WORLD

WASHINGTON, the United States | Xinhua | The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was conducted on Friday at John F. Kennedy Center, setting the stage for the first 48-team edition of football’s biggest tournament. With expanded group formats and an unprecedented number of matches across Canada, Mexico and …

WASHINGTON | Xinhua |  U.S. President Donald Trump hosted his counterparts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda here on Thursday, witnessing them signing a peace deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict in eastern DRC while opening their critical mineral resources to the United States. Presidents …

  JOHANNESBURG | Xinhua |  South Africa said Thursday that it will temporarily step back from the Group of 20 (G20) activities, after the United States, the new rotating presidency, confirmed it would not invite Pretoria to participate. “For now, we will take a commercial break until we resume normal …

COMMENT | DANI RODRIK |  We need new ideas to address the three greatest economic challenges of our time: climate change, the erosion of the middle class, and poverty. The first is an existential threat to our physical environment; the second drives polarization and undermines democracy; and the third is …

GAZA | Xinhua | With heavy steps, 11-year-old Mahmoud Abu Awda makes his way through puddles left by winter rains on a damaged street in Gaza City. His worn-out shoes sink into the mud as he clutches a small plastic box of biscuits, canned goods, and chocolates, praying he can …

Though US President Donald Trump’s threat to freeze migration from Third World countries may be more bluster than law, it risks accelerating shutting a quiet door that is already closing to Africa Washington, US | AGENCIES | US President Donald Trump’s vow to “permanently pause” migration from what he called “Third …

NEW DELHI | Xinhua | India’s federal government Wednesday withdrew its order directing all smartphone manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) and importers to pre-install the state-owned cybersecurity app Sanchar Saathi on devices intended for sale in India. The withdrawal came amid outcry from the opposition politicians, privacy advocates and …

COMMENT | Maya Majueran | The United States’ conspicuous absence from two major international gatherings — the G20 Summit in South Africa and the COP30 climate conference in Brazil — has raised pressing questions about Washington’s commitment to multilateralism. Yet paradoxically, both summits achieved significant breakthroughs in global cooperation and …

MOSCOW | Xinhua |  A five-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff that ended after midnight on Wednesday failed to produce a compromise plan for settling the Ukraine crisis. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on Wednesday described the conversation as “extremely useful, constructive …

HELSINKI | Xinhua |  Global arms revenues of the world’s 100 largest arms companies hit a record 679 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, with U.S. arms producers accounting for nearly half of the total, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report released on Monday. In 2024, …