User Articles

‘This is a challenge of Putin towards NATO’

Securing an end to the fighting in Ukraine must take place with Kyiv’s full involvement and come with more defence spending by regional countries to avoid any future Russian aggression, according to Lithuania’s president. Gitanas Nausėda, the...

Economy

Brexit aftershocks still rock UK

Five years ago, two crowds of people gathered near Britain’s parliament building – some with Union Jacks and cheers, others European Union flags and tears. On January 31, 2020, at 11pm London time – midnight at EU headquarters in Brussels –...

Economy

From avocados to autos, Trump tariffs hit close to home

The 25 per cent tax that President Donald Trump plans to slap on imports from Canada and Mexico as soon as Saturday could drive up the price of everything from gasoline and pickup trucks, to Super Bowl party guacamole dip. The tariffs would also...

Germany

Migration bill could be turning point in German politics

Germany’s parliament is expected to vote on an opposition bill calling for tougher rules on migration that could become the first legislation to pass thanks to a far-right party — adding to a controversy about the attitude of the front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election toward the far right.

Africa

Rebels take fight to Congo’s capital

Rwanda-backed rebels who captured eastern Congo’s largest city say they want to take their fight to the far-off capital, Kinshasa, while Congo’s president called for a massive military mobilisation to resist the rebellion and his defence minister rejected calls for dialogue. Congo’s Defense Minister Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita said he has directed plans for any dialogue with the rebels to “be completely burned immediately”. “We will stay here in Congo and fight. If we do not stay alive here, let’s stay dead here,“ said Muadiamvita, a close ally of Congo’s president.

Ukraine

9 hours ago

Frontline training sharpens new recruits

Dozens of soldiers have teken part in military training near the frontline in eastern Ukraine this week. The drills, focused on sharpening urban combat skills, were held in the Donetsk region and organized by the 108th Separate Mechanized Battalion, known as the Da Vinci Wolves, for their newly recruited troops.

9 hours ago

Middle East

10 hours ago

The barn owl: An unlikely symbol of cooperation

It soars over the borders and divisions of the war-torn Middle East, bringing Arab and Israeli academics together. An unlikely symbol of cooperation, the barn owl is now getting global attention. Experts from 12 countries gathered in Greece last week to discuss an effort to help this remarkable predator that began decades ago as an unlikely Israeli-Jordanian collaboration.

10 hours ago

Finance

11 hours ago

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11 hours ago

Finance

13 hours ago

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13 hours ago

Japan

31 Jan 2025

Rescuers race to save elderly man stuck in sinkhole

A truck that fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened on a road near Tokyo has captured national attention as attempts to rescue the elderly driver drag on. Residents near the hole have taken shelter at a local school, and there were worries about flooding and leaking sewage water. There’s also been a renewed debate about Japan’s aging infrastructure.

31 Jan 2025

Syria

Former rebel leader named interim president

The Syrian factions that toppled President Bashar Assad last month have named an Islamist former rebel leader as the country’s interim president in a push to project a united front as they face the monumental task of rebuilding Syria after nearly 14 years of civil war. The former insurgents also threw out Syria’s constitution, adopted under Assad, saying a new charter would be drafted soon. The appointment of Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, as Syria’s president “in the transitional phase” came after a meeting of the former insurgent factions in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Explainer

What is the Laken Riley Act?

President Donald Trump has signed the first bill of his new administration, and it is named after a slain Georgia nursing student whose name became a rallying cry during his White House campaign. Trump said that he appreciated the bipartisan support for his first piece of legislation since he took office on January 20. The Laken Riley Act will require the detention of unauthorised immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes.

Africa

Rebels tighten grip in Congo

Rebels backed by Rwanda have captured more towns in eastern Congo as they moved beyond the key city of Goma in an apparent attempt to expand their control in the conflict-battered region. The rebels advanced toward the centre of South Kivu province after taking several towns, including Kalungu, Kanyezire and Mukwinja, according to a local civil society leader and an aid worker in the area. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the developments were concerning, and that the United Nations was taking measures to protect civilians and UN staff.

Space

Asteroid has slim chance of hitting Earth

A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said. Scientists put the odds of a strike at slightly more than 1 per cent. “We are not worried at all, because of this 99 per cent chance it will miss,“ said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. “But it deserves attention.“

Israel

More hostages set for release

Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, as well as five Thai nationals during the next hostage release, Israel and Hamas say as their tenuous ceasefire moves ahead. The Israeli women are Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Agam Berger, 20, and the man is Gadi Moses. The identities of the Thai nationals were not immediately known. They will be released on Thursday, local time. A number of foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that set off the war in Gaza.

Canada

Ontario calls snap election

The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has triggered a snap election, saying he needs a strong four-year mandate to fight the tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump. Doug Ford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, said the 25 per cent tariffs threatened by Trump would devastate Canada’s economy and cost Ontario thousands of jobs. ”The people of our province, like people across Canada, are facing unprecedented times,“ Ford said in Windsor, Ont. “I am asking the people of Ontario for their trust. I’m asking (...) for a strong, stable, four-year mandate to do whatever it takes to protect Ontario.“

Japan

Sinkhole swallows truck whole

Emergency workers were searching for a missing driver after a large sinkhole swallowed a truck near Tokyo. A 10-metre-wide sinkhole opened up in the middle of a street in the early morning hours in Yashio City, Japan, according to the local fire...

Middle East

Ship ablaze after explosion

An explosion has struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship travelling north through the Red Sea, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel. The ship was drifting and ablaze about 225 km (140 miles) off the coast of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen held by the country’s Houthi rebels, said the Diaplous Group, a maritime firm. It didn’t name the vessel. Data from NASA satellites tracking wildfires showed that the blaze burning Tuesday and Wednesday off Eritrea’s Dahlak Archipelago corresponded to satellite-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com for the location of the ASL Bauhinia, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship. It had been traveling from the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port in Dubai to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before beginning to drift on Tuesday.

Africa

Coup-hit nations leave regional bloc

The three junta-led West African nations of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have formally withdrawn from the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, the culmination of a year-long process during which the group tried to avert its unprecedented disintegration. Their withdrawal, first announced a year ago, “has become effective today,“ ECOWAS said in a statement. The bloc, however, said that it has also decided to “keep ECOWAS’ doors open,“ requesting member nations to continue to accord the three countries privileges of membership, including free movement within the region with an ECOWAS passport.