Pakistan to Spain: Deadly journey via Africa illegal migrants travel; why smugglers are using longer, more dangerous migration routes
During the six months Iqbal and Ali were in Mauritania, smugglers moved them repeatedly, beating them to extract more money. While he managed to get some money sent from Pakistan, Iqbal did not tell his family of his dire situation.
India, Europe and US carmakers alarms rise after China slams brakes on critical mineral exports
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk this week, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, and the export ban is expected to be high on the agenda.
South Korean presidential poll winner faces uphill task of healing polarised nation, economy bartered by US tariffs
Leading candidates ended three weeks of official campaigning late on Monday, crisscrossing the country before converging on Seoul for final rallies, as they vowed to put months of turmoil behind them and breathe new life into an ailing economy.
How Gen Z gender divide is not only reshaping democracy, but also a reminder patriarchy is real
In South Korea, almost 30 per cent of men aged 18-29 plan to back the Reform Party compared with just 3 per cent of young women, according to a Gallup Korea poll this month. Overall, more than half of the men back right-wing parties while almost half the women want the left-wing Democratic Party candidate to win. The divergence shrinks for older age groups.
Israeli strikes kill 30 in Gaza, among them a rescue service official and local journalist
Israel’s military said in a statement that chief of staff Eyal Zamir visited troops in Khan Younis on Sunday, telling them that “this is not an endless war” and that Hamas has lost most of its assets, including its command and control.
Israel strikes near Syria’s presidential palace to warn new Islamist authorities of its readiness to ramp up military action
It has framed its stance around its suspicion of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – who once headed a branch of al Qaeda before renouncing ties to the group in 2016 – and a desire to protect the Druze, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Powerful Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq ready to disarm to avert deadly US airstrikes
Izzat al-Shahbndar, a senior Shi’ite Muslim politician close to Iraq’s governing alliance, says discussions between Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and several militia leaders were “very advanced”, and the groups were inclined to comply with US calls for disarmament.
Drop in cheap palm oil production as biodiesel demand surges in key markets in Asia
The biodiesel push will reduce Indonesia’s exports to just 20 million metric tonnes in 2030, down a third from 29.5 million in 2024, estimates Eddy Martono, chairman of the southeast Asian nation’s largest palm oil association, GAPKI.
Perverse effects of conflict minerals initiatives in Congo remind us of how inaccurate narratives fuel the very problems they pretend to tackle
Natural resources do play an important role for both eastern DRC and Rwanda’s political economy, and it is true that the return of the M23 in 2021 correlates with a sharp rise in Rwanda’s mineral exports, as per official statistics.
Trump and Modi agree to work towards deal to resolve trade concerns in wake of tariffs standoff
It’s not clear whether the case of billionaire Gautam Adani came up in the talks after his indictment by the US Justice Department in November over an alleged bribery scheme. Adani hails from Modi’s western state of Gujarat and his Adani Group runs several key infrastructure projects across the globe.
