Author: Finance for Sight

LONDON: Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Saturday it was “unacceptable” and deeply concerning that Israel had detained two UK lawmakers and denied them entry. Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, from the governing Labour Party, flew from London to Israel but were blocked from entering the country and deported, British media reported. “It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” Lammy said in a statement. “I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way…

Russian air defence units intercepted and destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. Drones were destroyed over the Kursk and Belgorod border regions and over the southern Russian Rostov region, the ministry said in a post on Telegram. Ukrainian drones strike industrial facility in Russia’s Mordovia, governor says Yuri Slyusar, acting governor of the Rostov region, said earlier in a Telegram post that there were no injuries reported in the attack, but there were reports of drone debris falling on administrative buildings in one of the region’s districts.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on the sweeping tariffs he unleashed on countries around the world, warning Americans of pain ahead, but promising historic investment and prosperity. The comments came as Trump’s widest-ranging tariffs took effect in a move that could trigger retaliation and escalating trade tensions that could upset the global economy. “We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is an economic revolution, and we will win,” he added. “Hang tough,…

DOHA: A Democratic Republic of Congo government delegation has met with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in Qatar in a bid to halt fighting in the country’s east, a source with knowledge of the talks said Saturday. The M23 has taken control of large swathes of the DRC’s eastern provinces of North and South Kivu since 2021 and captured their capitals Goma and Bukavu in a lightning offensive earlier this year. “A discreet meeting was hosted by the Qataris in Doha last week between delegations from the government of DRC and the AFC/M23 movement, marking their first direct encounter in a long…

ROME: Billionaire US presidential adviser Elon Musk said Saturday he hoped Europe and the United States would agree to join in a free-trade zone, after US leader Donald Trump unleashed heavy global trade tariffs. Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced earlier this week sent global stocks tumbling, worried allies and raised the prospect of others – including potentially the European Union – raising tariffs themselves. The EU, which faces a 20-percent tariff, has already vowed to retaliate in “a calm, carefully phased, unified way”, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said. Trump tells Cabinet, others that Musk will leave soon “I hope that…

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s leader rolled out the red carpet on Saturday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Colombo balances ties with neighbouring giant India and its biggest lender, China. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake welcomed Modi – the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo since the leftist leader swept elections last year – with a 19-gun salute. Dissanayake and Modi are expected to sign agreements on energy, defence and health, but the visit’s highlight will be the launch of an Indian-backed 120 megawatt solar power project. The solar plant on the island’s northeastern Trincomalee district had been stalled for years, but…

BUDAPEST/WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit the White House on Monday to discuss recently announced tariffs with US President Donald Trump, three Israeli officials said on Saturday. The impromptu visit was first reported by Axios, which said that if the visit takes place, the Israeli leader would be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in person to try to negotiate a deal to remove tariffs. Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed the visit, that would likely also include discussions on Iran and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The surprise invite by Trump came in…

BANGKOK: The death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake climbed to 3,354, with 4,850 injured and 220 missing, state media said on Saturday, as the visiting U.N. aid chief praised humanitarian and community groups for leading the aid response. The leader of the military government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, was back in the capital Naypyitaw after a rare foreign trip to attend a summit in Bangkok of South and Southeast Asian nations, where he also met separately with the leaders of Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and India. Min Aung Hlaing reaffirmed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the junta’s…

AMMAN/ISTANBUL: Turkey scoped out at least three air bases in Syria where it could deploy forces as part of a planned joint defence pact before Israel hit the sites with air strikes this week, four people familiar with the matter said. The bombardment signals the risks of a deepening rift between two powerful regional militaries over Syria, where Islamist rebels have installed a new government after toppling former leader Bashar al-Assad in December. The Israeli strikes on the three sites Turkey was assessing, including a heavy barrage on Wednesday night, came despite Ankara’s efforts to reassure Washington that a deeper…

BANGKOK: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with the interim leader of neighbouring Bangladesh on Friday, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi’s long-term ally and soured relations. Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, took charge of Bangladesh in August 2024 after India’s old ally Sheikh Hasina was toppled as prime minister by a student-led uprising and fled to India by helicopter. India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina’s government and her overthrow sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit last month to China –…