Somalia's defense minister said Somalis would not accept being demeaned after US President Donald Trump again insulted people from the East African country. Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that was meant to focus on his economic record, Trump denounced migration from "Third World" co»»»

VIENTIANE, Laos (Sputnik) - The trade between Russia and Laos increased by 65% last year, with significant potential for further growth, Russian Security Council Chairman Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday. "We can be pleased that our trade grew by 65% last year, but there is still plenty of room for f»»»

The Senate is unlikely to pass either of the two healthcare bills they're voting on Thursday. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on two competing healthcare plans meant to address healthcare costs likely to rise in the new year wi»»»

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his long-promised " gold card " was officially going on sale, offering legal status and an eventual pathway to U.S. citizenship for individuals paying $1 million and corporations ponying up twice that per foreign-born employee. A website accepting app»»»

LONDON More than 600 items from a collection documenting the links between Britain and countries in the former British Empire were stolen from a UK museum in September, police said Thursday. Avon and Somerset police have launched an appeal for information about four men captured on CCTV images on S»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali met on Thursday in Belgrade with Japan's renowned international expo expert Toshio Nakamura, who has served as EXPO 2005 Aichi secretary general, and said it was valuable to hear the experiences of people who had been involved in h»»»

Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives have held this month their first direct talks in decades, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the move "an initial attempt to establish a basis for an economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon." Lebanese leaders said Lebanon is »»»

London: More than 600 items from a collection documenting the links between Britain and countries in the former British Empire were stolen from a UK museum in September, police said Thursday. Avon and Somerset police have launched an appeal for information about four men captured on CCTV images on »»»

Dubai: The Reserve Bank of India has rolled out updated rules that change how banks manage current accounts, overdrafts and cash credit (CC) facilities. These tweaks follow months of feedback from the banking industry, and they aim to remove friction, speed up money movement and give both banks and»»»

A senior Hamas leader says the group is willing to consider a temporary “freeze” on its weapons but will not accept full disarmament, a central demand of the US-backed Gaza peace plan. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Khaled Meshaal signaled limited flexibility in ongoing negotiations with mediators, even a»»»

Israel on Thursday vowed that Hamas will be disarmed under the US-backed Gaza peace plan, rejecting a proposal by senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who said the group might accept a weapons "freeze" but not full disarmament. Israel said on Thursday Hamas "will be disarmed" as part of the US-spons»»»

Dubai: Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, on Thursday shared a spectacular video showcasing an extraordinary aerial stunt performed high above the emirate'»»»

Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday that the Lebanese Army has implemented 90 percent of the cessation of hostilities agreement in the South Litani area and will completely finalize what’s left by year’s end. “This is what UNIFIL, the Mechanism and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal have confirme»»»

FLORENCE, Italy - The new US National Security Strategy, the December 2025 version, is an intriguing, quirky, Bosch-style hybrid beast. It does not exactly look as it seems. A tsunami of headlines across the discombobulated West focused on an apparent drive towards normalization between Washington »»»

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa in Ain el-Tineh, for the second day in a row. On Wednesday, Berri met with Issa and a delegation of the American Task Force for Lebanon. After the meeting, Issa said that Israel differentiates between the Lebanese governme»»»

PoliticsAfricaTrump's new security strategy: A chance for Africa?Martina SchwikowskiUS President Donald Trump's new foreign policy focuses less on aid and more on trade with African countries, specifically on raw materials. Could this be a wake-up call for Africa to become more economically indepen»»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold urgent talks Thursday with leaders and officials from about 30 countries that are supporting Kyiv’s effort to obtain fair terms for an end to the war with Russia. The leaders of Germany, Britain and France were among those expected to take par»»»

Damascus, Dec. 11 (SANA) Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, expressed his welcome on Thursday for the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote to repeal the “Caesar Act,” describing the decision as a significant victory for justice and a testament to the endur»»»

As the world prepares to celebrate a new year, the Lebanese are living day by day amid fears and threats of a renewed war. The Lebanese army has been tasked by the government to disarm Hezbollah by the year end, under U.S. pressure and Israel's almost daily strikes. However, the army's resources ar»»»

Ghana has deported three Israeli nationals who arrived in the country on Wednesday in what appears to be a tit-for-tat move over the alleged mistreatment of Ghanaian nationals at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. Seven Ghanaians, including four members of an official delegation attending »»»

The Trump administration is planning to appoint an American two-star general to command the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two US officials and two Israeli officials. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. A United Nations Security Council r»»»

The Tripoli based Libyan government held a meeting yesterday with a World Bank delegation from Washington, headed by the Regional Director for the Maghreb and Malta, Ahmedou Mustafa Ndiaye, and the World Bank Representative in Libya, Henriette Kaltenborn, along with several Bank experts. The Libyan»»»

Will history remember this as the day the planet started to rein in big tech? Australia is firing the first shot by banning under-16s from platforms and social media that include giants such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. We of course ask if rebellious teens will make light work of the ban. More»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has rolled out five new digital trade licence documents through the UAE PASS digital wallet, further strengthening the country’s shift towards paperless government services. The launch was carried out in partnershi»»»

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: The State of Qatar participated in the proceedings of the 15th meeting of the Customs Union Authority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which was held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The State of Qatar's delegation was headed by HE Chairman of the General Authority of»»»

US President Donald Trump reignited controversy by openly repeating his past slur about “shithole countries” at a Pennsylvania rally on Wednesday, underscoring a White House push to justify sweeping anti-immigrant policies and mass deportations. US President Donald Trump disputed having used the ep»»»

Oil rose for a second straight session on Thursday after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, escalating tensions between the two countries and raising concern over further supply disruptions. Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $62.48 a barrel by 0101 GMT, and US»»»

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Venezuela accused the United States of committing an act of "international piracy" and called on the international community to condemn the seizure of its oil tanker by the US military, the country’s foreign ministry said. "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly denou»»»

A top Hamas leader has told Qatari news channel Al Jazeera that the militant group is open to a weapons "freeze", but rejects the demand for disarmament put forward in the U.S.-sponsored peace plan for Gaza. "The idea of total disarmament is unacceptable to the resistance (Hamas). What is being pro»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian armed forces' human losses during the conflict have long since exceeded one million and continue to grow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. "According to numerous independent estimates, the human losses of the Ukrainian armed forces have long »»»

Dubai: The UAE's Rashid Rover 2 has passed crucial tests in the US, bringing the nation one step closer to its historic 2026 mission to land on the far side of the Moon. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the Dubai agency behind the mission, successfully conducted a comprehensive series »»»

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi met yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Haiti to the State of Qatar H E Jean-Marie Francois Junior Guillaume, on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country. His Excellency thanked the Ambassa»»»

The 23rd edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival kicks off on April 12, bringing together more than 1,000 artists from 19 countries to stages across Abu Dhabi and around the world. Returning under the theme ‘The Wisdom of Culture’, the festival celebrates culture as a unifying force and a reflection of s»»»

Washington’s recent openness toward Damascus is increasingly colliding with Israel’s assertive on-the-ground approach, highlighting a widening rift between the two traditional allies over the future of Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The United States now appears to be pushing»»»

Speaker of the House of the People of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H E Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe, met with Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Somalia, H E Dr. Abdullah bin Salem Al Nuaimi. The meeting discussed cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of S»»»

Doha, Qatar: Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) H E Maryam bint Abdullah Al-Attiyah has affirmed that the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the prevention of discrimination, have been top priorities for the Committee since its establishment, as they repre»»»

On Dec. 11, 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon, the final Apollo lunar landing. 1 of 4 | On December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon, the final Apollo lunar landing. File Photo courtesy of NASA Dec. 11 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1816, Indiana joined the United States as its 19th st»»»

The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to pioneering elephant conservationist Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who died aged 83 at his home in Nairobi on Monday. Douglas-Hamilton spent his life studying and campaigning to protect African elephants, becoming a world-leading expert on their behavior in the w»»»

Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, appeared publicly for the first time in nearly a year Thursday, waving to supporters from her Oslo hotel balcony. Her daughter accepted the award on her behalf Wednesday, as Machado arrived in Norway only hours later»»»

Doha, Qatar: Minister of State for Foreign Trade H E Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sayed met yesterday with H E Harry Coker Jr, Secretary of Commerce for the State of Maryland, during his official visit to Qatar yesterday. The Secretary was accompanied by a delegation of companies from various sectors.»»»

The President of Libya’s General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Mohamed Raied, led a high-level Libyan delegation on a visit to Serbia, where today he signed an MoU with Mihailo Vesović, Vice President of the Chamber of Economy and Industry of Serbia. Libya’s Ambassador to Serbia, Mohamed Ben Ghalb»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) received a delegation from the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD). The meeting discussed the commercial and economic relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them, in addition to reviewing key areas of cooperation »»»

Washington, Dec. 11 (SANA) U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson expressed his gratitude to the House of Representatives for approving the full repeal of the Caesar Act as part of the Department of Defense budget for 2026. Wilson said Wednesday in a post on the X platform: “Grateful that the House of Represe»»»

Washington, Dec. 11 (SANA) The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday by a majority to repeal the sanctions imposed on Syria under the “Caesar Act,” which was enacted in December 2019 to penalize the former regime for war crimes committed against the Syrian people during the years of the upr»»»

When China’s President Xi Jinping inaugurated Peru’s Chancay megaport in November 2024, he was doing far more than opening a Chinese offshore project; he was executing a vision that has reshaped global power three times before and is poised to do so again. The $1.3bn deep-water facility, capable of»»»

French diplomat Sylvie Bermann first encountered China as a young student at the twilight of the Cultural Revolution in 1976-77. Two decades later, she returned as her country’s ambassador to Beijing from 2011-14, before serving as the French envoy to London from 2014-17, and as ambassador to Mosco»»»

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Using US forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest pu»»»

Mexican lawmakers have approved a package of new tariffs, impacting hundreds of products, many of which come from China. The measures, which President Claudia Sheinbaum has said are needed to boost domestic production, were passed by the Mexican Senate on Wednesday. The levies are set to take effec»»»