World

U.S. Peace Proposal Requires Ukraine to Cede Land, Cut Army Size
U.S. Peace Proposal Requires Ukraine to Cede Land, Cut Army Size

Ukraine has received a new peace proposal from the United States, which requires Kyiv to cede land controlled by Russia and more than halve its army's size, a senior official briefed on the proposal told AFP on Wednesday. The plan appears to repeat Russia's maximalist terms, demands consistently rejected by Ukraine as tantamount to ...

The Takaichi Shock: Taiwan Reshapes the Power Balance
ExplainerThe Takaichi Shock: Taiwan Reshapes the Power Balance

The Statement That Sparked the Storm It began with a brief remark. On November 7, speaking to Japanese lawmakers, Sanae Takaichi warned that military action against Taiwan could threaten “Japan’s survival” and urged consideration of the “worst-case scenario.” Her comments quickly crossed the Taiwan Strait. Beijing responded almost ...

Trump and MBS Seal Massive Deals
Trump and MBS Seal Massive Deals

The Saudi crown prince, welcomed to a lavish ceremony at the White House, revealed that the initial six hundred billion dollars in mega-deals would expand to nearly one trillion dollars, aiming to support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and reinforce strategic ties with the United States. Donald Trump, emphasizing his business deal skills, hailed the ...

UN Nuclear Head Renews Call for Iran to Allow Inspections at Key Sites
UN Nuclear Head Renews Call for Iran to Allow Inspections at Key Sites

The head of the UN nuclear agency on Wednesday renewed his call for Iran to allow inspections at key nuclear sites attacked by Israel and the United States in June. Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years and were further inflamed after a 12-day war in June that saw Israeli ...

Netanyahu Visits Israeli Troops in Syria Beyond Ceasefire Line
Netanyahu Visits Israeli Troops in Syria Beyond Ceasefire Line

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday told Israeli troops deployed in Syria in a buffer zone intended to separate the two countries' forces that their presence was hugely important for safeguarding Israel. When Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power in December last year, Israel sent troops into the UN-patrolled ...

U.S. Envoy Witkoff Not to Attend Zelensky-Erdogan Talks in Turkey
U.S. Envoy Witkoff Not to Attend Zelensky-Erdogan Talks in Turkey

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will not attend talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, a U.S. official said Wednesday. Zelensky will meet Erdogan in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Wednesday afternoon, where he said they would "discuss the best ways to ensure Ukraine achieves a just ...

Romania Scrambles Jets Over Fresh Drone Incursion
Romania Scrambles Jets Over Fresh Drone Incursion

NATO member Romania, bordering Ukraine, scrambled fighter jets early on Wednesday after a fresh drone incursion, the defense ministry said, while neighboring Moldova also reported that its airspace was breached. Romania and Moldova have repeatedly seen violations of their airspaces, including drone fragments falling onto their soil, following ...

UK warns Putin as Russian Military Ship Enters its Waters
UK warns Putin as Russian Military Ship Enters its Waters

The UK government warned the Kremlin on Wednesday after saying a Russian military ship had entered British waters and directed lasers at UK pilots. Defense Secretary John Healey told reporters in London that the ship had "entered" UK waters for the second time this year, following an earlier incursion back in January. "The Yantar is on the edge ...

EU Court Confirms Amazon Subject to Bloc's Digital Rules
EU Court Confirms Amazon Subject to Bloc's Digital Rules

An EU court on Wednesday rejected an Amazon challenge against the bloc's digital content law, confirming that the tech giant must comply with its strict rules. Amazon was seeking to overturn its designation as a "very large online platform," which is subject to tougher rules than smaller players under the European Union's behemoth Digital ...

Capsula Mundi: Imagine Becoming a Tree After Death
SpotlightCapsula Mundi: Imagine Becoming a Tree After Death

What if, after death, we could become a source of life for the planet? This idea is no longer a myth or a poetic dream. It is now taking shape through Capsula Mundi, literally “the capsule of the world” in Italian, a project by designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel that challenges our deepest assumptions about human finitude. Since 2003, ...

Roblox Game Platform Launches Age Checks for Chat
Roblox Game Platform Launches Age Checks for Chat

Gaming giant Roblox Corp. says it will roll out compulsory facial recognition or ID checks from next month for players wanting to access its chat features. It aims to stop under-nines from chatting without parental consent and to curb conversations between adults and minors online by placing users into six age bands ranging from under-nines to ...