Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters
Donald Trump has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a federal TikTok law that would ban the popular social media app or force its sale, with the Republican U.S. President-elect arguing that he should have time after taking office to pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. TikTok and its owner ByteDance are fighting to keep the popular app online in the United States after Congress voted in April to ban it unless the app’s Chinese parent company sells it by Jan. 19. They have sought to have the law struck down, and the Supreme Court has agreed to…
Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologised to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for a “tragic incident” which happened in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday. Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived. “(President) Vladimir Putin apologised for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the…
Ukraine said on Saturday it had struck a storage and maintenance depot for long-range Shahed drones in Russia’s Oryol region, adding that this had “significantly reduced” Russia’s ability to launch mass drone attacks on Ukraine. Ukraine military’s general staff said in a statement on Telegram the attack took place on Thursday and was conducted by Ukraine’s air force. “As a result of the strike, a depot for storage, maintenance and repair of Shahed kamikaze drones, made of several protected concrete structures, was destroyed,” it said. “This military operation has significantly reduced the enemy’s potential in terms of conducting air raids…
Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on January 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova. It said the company reserved the right to take any action, including terminating the supply contract with Moldova. The supply suspension is a precursor for a total shutdown of Russian gas exports via Ukraine and to Europe, where it flows further to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy, once the current transit deal with Ukraine expires on Dec. 31. Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year through Ukraine. This…
Two-time Grand Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas admitted on Friday that he needs to break free from a slump and start fresh in 2025 after winning just one title last season and falling out of the top 10. The Greek world No. 11, who claimed his only title at the Monte Carlo Masters, also announced that he has parted ways with his father, Apostolos, ending their coaching partnership. “I’m looking at kind of reinventing myself,” said Tsitsipas, who begins his season at the Dec. 27-Jan. 5 United Cup mixed team event. “I felt like I’ve been stuck in a pattern over…
Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of the ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad charged in Switzerland with war crimes over the bloody suppression of a revolt in 1982, has flown from Beirut to Dubai in recent days, two Lebanese security officials said on Friday. The officials said that “many members” of the Assad family had travelled to Dubai from Beirut and others had stayed in Lebanon since Assad was toppled on Dec. 8. Lebanese authorities had not received Interpol requests to arrest them, including Rifaat, the officials said. The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.…
North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine, with a thousand of their troops killed or wounded in the last week alone in the Kursk region of Russia, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday. The number far exceeds the figure U.S. officials have previously provided. “It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses,” Kirby said, describing the North Korean troops’ offensive as “massed, dismounted assaults.” North Korea’s mission to the United Nations…
A deepening political crisis in South Korea has not diminished the military readiness of 28,500 troops stationed in the Asian state, a U.S. official said on Friday, but Washington is closely monitoring the situation. South Korea’s parliament impeached acting President Han Duck-soo on Friday, less than two weeks after suspending President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration, plunging the country further into political chaos. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok assumed the position of acting president while the cases of Yoon and Han are considered by the Constitutional Court. The United States has troops stationed in South Korea as…
Russia sees no point in a weak ceasefire to freeze the war in Ukraine but Moscow wants a legally binding deal for a lasting peace that would ensure the security of both Russia and its neighbours, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. “A truce is a path to nowhere,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow suspected such a weak truce would be simply used by the West to re-arm Ukraine. “We need final legal agreements that will fix all the conditions for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbors,” Lavrov…
Iran’s foreign ministry on Thursday rejected accusations that Tehran interfered in Syria, after the new Syrian foreign minister told the Islamic Republic not to spread chaos in his country. “We reject the baseless accusations by some media … against Iran over interfering in Syria’s internal affairs,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying by state media. “It is necessary to prevent the spread of insecurity and violence … and ensure the security of Syrian citizens,” he added.