More than 1,100 journalists and other employees at The New York Times plan to stage a 24-hour strike, in what would be the first such move at the newspaper in more than four decades. The newspaper’s staffers signed a pledge not to work for one day on Thursday unless a contract deal …
Read More »Growing EU divisions see financial aid for Ukraine blocked
EU leaders are furious with Hungary for blocking an eighteen billion euro financial aid package for Ukraine, the first tranche of which is due to be released to Kiev next month. According to Press TV, finance ministers from the twenty-seven-nation bloc came together on Tuesday to try and resolve the …
Read More »Xi lands in Riyadh amid Saudi Arabia’s fraying ties with US
Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Saudi Arabia on a visit hailed by Beijing as “epoch-making” as the proximity between Beijing and Riyadh grows amid the Arab kingdom’s souring relations with the United States, particularly over the Saudi support for oil output curbs. The Chinese leader arrived in Saudi …
Read More »Attempts to keep out Moscow from G20 destined to fail: Russian official
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko says attempts to remove Russia from the Group of 20 (G20) are bound to fail. The House and Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday excluded Russia from the Group of 20 and other entities in an agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) …
Read More »Poland receives first batch of South Korean weapons
Poland has received a first batch of weapons from South Korea as it boosts its military amid Russia’s special operation in Ukraine. According to Press TV, a first shipment of tanks and howitzers bought from South Korea arrived at Poland’s Gdynia Port on Tuesday. In a first phase, the country has …
Read More »China declares considerable loosening of COVID restrictions
The Chinese government has announced a broad, nationwide loosening of strict health protocols imposed in the past years due to the outbreak of COVID-19. On Wednesday, Beijing declared a relaxation of its COVID-19 prevention and control protocols, which were largely in place since the pandemic erupted three years ago, announcing …
Read More »Israeli media citing officials: Saudi normalization ‘question of timing’
Israeli news website i24NEWS quotes the Saudi FM as saying that “the direction of Saudi-Israeli relations is normalization.” Senior diplomatic officials said the normalization process between Saudi Arabia and the Israeli occupation is a matter of time, the Israeli news website i24NEWS reported on Tuesday, citing an official document it …
Read More »UK faces winter of strikes as workers demand higher pay
Britain faces widespread industrial unrest in the run-up to the Christmas holiday and into January as workers struggling with double-digit inflation resort to strike action to demand better pay and working conditions. Below are some of the industries in which labour unions have undertaken or threatened strikes, echoing actions across …
Read More »Russia and Ukraine swapped 60 POWs each in latest exchange
Russia and Ukraine said on Tuesday they had exchanged 60 prisoners of war on each side in the latest of a series of such swaps. Russia’s defence ministry said the 60 freed Russian soldiers would be flown to Moscow to receive medical care and psychological support. In a video shared …
Read More »Russia ‘sees no prospects for negotiations on Ukraine for now’
Russia says it currently sees no prospects for talks on Ukraine, days after US President Joe Biden said he would sit with Russian President Vladimir Putin “if he’s looking for a way to end the war.” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that he agreed about the need for …
Read More »Massive fire reported at petrochemical plant in port of Haifa
An alleged malfunction has caused a fire in an electrical transformer at the Carmel Olefins plant in the city of Haifa in the northwestern part of the occupied Palestinian territories. According to reports, fire and rescue teams were called Tuesday morning to the Bezan complex following receiving calls about smoke …
Read More »Stromboli volcano eruption triggers tsunami (Videos)
The Italian authorities have reported 4.6-magnitude earthquakes near the Aeolian Islands Earthquakes and tsunami waves have been registered in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sicily after a volcano violently erupted on the Italian island of Stromboli on Sunday. According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), …
Read More »Sudan’s civilian, military parties sign framework deal for new political transition
Sudan’s military and political parties signed a framework deal on Monday that provides for a two-year civilian-led transition towards elections and would end a standoff triggered by a coup in October 2021. The initial agreement would limit the military’s formal role to a security and defense council headed by a …
Read More »EU finalizing plan for new anti-Russia sanctions – Politico
The bloc may reportedly blacklist 180 Russian entities and individuals in the tech, financial, and media sectors EU officials have discussed a new sanctions package against Russia over the Ukraine war, Politico reported on Monday. The potential additional restrictions include nearly two hundred listings linked to key Russian industries, including …
Read More »‘Tit-for-tat’ warning: North Korea fires shells into buffer zone with South
South Korea says the North has fired a barrage of artillery shells into a maritime buffer zone. Pyongyang says it was a warning against Seoul’s “provocative actions.” The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that about 130 artillery rounds were simultaneously fired from two separate sites, …
Read More »Saudi forces re-arrest distinguished Shia cleric amid crackdown
Saudi forces have reportedly re-arrested a distinguished Shia Muslim cleric, as the Riyadh regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown on members of the religious community. According to Press TV, social media activists reported that members of the Presidency of State Security detained Sheikh Kadhim al-Amri, a well-known Shia scholar …
Read More »China slams ‘illegal’ US troops, smuggling of oil, grain in Syria
China has denounced as “illegal” the US stationing of troops in Syria and the smuggling of oil and grain from the war-torn Arab country. According to Press TV, media reports say the US occupation forces have sent 54 oil-laden tankers from northeastern Syria to their bases in northern Iraq. Some Syrians reportedly …
Read More »US looks to deploy air defense missile systems from West Asia to Ukraine
Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes has said that the US looks to shift its air defense systems from the West Asia to Ukraine. According to Politico, Hayes said the US is working with West Asian countries to move a handful of their air defense systems to Ukraine. The goal is to …
Read More »Japan eyes $318 billion for military spending as pacifist charter fades
Japan is set to allocate 40 to 43 trillion yen ($295 to $318 billion) for military spending over five years from the next fiscal year that begins in April, reports say. That’s a relative jump from the current five-year military plan to spend 27.5 trillion yen and raises concerns that …
Read More »EU, G7 agree on price cap on Russia oil imports
The European Union and the Group of Seven industrialized nations have agreed on a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil imports in an alleged attempt to starve Russia’s ongoing special operation in Ukraine. The bloc and the Group of Seven that includes the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, …
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