Politics
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday announced an overhaul of state-owned energy companies, after a corruption scandal at the heart of a sector battered by Russian attacks sparked a public outcry. Anti-graft investigators said around $100 million had been embezzled from the energy sector, causing outrage in a country where
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Following Iraq’s parliamentary election this week, the complex and often lengthy task of choosing the country’s next leader is set to begin. Incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani claimed victory for his coalition after preliminary results showed it was the largest bloc — though it still falls short of
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Syria will play an active role in assisting the United States in fighting armed groups including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hamas and Hezbollah, US special envoy Tom Barrack said on Thursday. Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, himself a former militant, became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since
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France, Germany and Spain are set to resume high-level talks on the next phase of a major fighter project after delays caused by the recent political crisis in France, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. A ministerial meeting is planned for the week of November 24 as
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown in US history, roughly two hours after the House of Representatives voted to restart disrupted food assistance, pay hundreds of thousands of federal workers and revive a hobbled air-traffic control system. The Republican-controlled chamber passed the package by
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US President Donald Trump’s decision that the United States government boycott the Group of 20 summit next weekend in South Africa is “their loss,” South Africa’s leader said Wednesday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa added that “the United States needs to think again whether boycott politics actually works,
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A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani came first in Iraq’s parliamentary election, two electoral commission officials with knowledge of the results told Reuters on Wednesday. Sudani was seeking a second term in Tuesday’s election but many disillusioned young voters saw the vote simply as
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G7 foreign ministers were gathering in Canada on Tuesday for talks expected to focus on Ukraine, as the club of industrialized democracies seeks a path toward ending the four-year-old conflict. Options to fund Kyiv’s war needs against invasion by Russia could feature prominently at the talks in Canada’s
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France is worried about US military operations in the Caribbean because they violate international law, the country’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday. The US military has carried out at least 19 strikes so far against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coasts of
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China’s President Xi Jinping told Spain’s King Felipe on Wednesday that the world’s second-largest economy seeks to work with Madrid to boost the global influence of both nations, as the heads of state met in Beijing ahead of a signing ceremony. Felipe is the first Spanish monarch
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The US Senate on Monday approved a compromise that would end the longest government shutdown in US history, breaking a weeks-long stalemate that has disrupted food benefits for millions, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid and snarled air traffic. The 60-40 vote passed with the support of nearly
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Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday for unprecedented talks, just days after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist. Sharaa, whose opposition forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad late last year, is the first Syrian leader to visit the White House
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday urged his Algerian counterpart to pardon the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was given a five-year jail term in March for harming national unity. Steinmeier’s office said he had asked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon Sansal as “a humanitarian gesture.” “Given Sansal’
Politics
The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Sunday unveiled plans to fight organized crime and improve security in the violence-ridden state of Michoacan after the brazen public assassination of a local mayor sent shockwaves through the country. More than 10,500 members of Mexico’s army, air force and
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Standing in the center of rainy Kaliningrad, the isolated Russian exclave surrounded by NATO countries, Russian factory worker Alexander felt confident. Economically hit by being cut-off from its EU neighbors and physically isolated from the rest of Russia, officials and locals are putting on a brave face amid claims they
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President Donald Trump said on Friday that no US government official would attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa later this month, because of what he said were “human rights abuses” taking place in the country. South Africa’s foreign ministry described the decision as “regrettable” and repeated