03-12-2024 Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has arrived in the US state of Hawaii for a two-day visit, drawing a furious reaction from China. The trip is being billed as a stopover as part of a Pacific tour, but comes amid long-running tensions between the US and China and growing concerns …
Read More »Trump warns BRICS countries if they try to replace dollar
03-12-2024 WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on a bloc of nine nations if they were to create a rival currency to the US dollar. “The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch …
Read More »Global plastic talks collapse as oil states rebel
03-12-2024 SEOUL: Countries have failed to reach a landmark agreement on tackling plastic pollution after more than two years of negotiations. More than 200 nations met in South Korea for what was meant to be a final round of talks but deep divisions remained between a group of nearly 100 …
Read More »British lawmakers give initial support to assisted dying bill
02-12-2024 LONDON: Britain’s parliament backed a new bill to allow assisted dying on Friday, kicking off months of wrangling over a possible legal change that has sparked a national conversation about dignity in death and end-of-life care. In an initial approval of the bill, 330 lawmakers voted in favor with …
Read More »Russia conducts strikes in support of Assad
02-12-2024 DAMASCUS/ AMMAN: The Syrian army said on Saturday dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels who swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years. Russia’s …
Read More »Gautam Adani breaks silence on US bribery indictment
02-12-2024 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: Adani Group founder Gautam Adani responded for the first time on Saturday to allegations by US authorities that he was part of a $265 million bribery scheme, saying that his ports-to-power conglomerate was committed to world class regulatory compliance. The indictment is the …
Read More »Thousands visit site of Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination
02-12-2024 BEIRUT: Thousands of people have descended on the site where former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli air strike, after the group allowed access to the area for the first time for a public memorial. The massive crater left by the Beirut strike was lit up …
Read More »Belgium’s sex workers get maternity leave & pensions
02-12-2024 BRUSSELS: “I had to work while I was nine months pregnant,” says Sophie, a sex worker in Belgium. “I was having sex with clients one week before giving birth.” She juggles her job with being a mother of five which is “really hard”. When Sophie had her fifth child …
Read More »Food charity pauses Gaza work after staff killed
02-12-2024 GAZA STRIP: The charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) has said it is pausing its operations in Gaza after a vehicle carrying its staff members was hit by an Israeli air strike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the target of the strike had taken part in the 7 October …
Read More »Trump picks loyalist Kash Patel to head FBI
02-12-2024 WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump has picked a former aide, Kash Patel, to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an agency Patel has often criticized. A former US defence department chief of staff in the first Trump administration, Patel has been a steadfast supporter of the incoming Republican president. …
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