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Most Asian markets extended a global rally Wednesday as investors gave a cautious welcome to Donald Trump’s first full day in office amid hopes he will take a more cautious approach on trade than initially feared.Software investment giant SoftBank soared more than nine percent — leading Tokyo-listed chipmakers higher — after the American president said …

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Global stock markets climbed on Tuesday as Donald Trump wasted no time in starting his second term as US president with a raft of announcements affecting the global economy.Wall Street stocks rose as markets greeted Trump’s early executive orders and comments that raised hopes new tariffs may not be as bad as feared.Oil prices slumped …

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Two French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant against ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes, the second such move by France’s judicial authorities, a source said on Tuesday.Assad, who was ousted late last year in a lightning offensive by Islamist forces, is held responsible in the warrant issued on Monday as “commander-in-chief of the armed forces” for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a civilian, a source close to the case, asking not to be named, told AFP.This mandate was issued as part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old Franco-Syrian national and former French teacher, who was killed on June 7, 2017 following the bombing of his home by Syrian army helicopters. The French judiciary considers that Assad ordered and provided the means for this attack, according to the source.Six senior Syrian army officials are already the target of French arrest warrants over the case in an investigation that began in 2018. “This case represents the culmination of a long fight for justice, in which I and my family believed from the start,” said Omar Abou Nabout, the victim’s son, in a statement.He expressed hope that “a trial will take place and that the perpetrators will be arrested and judged, wherever they are”. – Lost immunity -French authorities in November 2023 issued a first arrest warrant against Assad over chemical attacks in 2013 where more than a thousand people, according to American intelligence, were killed by sarin gas.While considering Assad’s participation in these attacks “likely”, public prosecutors last year issued an appeal against the warrant on the grounds that Assad should have immunity as a head of state.However, his ouster has now changed his status and potential immunity. Assad and his family fled to Russia after his fall, according to Russian authorities.In all, the French justice system has issued 14 arrest warrants for Syrian officials, according to an AFP tally.Since beginning in 2011 with the brutal crackdown of anti-Assad protests, Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country’s economy.Tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured in the country’s jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons, including the banned sarin gas, against his own people.On Friday the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan met the leader of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa.That visit sparked hopes of justice and accountability for the abuses committed during Assad’s rule.

Donald Trump’s nominee to represent Washington at the United Nations railed against “anti-Semitic rot” in the global organization as she was grilled by senators at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday.New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik noted that America contributes more to the UN than any other country and called for reform to ensure its tax dollars were not “propping up entities that are counter to American interests, anti-Semitic, or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism.”A right-wing firebrand who was considered a moderate before the Trump era, Stefanik is seen as one of the most vocal supporters in Congress of both Israel and US Jewish causes.”It’s one of the reasons why, in my conversation with President Trump, I was interested in this position — because if you look at the anti-Semitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis, combined,” Stefanik told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.Stefanik, 40, made the same criticism of the US higher education system as she touted her record of holding the feet of college administrators to the fire during aggressive questioning last year over anti-Semitism on campuses. “My oversight work led to the most viewed testimony in the history of Congress,” she said.”This hearing with university presidents was heard around the world and viewed billions of times, because it exposed the anti-Semitic rot in colleges and universities and was a watershed moment in American higher education.”Stefanik was pushed on her views on the war in Gaza, and noted that she voted to defund UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Former president Joe Biden halted its US funding over allegations that members were possibly involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks. Stefanik also revealed that she agreed with far-right Israeli ministers who believe Israel has a “biblical right to the entire West Bank” — but avoided being pinned down on whether she supported Palestinian self-determination.Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman is the only Democrat to have pledged his support for Stefanik, but others have indicated they may wave her through and she is expected to be confirmed with little drama in a vote of the full Senate. “If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our mission to the United Nations serves the interest of the American people, and represents American President Trump’s America First, peace-through-strength foreign policy,” she said.

The head of Israel’s military resigned on Tuesday, taking responsibility for its “failure” to stop Hamas’s October 7 attack, days after a fragile truce took effect following 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip.In his resignation letter, released by the army, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said he was stepping down “due to my acknowledgement of responsibility for the (military’s) failure on October 7”, but added that he was leaving at a time of “significant successes”.He acknowledged, however, that the goals of the Gaza war “have not all been achieved”, adding the army would “continue to fight to further dismantle Hamas”, bring back the hostages and enable Israelis displaced by militant attacks to return home.Shortly after his announcement, Major General Yaron Finkelman also resigned. Finkelman headed Israel’s southern military command, which is responsible for Gaza.Hamas’s attack, the deadliest in Israeli history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.It sparked a war that has levelled much of Gaza and, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, killed 47,107, a majority of them civilians, figures the United Nations has said are reliable.In a televised address hours after announcing his resignation, Halevi said Israel’s campaign had killed “nearly 20,000 Hamas operatives”.The October 7 attack, which also saw 251 people taken hostage, traumatised Israelis and created an unprecedented crisis for the country’s top leadership.Ninety-one hostages remain in captivity, 34 of whom the military says are dead.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed early in the war to crush Hamas and to bring home all the hostages.Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday called on Netanyahu to follow Halevi’s example.Saying he saluted the military chief for stepping down, Lapid added: “Now, it is time for them to take responsibility and resign -– the prime minister and his entire catastrophic government.”- ‘Maintain this calm’ -After months of fruitless negotiations, mediators Qatar and the United States announced a ceasefire that took effect Sunday, on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Trump, who claimed credit for the agreement, said he doubted the deal would hold as he took office for a historic second term.”That’s not our war; it’s their war. But I’m not confident,” he said.However, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that if Israel and Hamas acted “in good faith, this will last and hopefully… will lead to a permanent ceasefire”.Since the truce took effect, desperately needed humanitarian aid has begun to flow into Gaza, and Palestinians displaced by the war have headed back to their homes in devastated areas of the territory, hopeful the agreement would last.Displaced Gazan Ghadeer Abdul Rabbo, 30, told AFP she hoped that “with or without Trump”, the ceasefire would hold and world governments would help “maintain this calm, because we are afraid”.The truce has so far seen Israel and Hamas conduct one exchange of hostages for prisoners.Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP that another four Israeli women hostages would be freed on Saturday in exchange for a second group of Palestinian prisoners.- ‘We will rebuild’ -If all goes to plan, a total of 33 hostages will be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians during the 42-day first phase of the truce.Over those six weeks, the parties are meant to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.In the final phase, militants would return the bodies of dead hostages, while the reconstruction of Gaza would get under way.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Netanyahu by phone about the ceasefire on Tuesday, with both agreeing “that we must work towards a permanent and peaceful solution that guarantees Israel’s security”, according to a British readout of the conversation.Starmer also told Netanyahu that Britain was “ready to do everything it can to support a political process, which should also lead to a viable and sovereign Palestinian state”.The first day of the truce saw three Israeli hostages, all women, reunited with their families after more than 15 months in captivity. One of them, Emily Damari, was a British-Israeli dual national.Hours later, 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from an Israeli jail.The war has devastated much of the Gaza Strip and displaced the vast majority of its population of 2.4 million.More than 900 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Monday, the United Nations said.In Rafah in southern Gaza, Ismail Madi said that “we have endured immense hardships, but we will stay here. We will rebuild this place.”While there was quiet in Gaza, violence flared in the occupied West Bank, with the Israeli military launching a deadly operation in the area of Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, said the operation had killed 10 people.burs-ser/smw/jsa

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had launched an operation in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in the area.The Palestinian health ministry, based in Ramallah, said the operation had killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.In a joint statement, the military and the Shin Bet security agency said that, alongside the Israeli Border Police, they had launched an operation dubbed “Iron Wall” in Jenin.In a statement released shortly after the launch of the operation, Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin and was part of a broader strategy to counter Iran “wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen” and the West Bank.The Israeli government has accused Iran, which backs armed groups across the Middle East including Hamas in Gaza, of attempting to send weapons and money to militants in the West Bank.The Palestinian Red Crescent said its first responders treated seven people injured by live ammunition and that Israeli forces were hindering their access to the area.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from security forces and said that he “remains deeply concerned”, his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.Israeli NGO B’Tselem accused the Israeli government of using the Gaza ceasefire as “an excuse and opportunity to ratchet up the oppression of West Bank Palestinians”.”This is not what a ceasefire looks like,” it said.- ‘An invasion’ -Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP the operation was “an invasion of the (refugee) camp”.”It came quickly, Apache helicopters in the sky and Israeli military vehicles everywhere,” he added.An AFP journalist said Palestinian security forces, who had been conducting an operation against armed factions in the area since early December, left some of their positions around the camp before the arrival of Israeli forces.He reported the frequent sound of explosions and gunfire echoing from the camp.The spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Anwar Rajab, said in a statement that Israeli forces had “opened fire on civilians and security forces, resulting in injuries to several civilians and a number of security personnel, one of whom is in critical condition”.Jenin and its refugee camp are known bastions of Palestinian militancy and Israeli forces frequently launch raids against armed factions there.In recent months, raids have increased in frequency and intensity in Jenin.Military raids often feature military bulldozers that dig up roads, in what Israel says is a way of removing buried explosives, often leaving whole neighbourhoods cut off from each other.Jenin’s governor said that several bulldozers had entered the city on Tuesday.Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023.Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

EU, German and Chinese leaders took turns defending global cooperation in Davos on Tuesday as the spectre of new trade wars looms following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.Trump will make an online appearance at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week, but he has been the elephant in the room for the …

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The Taliban government said Tuesday it had released two American citizens from prison in return for an Afghan fighter held in the United States, in a deal brokered by Qatar.Outgoing US president Joe Biden agreed on the deal shortly before leaving office on Monday, with the exchange finally taking place after Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.”An Afghan fighter, Khan Mohammed, imprisoned in America has been released in exchange for American citizens and returned to the country,” the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.The ministry said Mohammed had been serving a life sentence in California after being arrested “almost two decades ago” in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.Mohammed, who was convicted of narco-terrorism by a US court, returned to the province on Tuesday, where he was greeted by a crowd and presented with garlands of flowers. He told journalists he was grateful to the Taliban authorities for his release and he was “very happy” to be reunited with his family.”A lot of innocent people are imprisoned, my request is that all of them can be released and be able to return to their homes,” he said.His son, Rafiullah Mohammed, said his father was innocent and that the family demanded compensation.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP two US nationals had been released, declining to provide any further details on the exchange.- ‘Overwhelming gratitude’ – The family of US citizen Ryan Corbett, who was detained by the Taliban in 2022, confirmed he was released and thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as Qatar.”Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” the family said on their website.They called for two other Americans still held in Afghanistan to be released.The person familiar with the deal confirmed William McKenty as the second released American detainee. Little is known about what he was doing in Afghanistan and his family asked for privacy.Qatar’s lead negotiator, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi, confirmed the Gulf state’s mediation in the exchange, with all the released people going through Doha.Two other Americans are believed to remain in detention in Afghanistan, former airline mechanic George Glezmann and naturalised American Mahmood Habibi.In August 2024, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was seeking information about the disappearance of Afghan-American businessman Habibi two years previously.- ‘New chapter’ -Biden came under heavy criticism for the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, more than a year after Trump presided over a deal with the Taliban insurgents to end US and NATO involvement in the two-decade war.After Trump’s election win in November, the Taliban government had said it hoped for a “new chapter” in ties with the United States.Taliban authorities have repeatedly said they want positive relations with every country since sweeping back to power in 2021.No state has officially recognised their government, with restrictions on women’s rights a key sticking point for many countries, including the United States.The Taliban government on Tuesday called the exchange “a good example of resolving issues through dialogue, expressing special gratitude for the effective role of the brotherly country of Qatar in this regard”.”The Islamic Emirate views positively those actions of the United States that contribute to the normalisation and expansion of relations between the two countries,” it added, using the Taliban authorities’ name for their government.A 2008 US Department of Justice statement named Mohammed — in his 30s at the time — as a member of “an Afghan Taliban cell” and said he was arrested in October 2006 and sentenced in December 2008 to “two terms of life in prison on drug and narco-terrorism charges”. It was the first narco-terrorism conviction in a US federal court, the statement said.At least one Afghan prisoner remains in detention at the secretive US prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Muhammad Rahim, whose family called for his release in November 2023. In February last year, two former prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay until 2017 were welcomed home to Afghanistan, more than 20 years after they were arrested.