WORLD

Critics have compared the offensive against Venezuela to the Iraq war, citing a familiar mix of regime-change rhetoric and security pretexts, whose fundamental aim is to serve Washington’s oil interests. BEIJING | Xinhua | Since late August, the United States has ramped up military presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s …

CHANTHABURI, Thailand/PHNOM PENH | Xinhua | Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint statement on Saturday to agree on a ceasefire from 12:00 p.m. local time. The statement was inked by Thai Defense Minister Natthapon Nakpanich and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tea Seiha during the third Special General …

MOSCOW | TASS | Vladimir Zelensky will put US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to a referendum, if Kiev fails to negotiate a better position on Donbass during his upcoming talks with the US leader on Sunday, the Axios news portal said. The portal wrote, citing a phone interview with …

COMMENT | MAX VON THUN  | Europeans have long lamented the continent’s lack of globally competitive tech companies. But since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the goal of ending Europe’s reliance on US-based tech giants has taken on new urgency. With US tech oligarchs interfering in European elections and the Trump administration …

WASHINGTON | Xinhua | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in an exclusive interview with Politico on Friday, two days ahead of his meeting with Zelensky in Florida over a peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict lasting nearly four …

CAIRO | Xinhua |  As 2025 draws to a close, practical cooperation between China and Middle Eastern countries has continued to grow in both depth and scope, even as the region remains unsettled by conflict and uncertainty. Over the past year, Chinese investors have launched or expanded ventures from the …

In his Christmas Urbi et Orbi address, Pope Leo XIV renews his plea for peace, reminding the world that it is both God’s gift and humanity’s shared responsibility. VATICAN | VATICAN NEWS | As war continues to scar the world, Pope Leo XIV used his Christmas Urbi et Orbi message to renew his appeal …

  COMMENT | MICHAEL BURLEIGH | Until a few days ago, it had never crossed my mind that people across Europe – including Londoners like me – were living in a strife-afflicted hell hole, “suffocated” by regulations, stripped of political liberties, and bound for “civilizational erasure.” So, it was with …

LOS ANGELES | Xinhua | Hundreds of Chinese and Americans, including lawmakers, diplomats and world champions, gathered at Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palms Resort to commemorate the 54th anniversary of China-U.S. “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun described “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” over five decades ago as “an …

Vatican | VATICAN NEWS | “I once again make this appeal to all people of good will: that, at least on the feast of the birth of the Saviour, one day of peace may be respected,” said Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday, 23 December, from Castel Gandolfo. This as he launched an …