Assad
WORLD
Poker Face: Russia’s Transactional Game
Putin promised partnership to Iran, friendship to Israel, and mediation to Trump; Moscow's Middle East strategy is beautifully duplicitous.
BUSINESS
Trump May Have Found His Match in the UAE
Donald Trump visits Abu Dhabi in a new era of US-Gulf diplomacy, blending business with diplomacy in the Middle East, as the UAE redefines U.S.-GCC ties.
WORLD
Abu Dhabi Recalibrates Relations with Syria’s New Leadership
UAE backs Syria’s new leadership with reconstruction aid as al-Sharaa visits Abu Dhabi, signaling shifting Gulf dynamics post-Assad.
BUSINESS
Re-Alignment in the Red Sea: Russia & Iran
Russia and Iran recalibrate influence from Syria to Sudan, leveraging Red Sea conflicts and deepening military ties in shifting alliances.
WORLD
U.S. and Russian Forces Pull Back from Syria
As global powers retreat from Syria, a defiant Israel digs in while Kurdish forces weigh alliances.
Popular
Starlink, Grok and the Price of Private Infrastructure
As UK regulator Ofcom launched a formal investigation into X on 12 January 2026 over Grok's generation of sexualised deepfakes, including images of children, the case exposed how everyday life runs on systems voters never designed.
Cloudflare Pulls the Plug on the Italy’s Winter Games
Cloudflare quits Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics security after Italy fine, sparking US-EU clash over piracy laws and censorship
Mudejar Ruins in Spain: Brickwork on the Edge
At 8:00 on Monday morning, a wall of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Muriel de Zapardiel collapsed, sending 12th-century Romanesque-Mudejar brick crashing onto the ground and turning a quiet Valladolid village into the latest symbol of Spain's heritage crisis.
Poland’s Catholic Football Pilgrimage: Unity, Faith and a Hard Line on Migration
At a Marian shrine where football supporters gather to pray, a presidential call for “Poland without illegal immigrants” turned a devotional event into a political stage.
AfDB Turns to Gulf as Western Funders Step Back
The African Development Bank has installed a president with ingrained Gulf experience as Washington pulls back hundreds of millions
