Economy
Global ratings agency S&P raised Saudi Arabia’s rating to ‘A+’ from ‘A’ with a stable outlook on Friday, underpinned by the ongoing social and economic transformation in the country. Fitch said the country’s Vision 2030 project provides some flexibility in managing capital expenditure and debt issuance.
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Ukraine said Saturday it had downed 130 Russian-launched drones across the country at night, as international efforts to end the three-year war intensify. Kyiv’s air force said the Iranian-made Shahed drones were downed over 14 regions and that Moscow had also attacked with two ballistic missiles.
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Thailand on Saturday responded to a United States visa ban on officials from the kingdom involved in deporting dozens of Uyghurs back to China, saying it had “received assurances” of their safety. The Thai government has suffered intense criticism from around the world for its decision to hand over at
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Hamas said on Friday it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-nationals who had died in captivity. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cast doubt on the offer, accusing Hamas of trying to manipulate talks underway in Qatar
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Dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed the armistice line on the Golan Heights into Israel on Friday for their community’s first pilgrimage to a revered shrine in decades. On board three buses escorted by Israeli military vehicles, the clerics crossed at Majdal Shams in the Golan, and headed to
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Shelling from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed five children in the besieged North Darfur state capital of Al-Fasher, a medical source said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday was first reported by the Sudanese army, which has been locked in a war with the RSF since April of
Politics
Turkiye’s top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus on Thursday, days after Syria’s interim government reached a deal to integrate a US-backed Kurdish-led armed group into the country’s army. The agreement to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, into the
Politics
The US government, already shaken by Donald Trump’s radical reforms, could begin shutting down entirely this weekend as Democrats grapple with the option of opposing the president’s federal funding plans — at the risk this blows up in their faces. With a Friday night deadline to fund the government
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An American Airlines jet caught fire after landing at Denver International Airport in Colorado on Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. There were 172 passengers and six crew members aboard, the airliner said, according to local media. Denver International Airport said in a post on social media platform
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The World Food Programme will be forced to cut off one million people in war-torn Myanmar from its vital food aid because of "critical funding shortfalls", it said Friday. The United States provided the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) with $4.4 billion of its $9.
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Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to make his first appearance before judges of the International Criminal Court on Friday, days after his stunning arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to the deadly ” war on drugs ” he oversaw while in office. The 79-year-old Duterte, the first Asian former
Politics
Syria’s interim president on Thursday signed a temporary constitution that leaves the country under Islamist rule for five years during a transitional phase. The country’s interim rulers have struggled to exert their authority across much of the country since the Islamist former insurgent group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or
Economy
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday welcomed the new Lebanese government’s request for support in addressing severe economic challenges. Lebanon in January elected a new president after a more than two-year vacuum, and then formed a government led by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. In February the IMF said it
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Ukrainian drones attacked energy facilities and a missile storage facility in Russia overnight, a security source in Kyiv said Friday, while a Russian aerial attack wounded several in Ukraine. The Ukrainian and Russian drone barrages were less intensive compared to previous days and came after US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah proposed
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A group of Myanmar soldiers fled across the Thai border on Friday after an assault by an ethnic armed group ousted them from their base, Thailand’s military said. Myanmar has been riven by civil war after the military seized power in a 2021 coup, with the junta fighting an
Politics
President Donald Trump welcomed Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Wednesday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House, where he added Ireland to the list of countries he says are taking advantage of the United States. Martin countered by noting Ireland’s contributions to the