Tag: Region Middle East

Dozens of schoolgirls admitted to hospital across several Iranian provinces, according to local media reports.

Royal Park Investments (RPI), the so-called “bad bank” of the former Fortis, has filed a billion-dollar claim against rating agency S&P. De Tijd writes this and appears from media reports in the Cayman Islands, the place where the lawsuit was filed.

The application’s ban among officials in the EU and US sparks a debate about whether Facebook, which extracts more user data, should face the same restrictions This week, the European Commission banned officials from using TikTok on their work devices. “This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the…

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Blinken revealed that he and Lavrov “spoke briefly” on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in India. Among other things, the American official said he had “raised the wrongful detention of Paul Whelan,” a former US Marine currently serving a 16-year prison term in Russia for espionage. “The United States has put forward a serious proposal. Moscow should accept it,” Blinken added. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied those claims on Friday, saying she had asked Lavrov about the exchange with Blinken. The top Russian diplomat told her that his American counterpart had not brought up Whelan’s case, with Zakharova describing Blinken’s statement as “lies” and an example of “astounding” behavior by the US government.

The United States has imposed a new round of Iran sanctions, targeting the country’s oil and petrochemical sales, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran continues to stall. The measures announced on Thursday come weeks after US media reports said Washington and Tehran were working on a prisoner exchange deal. Meanwhile, Iran has accused the US of showing “bad faith” in the talks to negotiate a prisoner swap.

WASHINGTON — European Union leaders are expected to debate proposals this month for the bloc to get involved in buying 155mm artillery shells, as member states seek to restock their depleted inventories and help Ukraine’s forces defend themselves.

The shortage is high on the political agenda, with defense ministers expected to tee up decisions at a March 7-8 meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, an EU spokesperson told Defense News.

Estonia has been pushing for the bloc to get involved in producing more ammunition faster, circulating a paper behind the scenes in Brussels last month that called for €4 billion (U.S. $4.3 billion) in extra funds to catch up.

“Ramping up the European defense industry’s output is one the most pressing issues right now,” according to the document, obtained by Defense News. “Russia fires Europe’s monthly artillery production rate in a single day in Ukraine. The urgent need for increasing our defense industrial capacity is clear.”

Western efforts to stoke the Ukraine conflict could lead to a direct military clash of nuclear powers, Moscow has warned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on a Ukrainian cross-border attack in Bryansk Region.

The United States is sounding out close allies about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Russia for its war in Ukraine, according to four U.S. officials and other sources. The consultations, which are still at a preliminary stage, are intended to drum up support from a range of countries, especially those in the wealthy Group of 7 (G7), to coordinate support for any possible restrictions. It was not clear what specific sanctions Washington will propose. The conversations have not been previously disclosed.

SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Thursday, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended months-long stay. Bowen, the crew’s leader, said the four have jelled well as a team despite differences between their countries. Even with the tension over the war in Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia have continued to work together on the space station and trade seats on rides there.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson), a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, has agreed to plead guilty and pay a criminal penalty of more than $206 million after breaching a 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA). 

Russia believes a victory in the ruined eastern town would open a path to further advances in the Donetsk region.

At least two people died in northwest Syria last month following a rise in cholera infections.

The presidents of China and Belarus joined Wednesday in urging a cease-fire and negotiations to bring about a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict. The joint call came in a meeting in Beijing between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. That amounted to an endorsement of a Chinese 12-point peace proposal…

For the second day in a row, China on Wednesday dismissed U.S. suggestions that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory. Responding to comments by FBI Director Christopher Wray, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the involvement of the U.S. intelligence community was evidence enough of the “politicization of origin tracing.”…

TikTok said Wednesday that every account held by a user under the age of 18 will have a default 60-minute daily screen time limit in the coming weeks. The changes arrive during a period in which there are growing concerns among different governments about the app’s security. Families have struggled with limiting the amount of time their children spend on…