Category: Middle East

Canada's recent agreement to cut tariffs on electric vehicles, for concessions on Canadian farm products, is set to significantly boost Chinese automakers' global expansion. This offers easier entry into the North American market for Beijing's rapidly growing automotive sector.
Chinese manufacturers have been making global inroads with their high-tech, stylish, and affordable EVs. Experts suggest this Canadian access could accelerate their drive to dominate the global market, as their domestic market weakens, threatening other auto manufacturers, particularly American companies.
Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, observed: “This is telling us that Chinese automakers continue to be really popular, and are doing better and better, and not just something that’s sold in global markets that are more marginal or less important to U.S. automakers.”
What makes Chinese vehicles stand out?Chinese-made vehicles ..

Saturday Night Live’s first sketch of 2026 brought out James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump and his “Cabinet of curiosities” for a status update on the administration’s threats to Iran, the capture of Nicolas Maduro and a surge of federal officers in Minnesota.
“I got what I wanted for Christmas, my very own someone else's Nobel Prize, which I cherish,” said Johnson’s Trump after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted him her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize medal.
“And in my stocking I got Maduro – Nicolas Maduro,” he said. “We did a reverse Santa on him. We came down the chimney with a bag and took him away.”
The cold open sketch referenced the U.S. government’s capture of the ousted Venezuelan president now facing federal drug charges, with Trump vowing that U.S. oil companies will rebuild the South American nation’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Johnson then re-introduced his Cabinet, which he described as his “fellow freaks, various monsters and nightmares from the twist..

Rows of businesses stood shuttered inside a sprawling complex of Somali businesses on a recent afternoon.
Karmel Mall in south Minneapolis contains more than a hundred small businesses in suites offering everything from clothing and food to insurance and accounting services. On Thursday, the noisy hallways inside lay quiet, save for occasional chatter between neighboring vendors. The smell of fried food still wafted from the bakeries, the central heating hummed and the sound of Quran recitation flowed quietly from some shops.
But many sellers sat alone in their clothing stores, waiting for the occasional customer to walk by. Everyone is afraid of federal immigration agents, business owners said. Sellers and customers, citizens and noncitizens. Some don’t bother opening shop because they aren’t expecting any customers.
“It’s been like this for three weeks now,” said Abdi Wahid, who works at his mom’s convenience store in the mall. “Everywhere it’s all been closed up, all the stores.”
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CloseZelensky says Trump’s peace agreement could be signed at Davos next week if terms agreedDocuments for a deal between Ukraine and the US on the war in Ukraine could be signed at Davos next week if terms are agreed, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
A Ukrainian delegation is travelling to the US for negotiations on security guarantees and a “prosperity package” in the event of a ceasefire.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, the Ukrainian president expressed hope that the documents could be signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, where global leaders will gather for talks.
During the talks, Zelensky said his team would seek clarity from the US on the Russian stance towards diplomatic efforts to end the war. Moscow has refused to budge on its maximalist demands for a peace deal.
The trip comes after Trump accused Zelensky of holding up an agreement in the latest show of support from the US President for the Russian leader.
He claimed that Putin “is ready to ..

CloseExiled Iranian Crown Prince decries ‘mass crimes’ of Islamic Republic to Washington crowdReza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, said he was certain that the collapse of the Islamic Republic was inevitable and that he was “uniquely” placed to lead the country after the unrest.
The US-based opposition leader called on the world to join Iranian protesters to hasten the process of the collapse of Khamenei’s regime and “prevent more loss of life”.
He said the foreign government did not require “boots on the ground” but only “targeted intervention”.
It came as the European Union has urged civilian airlines to avoid Iranian airspace due to the “high risk” of a flight being misidentified as a US attack.
The threat of US military action has left Iranian air defence on a heightened state of alert, meaning the possibility of wrongful identification has grown, the EU’s aviation regulator (EASA) said.
The protests, which have largely died down, saw more than 2,400 demonstrators kil..

Nick Reiner was placed in a mental health conservatorship that lasted from 2020 to 2021, according to reports.
The 32-year-old has been charged with the murder of his parents, acclaimed film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner. He is set to be arraigned on February 23, after his attorney quit.
According to the New York Times, a clerk with the Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed the conservatorship ended in 2021.
Steven Baer, a licensed fiduciary who was appointed as Reiner’s conservator, told the Times that mental illness “is an epidemic that is widely misunderstood and this is a horrible tragedy.”
Another source told the publication that Reiner had been diagnosed at different times with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. They claimed that Reiner had been taking medication to treat the condition, but switched medication due to side effects about a month before his parents were killed.
Few other details about Nick Reiner’s conservatorship – a legal process..

CloseZelensky to declare state of emergency over Putin’s attacks on energy gridDonald Trump has blamed his inability to end the war in Ukraine on its president Volodymyr Zelensky – not Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Asked why US-led negotiations had not yet resolved Europe's largest land conflict since the Second World War, Trump responded: “Zelensky”. He added that Putin “is ready to make a deal” while “Ukraine is less ready to make a deal”.
The claim from Trump is in sharp contrast with European allies who have proven Putin as the key figure ramping up military aggression and rejecting peace proposals from Trump’s envoys.
Just hours earlier, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov insisted Moscow was not interested in agreeing to a ceasefire, instead holding out for a peace agreement that would end the conflict on its terms.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has said he will declare a state of emergency for Ukraine's energy sector following sustained Russian attacks on the country’s infra..

Close'No plans for executions': Trump claims killings in Iran have stoppedUS president Donald Trump said he's been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran pressed ahead with fast-track trials in its crackdown on protesters.
Trump previously told protesting Iranians that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” in response to the killing of thousands of demonstrators by the security forces.
The unrest in Iran has forced the UK to close its Tehran embassy and withdraw its staff from the country, while both Poland and Italy have urged their citizens to leave.
The UK is also withdrawing staff from a military base in Qatar, and the US is reducing its personnel numbers at its Qatari Al-Udeid air base – the Middle East's largest US base, which houses around 10,000 troops.
Tehran warned other regional countries that it would attack if the US launched military action on it in response to the dead..

Leer en EspañolAs protests raged across Iran over the weekend, the authoritarian regime imposed a near-total internet blackout – and many demonstrators turned to Elon Musk’s Starlink in the hope that it could connect them to the outside world.
Tehran enacted the internet blackout on Thursday as part of a ruthless crackdown against the protesters, who are demonstrating against the country’s economic crisis. At least 646 protesters are reported to have been killed, according to human rights groups.
As concern mounts that the blackout is concealing atrocities against protesters, there have been growing calls for the US to assist in restoring connectivity in Iran. Donald Trump on Sunday promised he would speak to Musk about using his Starlink service to restore internet across the country.
open image in galleryProtesters have taken to the streets in Iran in response to the economic crisis, amid wider disapproval of the clerical regime (Middle East Images)But even Starlink appears to have..

President Donald Trump has implemented a 25 per cent tariff on all of Iran’s trading partners in response to a violent crackdown by Tehran on protesters.
Oil prices jumped to the highest levels since November in the aftermath of the announcement, sparking concerns about an impact on the global economy.
The US leader has been unequivocal about using military force in Iran if protesters are killed and will discuss “several options” with senior military officials on Tuesday.
Experts say his latest strategy is an attempt to strong-arm the country into compliance – but the Supreme Court has struck down his previous tariff policy.
The Independent looks at whether the announcement of new tariffs on Iran’s economic allies will have a widespread economic impact.
open image in galleryA crowd gathers during a pro-government rally on Monday in Tehran, Iran (Getty)What does Trump’s tariff policy entail?The US president’s announcement came in a characteristically bombastic Truth Social post on M..