Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will restore diplomatic ties and reopen embassies soon, more than two years since the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt lifted a blockade on Qatar, ending a rift in diplomatic relations that began in 2017, according to Qatar’s International Media Office and media reports. The office told Al…
Egypt was planning to manufacture rockets for Russia but then suspended that effort and decided to supply ammunition to Ukraine after talks with United States officials, The Washington Post has reported, citing leaked intelligence documents. The Post had reported last week that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi secretly planned to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia. But in…
The Swedish vodka maker says the decision comes after campaigns on social media to boycott Absolut. The maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka has said it is ceasing all exports to Russia after calls to boycott the brand flared up in Sweden and on social media. The Absolut Company said on Tuesday it “has decided to…
The three-day festival celebrates the completion of Ramadan by Muslims across the world. As the fasting month of Ramadan comes to an end, Muslims from around the world will be preparing for Eid al-Fitr, the “festival of breaking the fast”. Depending on the sighting of the moon, Eid celebrations will most likely begin on Saturday,…
A Moscow court has upheld the detention of Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist arrested on spying charges as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on dissent. The Wall Street Journal reporter, who reported on the Ukraine war from Russia, is the first correspondent from the United States since the Cold War to be detained in Russia…
Indigenous communities in Canada’s oil sands region on Monday called for Alberta’s energy regulator to be disbanded and replaced following a months-long toxic tailings seepage from Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine. Community representatives were testifying to a parliamentary committee in Ottawa about the impact of the leak and ongoing concerns about oil sands tailings management….
Sudan’s rival commanders agreed a 24-hour ceasefire from Tuesday evening, after pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken over deadly fighting that has engulfed the capital Khartoum and saw shots fired at a U.S. diplomatic convoy. The conflict between Sudan’s armed ruling factions broke out four days ago and has killed at least 185…
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday gave himself 100 days to heal the country after weeks of protests and anger at his unpopular plans to raise the retirement age, asking his government to open talks with unions on a wide range of issues. In a televised speech two days after signing into law plans to…
Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, accused of treason and of discrediting the Russian army, stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S., British and Canadian ambassadors for a dressing down on Tuesday after they condemned the conviction of an opposition politician for treason. A Moscow…
The European Parliament on Tuesday approved sweeping reforms to make EU climate change policies more ambitious, including an upgrade of the bloc’s carbon market that is set to hike the cost of polluting in Europe. Europe’s carbon market forces power plants and factories to buy CO2 permits when they pollute. It has slashed those sectors’…
