Biden blocks US steel sale to Japan’s Nippon steel

Biden blocks US steel sale to Japan’s Nippon steel

US Steel and Nippon Steel threatened legal action Friday after President Joe Biden blocked a controversial $14.9 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy its American rival. Biden cited a strategic need to protect domestic industry — but the move drew sharp criticism from both companies. The decision came after a government panel failed…

Syrian foreign minister to visit Qatar, UAE and Jordan this week

Syrian foreign minister to visit Qatar, UAE and Jordan this week

The top diplomat in Syria’s new leadership said Friday he will make official visits to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan this week, having just been to Saudi Arabia on his first trip in office. “This week, I will represent my country, Syria, on an official visit to our brothers in Qatar, the United…

Israeli airstrikes push up Gaza death toll amid new truce push

Israeli airstrikes push up Gaza death toll amid new truce push

Israel has carried out airstrikes on dozens of alleged Hamas targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, it said on Friday, in attacks that Palestinian health authorities said had killed more than 110 people in two days. The surge in operations and casualties comes amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old…

Pentagon vehemently denies reports of new US base in Syria’s Kobani

Pentagon vehemently denies reports of new US base in Syria’s Kobani

The Pentagon vehemently denied reports that it was setting up a new base in northeast Syria on Monday after videos emerged showing concrete barriers being transferred on a trailer with a US flag. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said there were no plans or intent to build a US base in Syria’s Kobani. A US defense…

US approves possible sale of torpedoes to Saudi Arabia: Pentagon

US approves possible sale of torpedoes to Saudi Arabia: Pentagon

The State Department approves the possible sale of 20 MK 54 MOD 0 Lightweight Torpedoes to Saudi Arabia for $78.5 million, according to the Pentagon. “The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to deter current and future threats by upgrading its anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” the Pentagon says. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has repeatedly reaffirmed to Saudi…

US begins new year on high alert following New Orleans attack, Las Vegas explosion

US begins new year on high alert following New Orleans attack, Las Vegas explosion

Law-enforcement officials in US cities were beefing up security on Thursday after a deadly attack in New Orleans and an explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas raised fears of more threats in a month packed with large-scale public events. Police in Washington, the site of the Jan. 9 state funeral for former President…

Police identify suspect of Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion as US Army soldier

Police identify suspect of Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion as US Army soldier

Law enforcement officials on Thursday said a US Army soldier from Colorado was likely the person inside a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, leaving the driver dead and seven people with minor injuries. The FBI said it had so far found no definitive link between the New Year’s…

New Orleans attack suspect acted alone, supported ISIS, FBI says

New Orleans attack suspect acted alone, supported ISIS, FBI says

A US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers had pledged allegiance to ISIS, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday. The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar,…

Zelenskyy says ‘unpredictable’ Trump could help end war

Zelenskyy says ‘unpredictable’ Trump could help end war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview aired Thursday that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “unpredictability” could help end the war with Russia. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has said he will end the nearly three-year conflict in “24 hours” once in power, a claim that has drawn scepticism from Kyiv which fears it will be…

China slams US over potential Chinese drone ban

China slams US over potential Chinese drone ban

China said on Friday it would take “all necessary measures” in response to the United States announcing it was considering restrictions on commercial Chinese drones for national security reasons. On Thursday, the United States Commerce Department said it was considering new rules to address risks posed by drones made with technology from foreign adversaries such…

Blinken set to visit South Korea with focus on political upheaval

Blinken set to visit South Korea with focus on political upheaval

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday, with the country mired in political turmoil as its impeached president resists arrest. South Korea is a key security ally for Washington, but the country has been wracked by a crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk…

Oil from Russian tanker spill reaches Sevastopol

Oil from Russian tanker spill reaches Sevastopol

Oil from two ageing and damaged Russian tankers – one of which sank – was detected on Friday off the coast of Sevastopol, the largest city in Moscow-annexed Crimea. The Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239 were hit last month by a storm in the Kerch Strait, which links Crimea to the southern Russian Krasnodar region and…

Moldova PM warns of security crisis, denounces Russian gas cut-off

Moldova PM warns of security crisis, denounces Russian gas cut-off

Moldova faces a security crisis after tens of thousands of residents in the breakaway enclave of Transdniestria were cut off from Russian gas supply, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Friday. Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine which supplied central and eastern Europe were halted at the end of 2024 as Kyiv rejected doing further…

Europe will not fund creation of new Islamist structures, German minister says in Damascus

Europe will not fund creation of new Islamist structures, German minister says in Damascus

Europe will not fund the creation of new Islamist structures in Syria, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Damascus on Friday after meeting with the country’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. “Europe will support, but Europe would not be a sponsor of new Islamist structures,” Baerbock said.