The United States government could face a temporary shutdown at midnight Friday if Congress does not approve a stopgap spending bill. This comes as President-elect Donald Trump pressures lawmakers to reject the proposed legislation and act on the nation’s debt ceiling before he assumes office on January 20, according to Reuters. Congress is required to More
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israeli airstrikes on Syria, calling them violations of the country’s sovereignty and demanding they “must stop.” Since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government earlier this month, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes, claiming they target strategic weapons and military infrastructure. “Syria’s sovereignty, territorial unity, and More
A devastating cyclone ripped through the French Indian Ocean territory, leaving several hundred people dead in Mayotte. In the wake of the worst storm in almost a century, rescuers were trying to reach some communities as they searched for survivors, a media report said on Monday. The BBC said entire settlements were razed by Cyclone More
At least 53 Palestinians, including a journalist and rescue workers, have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza. An airstrike hit the civil emergency centre in the Nuseirat market area in the central Gaza Strip, killing Ahmed Al-Louh, a video journalist for Al Jazeera TV, and five other people, Reuters reported. Another strike on a More
Germany has frozen Russian assets amounting to about 3.5 billion euros in line with the EU sanctions regime, says a media report. TASS quoted a source in the French Federal Ministry of Finance as saying: “Assets worth around 3.5 bln euro have been frozen or immobilized in Germany by now.” The assets include “blocked funds More
François Bayrou, a veteran politician, has been appointed as new Fresh prime minister in the wake of last week’s historic vote of no-confidence. The Guardian reported that Bayrou, 73, was the leader of the centrist MoDem party and a political heavyweight from south-western France who calls himself a “man of the countryside”. A former education More
The United Nations General Assembly has demand an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday. The assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution that also expressed support for the work of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The resolution was adopted with 158 votes in favour from More
At least two suspected militants riding a motorcycle were killed as the bomb they were carrying exploded in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province. ABC News said the incident in Quetta took place on Monday when the explosive device the suspects were carrying went off near a police check post. The blast took More
The European Council has announced its member countries have agreed to pay 4.1 billion euros to Ukraine as part of an aid package. In a statement on Monday, the EU Council said the government of Ukraine would receive the second regular payment of grants and loans under the EU’s Ukraine Facility. The fund is a More
US President-elect Donald Trump has warned NATO allies again in a televised interview that the United States’ presence in the Western military alliance (NATO) is not guaranteed and that the US withdrawal from NATO is possible. According to the Associated Press, in an interview with NBC News, Trump said in response to a question about More
