's executive board approved an immediate disbursement of around $700 million for Pakistan Thursday as part of a program to support the cash-strapped South Asian country through an economic crisis. The funds were unlocked after the International Monetary Fund board approved the first review of a...
  • China, Russia trade soared in 2023 as commerce with US sank

    Beijing, China - Trade between China and Russia hit a record high in 2023, official data from Beijing showed on Friday, as commerce with the United States fell for the first time in four years on the back of geopolitical tensions. China-Russia trade reached more than $240 billion, customs figures showed,...
  • US consumer inflation jumps more than expected to 3.4 percent

    Washington, US - Consumer inflation in the United States rose more than anticipated in December, government data showed Thursday, underscoring the bumpy road to cooling price increases as the presidential election looms. The Department of Labor's consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, was up 3.4 percent from a...
  • South Africa accuses Israel of genocide at top UN court

    A world away from the death and destruction in Gaza and Israel, robed lawyers battled it out over technical legal arguments in the Peace Palace in The Hague. South Africa argues Israel is breaking its commitments under the UN Genocide Convention, a treaty signed in 1948 in the wake of...
  • Blinken tells Abbas US backs ‘tangible steps’ for Palestinian state

    Blinken "underscored the United States' position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with prior agreements," Miller said. Israel has for years withheld part of the funds, over issues including payments to Palestinian prisoners and more recently the Gaza...
  • International forces respond to drone reports in Red Sea: UK agency

    The Houthi rebels say they are acting in support of Hamas, targeting Israel and Israeli-linked vessels to push for a stop to the war in the Gaza Strip. In response to the Hothis attacks, the United States set up a multinational naval task force last month to defend shipping interests...
  • Private US lunar lander mission imperiled by technical snag

    Washington, United States -- An historic private mission to land on the Moon was facing potential failure Monday due to technical problems, in a blow to America's hopes of placing its first robot on the lunar surface in five decades. Fixed to the top of United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan...
  • Blinken warns Israel-Hamas war could ‘metastasize’

    Blinken will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi desert city of Al-Ula, said a US official on condition of anonymity. Qatar, a wealthy Gulf emirate which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, also hosts Hamas's political office and is the main residence...
  • India’s solar mission Aditya-L1 enters Sun’s orbit

    New Delhi, India - India's solar observation mission on Saturday entered the Sun's orbit after a four-month journey, the latest success for the space exploration ambitions of the world's most populous nation. The Aditya-L1 mission was launched in September and is carrying an array of instruments to measure and observe the...
  • Houthis hold mass rally for Gaza in Yemen capital

    Sanaa, Yemen - Thousands rallied in support of Gaza in the rebel-controlled Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans. The Houthis have launched more than 20 attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea in recent weeks, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the face of...
  • AI breathes new life into old trends at CES gathering

    Models on which AI is built have improved dramatically since last CES and the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and they are being applied in meaningful ways for consumers, according to Greengart. "There is little doubt that the tech ecosystem gathering in Las Vegas will focus on AI everywhere and on-device...
  • US, France call to ‘avoid escalation in Lebanon and Iran’

    Washington, United States - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna agreed to seek steps to avoid a wider Middle East war following strikes in Lebanon and Iran, the State Department said on Thursday. In a telephone call the day before, the two top diplomats "discussed...
  • Situation in Red Sea is direct projection of developments in Gaza: Russian diplomat

    "I think that hardly anyone of our counterparts will deny the fact that developments in the Red Sea are the direct projection of violence in Gaza, where the cruel operation of Israel continues already for three months," the Russian diplomat said at the meeting of the UN Security Council.
  • Turkey detains 56 high-priority suspects wanted by 18 countries

    The detained people were wanted in the United States, Germany, India, and several former Soviet republics as well as other parts of Asia and the Middle East.
  • France condemns Israeli minister’s Gaza emigration remarks

    Ben-Gvir on Monday called for promoting "a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza's residents" and the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. His comments came the day after Smotrich also called for the return of settlers to Gaza, adding that Israel should "encourage" the territory's approximately 2.4 million Palestinians to...
  • Israel minister slams US for condemning call for mass exodus of Gazans

    Washington has called out both Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have called for Israeli settlers to return to Gaza and for the territory's Palestinian inhabitants to leave. "Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land," the State Department said. Expelling civilians during a conflict or creating unlivable...
  • Israel rejects Hamas’ new proposal for release of Gaza hostages: report

    Washington, United States - Israel has rejected a new proposal from Hamas through Qatari and Egyptian mediators for a deal involving the release of hostages in three phases, Axios portal reported citing sources. Each phase, according to the proposal, would include a pause in fighting for more than a month in...
  • Iran asserts peaceful nuclear agenda amid western concerns

    Tehran, Iran - Iran's nuclear program remains peaceful, said Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday in response to a joint statement from the United States and three European countries. In a press release on Friday, Kanani suggested that these countries should reconsider their...