Stocks mostly rose and the dollar retreated Wednesday on hopes for further US interest rate cuts and a solid set of company earnings.Gold surged to a new high above $4,200 an ounce, boosted also by a fresh flare-up in China-US tensions.The dollar was weighed down by warnings on Tuesday from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell …
Stocks rise on US rate cut hopes, strong company earnings Read More »
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel on Wednesday to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in a US-backed ceasefire plan.”It should happen now. We want it to happen immediately as part of this agreement,” Fletcher told AFP in an interview in Cairo, ahead of a planned trip to the Gaza border.Earlier in the day, Israeli public broadcaster KAN had reported that the Rafah crossing point to Egypt would reopen, but this did not happen and an Israeli spokesperson did not respond to an AFP request for comment. Fletcher, the UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief is expected to head to the Rafah crossing on Thursday. It is the only border point that connects Gaza to the world without passing through Israel.US President Donald Trump and regional leaders on Monday signed a declaration in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to cement the deal.”But the test of this agreement is not the photos and the press conferences and the interviews,” Fletcher said.”The test is that we have children fed, that we have anaesthetics in the hospitals for people getting treatment, that we have tents over people’s heads.”Israel currently allows humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory through other checkpoints under its control, but aid agencies complain that bureaucracy and security controls slow the flow of life-saving supplies.”We want all of those crossings open and we want completely unimpeded access,” Fletcher said, adding that Trump and other world leaders at the summit “were unequivocal that we must be allowed to deliver aid at massive scale”.- Two more bodies -Meanwhile, under the Trump plan endorsed by international mediators, Israel and Hamas are expected to continue their exchange of human remains.The swap has seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.So far, Hamas has handed back the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages — along with an eighth corpse which Israel says is not of a former hostage. Late on Wednesday, the Israeli military said the Red Cross had picked up two more coffins in northern Gaza containing the remains of hostages and that it would transfer these to the military to be brought home.Hamas’s armed wing had confirmed it would hand over two more bodies, but warned that these would be the last for now, as it had recovered all those it could reach — falling far short of the target demanded under the plan.”The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access,” the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on social media.”As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file.”This is likely to pile further domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.- Humanitarian risk -Israel, meanwhile, transferred another 45 Palestinian bodies that had been in its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the number returned to 90, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said. Under the Trump plan, Israel is to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage.Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said Israeli fire killed three Palestinians on Wednesday, including two while trying to reach their homes in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City.The Israeli military said that “several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching” troops in the northern Gaza Strip, referencing the line to which Israeli forces have pulled back to under the ceasefire deal. The military said this “violates the agreement” and “troops removed the threat by striking the suspects.”The war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the densely-populated territory reliant on aid that was heavily restricted, when not cut off outright.At the end of August, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim. The return of aid is listed in Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.Another political challenge is Hamas’s disarmament, a demand the militant group has refused to countenance.The group is tightening its grip on Gaza’s ruined cities, but Israel and the United States insist Hamas can have no role in a future Gaza government.burs-dc/acc/dcp
Dutch tech giant ASML warned Wednesday of a steep fall in its China business next year, as it booked flat net profits in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year.Traders appeared to see the glass half-full, with ASML shares closing more than three percent higher in Amsterdam, buoyed by solid …
Dutch tech giant ASML posts stable profits, warns on China Read More »
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Wednesday he wanted to “redefine” relations with Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted him in their first meeting since key Kremlin ally Bashar al-Assad was ousted last year.In front of the television cameras, Putin greeted Sharaa warmly at the Kremlin, but behind closed doors the Syrian leader was expected to push for Moscow to extradite Assad, who fled there after being toppled.The two were also expected to discuss the status of Russia’s prized military bases in Syria — the naval base in Tartus and air base at Hmeimim — the fate of which has been uncertain since the rebel takeover.Russia was a key ally of Assad during the bloody 14-year Syrian civil war, providing vital military support that kept his forces in power.He was ousted last December in an offensive led by Sharaa’s Islamist forces, fleeing to Russia, which has been sheltering him and his family for the past 10 months.In remarks at the start of the meeting, Sharaa acknowledged the two countries’ historic ties but said he wanted a recalibration, as he brings Damascus in from isolation on the world stage.”We are trying to restore and redefine in a new way the nature of these relations so there is independence for Syria, sovereign Syria, and also its territorial unity and integrity and its security stability,” Sharaa told Putin.- Putin hails ‘special relations’ -The Russian leader hailed “special relations” between the two countries that “have developed between our countries over many decades”.Neither publicly mentioned Assad or the Russian bases, the main sticking points in the relationship.Al-Sharaa said before the meeting: “We respect all previous agreements,” without elaborating. After the meeting, which according to Russian state media lasted for more than two and a half hours, Moscow said it was ready to continue its role in Syria’s crude oil production.”Russian companies have been working on Syria’s oilfields for a long time,” vice premier Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS, adding that there were some new fields where Moscow was “ready to participate”.Russia, which in 2015 started launching air strikes on rebel-held territory in Syria, also said it wanted to help rebuild the country, battered by the long war.”Our companies are interested in the development of transport infrastructure and the restoration of energy systems” of Syria, Novak said.- Assad asylum -A Syrian government official told AFP before the meeting that Sharaa would request Putin hand over Assad, who Russia says it is protecting on “humanitarian grounds”.The official, who requested anonymity as they were not allowed to brief the media, told AFP: “Sharaa will ask the Russian president to hand over all individuals who committed war crimes and are in Russia, most notably Bashar al-Assad.”Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed earlier this week the ousted leader was still living in Moscow.”We have granted asylum to Bashar al-Assad and his family for purely humanitarian reasons. He has no issues residing in our capital,” Lavrov said at a forum on Monday.Russia’s military support for Assad helped turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in his favour when it started intervening in 2015.Russian warplanes rained air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria including the northwest Idlib region, which was largely controlled by Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the later years of the conflict.During a government offensive launched in late 2019 to retake parts of the province, Moscow carried out hundreds of air strikes on the rebel bastion, causing casualties and widespread destruction, including to civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, marketplaces and residential areas.Moscow also sponsored so-called reconciliation deals between government forces and opposition factions in several parts of Syria that resulted in the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians and fighters to Idlib.HTS, of which Sharaa was a leader, was not one of them.During the Syrian civil war, Russia in 2020 placed HTS on its list of recognised “terrorists”.burs/rlp
The lifeline Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remained shut on Wednesday despite reports that it could reopen to aid convoys, as Israel insisted Hamas hand over the remains of the last deceased hostages it holds.Early in the day, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the crossing point would reopen, but humanitarian sources told AFP this had not happened and a government spokeswoman ignored questions on the subject. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher expressed frustration that the ceasefire, brokered by US President Donald Trump and hailed by world leaders, had yet to facilitate the scale of relief needed in the devastated Palestinian territory.”As Hamas have agreed, they must make strenuous efforts to return all the bodies of deceased hostages, urgently. I am also gravely concerned by the evidence of violence against civilians in Gaza,” Fletcher said.”As Israel has agreed, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid — thousands of trucks a week — on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted. We need more crossings open.”- Humanitarian risk -Meanwhile, under the Trump plan endorsed by international mediators, Israel and Hamas are expected to continue their exchange of human remains, which also hit an unexpected obstacle on Wednesday.The swap has seen the last 20 surviving hostages return home in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, as well as a halt in the fighting and bombardment.So far, Hamas has handed back eight bodies, seven of which have been identified. The remains of 20 others remain in Gaza, and there is domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.The eighth — unidentified — body was not that of a former hostage, the Israeli military said after overnight tests, leading some Israeli politicians to accuse Hamas of breaking the ceasefire agreement.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.Israel, meanwhile, transferred another 45 Palestinian bodies that had been in its custody to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, bringing the number handed back to 90, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said. Under the Trump plan Israel is to return 15 Palestinian dead for every deceased Israeli hostage.- Aid trucks -The war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel led to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with the densely-populated territory reliant on aid that was heavily restricted, when not cut off outright.At the end of August, the United Nations declared a famine in Gaza, though Israel rejected the claim. The return of aid is listed in Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.Another political challenge is Hamas’s disarmament, a demand the militant group has refused to countenance.The group is tightening its grip on the Gaza Strip’s ruined cities, launching a crackdown and executing alleged collaborators with Israel.Hamas has published a video on its official channel showing the summary executions of eight blindfolded and kneeling people, branding them “collaborators and outlaws”.The footage, apparently from Monday evening, emerged as armed clashes were underway between Hamas’s various security units and armed Palestinian clans, some alleged to have Israeli backing.In the north of the territory, as Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza City, the Hamas government’s black-masked armed police resumed their patrols.”Our message is clear: There will be no place for outlaws or those who threaten the security of citizens,” a Palestinian security source in Gaza told AFP.- ‘Perhaps violently’ -Israel and the United States insist Hamas can have no role in a future Gaza government.Trump’s plan says that Hamas members who agree to “decommission their weapons” will be given amnesty.”If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them,” Trump told reporters at the White House a day after visiting the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire.”And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently.”
Pope Leo XIV will carry a message of peace to Lebanon and the Christians of the Middle East when he visits next month, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai told AFP on Wednesday.The Vatican said last week that Pope Leo will travel to Turkey and Lebanon in a six-day trip beginning late November, his first since becoming head of the Catholic Church.Rai, who heads the Maronite Church, religiously diverse Lebanon’s most influential Christian sect, hailed the pontiff’s visit at a time of truce in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, as well as the war in Gaza.In an interview with AFP from the Maronite Patriarchate headquarters in Bkerke, north of Beirut, Rai said that the US-born pope “will bring peace and hope to Lebanon during his visit”.”He comes at a time when the war in Gaza has ceased… and we are living in Lebanon under a ceasefire, despite violations occurring,” he added.After more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah Islamist group, a ceasefire agreement was signed in November.The truce remains in effect despite Israel carrying out near-daily strikes on Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah members and infrastructure.A few days ago, a ceasefire also came into effect in the Gaza Strip after a devastating two-year war between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.”I believe that during this visit, he will focus on peace, and he will ask Lebanon to continue on its path toward peace,” said Rai, whose Church is in full communion with Rome. – ‘Preserve Lebanon’ -The latest conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and devastated Beirut’s southern suburbs and the country’s south and east, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.Last week, Pope Leo said that his trip to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2 presents “the opportunity to announce once again the message of peace… in a country that has also suffered so much”.Rai, who has long called for Lebanon to be kept out of regional conflicts, stated that he believes the visit “will remind all Lebanese, Christians and Muslims alike, of their responsibility to preserve Lebanon”.”The value of Lebanon lies in the fact that each of its groups maintains its role and identity. Coexistence means that Christians have their identity and Muslims have theirs. The pope does not come to say, ‘abandon your identity’, but rather, ‘Live your identity’,” he added.”This is how the Vatican understands Lebanon, with its cultural and religious pluralism.”Pope Leo XIV is the third pontiff to visit Lebanon, after John Paul II in 1997 and Benedict XVI in 2012, who received a tremendous popular reception.His trip comes in the wake of a series of crises that have ravaged Lebanon, from a crushing economic crisis that began in 2019, to the horrific port explosion the following summer, to the recent war.”The visit is a great relief for Christians in Lebanon,” Rai said, as well as for “Christians in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Holy Land”, who have gone through wars, conflicts, and waves of displacement.
New challenges will test Pokemon trainers’ reactions in their virtual beast battles, as the near-30-year-old saga’s latest instalment hits Nintendo consoles on Thursday.”Pokemon Legends: Z-A” will for the first time play out its matchups in real time, rather than the turn-by-turn play of previous titles going back to 1996.Set in a vast city inspired by …
Pokemon brushes up decades-old formula with ‘Legends: Z-A’ Read More »
