Category: World

GENEVA: The number of people facing acute food insecurity in Afghanistan this winter is on the rise, and now stands at more than 17 million, the United Nations warned Tuesday. “The situation is getting worse, and we need to act now as Afghanistan is entering the winter period where needs are highest,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, director of food security and nutrition analysis at the UN’s World Food Programme. More than 17 million people are facing acute food insecurity: “three million more than last year”, he told a press briefing in…

Read More

BAKU: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has proposed a mass amnesty that may affect more than 20,000 people, state media reported on Monday. Aliyev submitted a draft amnesty act to Azerbaijan’s parliament, describing the initiative as a gesture of “humanism and mercy” following the 2023 recapture of the breakaway Karabakh region from Armenian forces, the Azertag state news agency said. According to the report, the proposal would free 5,000 inmates and about 15,000 would see their sentences or penalties reduced or lifted. It is unclear whether the plan would affect political…

Read More

On Monday, December 15, 2025, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš introduced the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka, to office. On this occasion, the new head of Czech diplomacy met with his predecessor Jan Lipavský, laid flowers at the statue of Edvard Beneš and the bust of Jan Masaryk, and got acquainted with the ministry’s leadership. He also presented his main priorities for the department. “My priorities will include relations with our neighbors and a more confident stance in representing national interests in Brussels,” said the new minister, Petr Macinka.…

Read More

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday sentenced top International Criminal Court (ICC) judges and its chief prosecutor to jail terms, in a retaliatory move after the court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war. In 2023, prosecutor Karim Khan charged Putin with illegally deporting children from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Moscow responded by opening a case against him. The Moscow city court found that “ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan unlawfully prosecuted Russian citizens in The Hague” and that the ICC “instructed the judges of the chamber to issue…

Read More

ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan’s president hinted at possible political reforms on Friday ahead of a rare international meeting he is hosting with the attendance of counterparts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and elsewhere. President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, whom critics say presides over an autocratic and opaque system, made the comments in state newspaper Turkmenistan Today in honour of the 30th anniversary of the former Soviet nation’s declaration of neutrality. “We are carrying out extensive work aimed at transforming our neutral country into a powerful, democratic, and rule-of-law state where citizens live happy lives,” Berdymukhamedov…

Read More

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is under mounting pressure from scandals surrounding strikes on alleged drug boats and his use of Signal to discuss sensitive military information, sparking growing criticism and calls for him to quit. Hegseth — a former Army National Guard major who went from Fox News co-host to leader of the world’s most powerful military — is no stranger to controversy and was only narrowly confirmed by the Senate earlier this year. The strikes on alleged narcotics smugglers — especially an incident in which survivors of an initial attack…

Read More

BEIJING/PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to China from Dec 3 to 5 has injected fresh momentum into bilateral ties and reinforced the two countries’ shared commitment to multilateralism at a moment of global instability. Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin described the trip as a “significant opportunity for Beijing and Paris to recalibrate their partnership and deepen their joint vision for global governance.” Macron concluded his visit in Sichuan with cultural engagements after a day of high-level diplomacy in Beijing. There, he held what both sides termed…

Read More

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday he expected the second phase of the US-sponsored ceasefire plan for Gaza to begin soon, and said he would meet President Donald Trump this month. The truce, in effect since October 10, has halted the war that began after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it remains delicate as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations. Under the terms of the ceasefire that entered into force on October 10, Palestinian militants committed to releasing the remaining 47…

Read More

In a region grappling with conflicts from Afghanistan to Gaza, Qatar on Sunday pushed for inclusive political engagement, even with non-state actors, as the only realistic path to lasting stability. Speaking at the 23rd edition of the Doha Forum, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said that durable peace requires direct communication with all parties involved in a conflict, including armed groups often shunned by Western capitals. In a session moderated by US journalist Tucker Carlson, Sheikh Mohammed said regional crises, whether…

Read More