Antony Blinken News

geopolitics and artificial intelligence as more leaders from around the globe assembled at the snow-clad Swiss resort to discuss challenges and crises facing the world. On the second day, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese Premier Li Qiang stole the limelight, while Donald Trump was another talk of the town subject for his resounding victory in Iowa caucuses and the prospect of him returning to the White House.

Taiwan told China on Sunday to «face reality» and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing's warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as its President. Voters spurned Beijing's repeated calls not to vote for Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China's ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist. Beijing responded to Lai's victory by saying it would not change the «inevitable trend of China's reunification».

South Africa says more than 50 countries have expressed support for its case at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza. Others, including the United States, have strongly rejected South Africa's allegation that Israel is violating the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Many more have remained silent.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday raised concerns over China's human rights issues in a meeting with senior Chinese official Liu Jianchao in Washington, the State Department said, adding they also discussed «maintaining peace and stability» in the Taiwan Strait. WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

India in defending freedom of navigation in the Red Sea as the two countries discussed «shared concerns» over the reckless Houthi attacks in the region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Thursday and «discussed the United States and India's shared concerns over the reckless Houthi attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which threaten the free flow of commerce, endanger innocent mariners, and violate international law». State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken emphasised the Red Sea is a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade and «welcomed increased cooperation with India in defending freedom of navigation in the region».

Antony Blinken spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday about reforming the Palestinian self-rule government, as part of US efforts to rally the region behind postwar plans for Gaza that also include concrete steps toward a Palestinian state. Blinken says he has secured commitments from multiple countries in the region to assist with rebuilding and governing Gaza after Israel's war against Hamas, and that wider Israeli-Arab normalization is still possible, but only if there is «a pathway to a Palestinian state.»

More than 60 heads of state and government and hundreds of business leaders will discuss the biggest global challenges during the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Switzerland next week

World Economic Forum (WEF). In an online pre-meeting press conference, WEF President Borge Brende said the meeting will take place in a very complicated and the most challenging geopolitical and geo-economic scenario.

By Arathy Somasekhar

Brent crude slipped 0.93%, or 73 cents, to $78.03 a barrel by 0753 GMT after falling more than 1% earlier in the session, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 1.04%, or 77 cents, to $73.04 a barrel. «Saudi Aramco slashing its February OSPs bolsters the weak demand narrative,» said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights. Rising supply and competition with rival producers prompted Saudi Arabia on Sunday to cut the February official selling price (OSP) of its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia to the lowest level in 27 months. «If we were just to focus on the fundamentals including, higher inventories, higher OPEC/non-OPEC production, and a lower-than-expected Saudi OSP, it would be impossible to be anything other than bearish crude oil,» IG analyst Tony Sycamore said. «However, that doesn't take into account the fact that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are undeniably rising again which will mean limited downside.» Both contracts climbed more than 2% in the first week of 2024 after investors returned from holidays to focus on geopolitical risk in the Middle East following attacks by Yemeni Houthis on ships in the Red Sea. U.S.

By Florence Tan

By Ari Rabinovitch, Simon Lewis and Nidal al-Mughrabi

Israeli military signaled that it has wrapped up major combat in northern Gaza, saying it has completed dismantling Hamas' military infrastructure there, as the war against the militant group entered its fourth month Sunday. The military did not address troop deployments in northern Gaza going forward. Its spokesman, Rear Adm.

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded fire Saturday in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks, a day after the militia's leader urged retaliation for the targeted killing, presumably by Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon's capital. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that if his group didn't strike back for the killing Tuesday of Saleh Arouri, Hamas' deputy political leader, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attacks.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Oil prices edged higher on Friday after minutes from a Federal Reserve meeting suggested inflation was under control and as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to visit the Middle East to prevent escalation in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

migrants and Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares for a state visit to Mexico, a fresh wave of up to 15,000 migrants is set to crash into the already flooded US southern border of Mexico. A caravan of nearly 8,000 asylum-seekers began its march through Mexico to the border days before Blinken’s meeting with Mexican President Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador to discuss the illegal immigration crisis. They are mostly from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday conveyed a Christmas message to the global Christian community, emphasizing that Israel still grapples with the absence of lasting peace. Here are the top ten updates on the Israel-Gaza war: 1. “To our Christian friends around the world, Merry Christmas," Netanyahu said, adding, “Christmas is supposed to be a time of goodwill to all men and peace on Earth.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday his government will reinforce measures to contain migration as he seeks to help the United States cope with record numbers of people trying to reach the U.S. border.

UN Security Council on Thursday again delayed a vote on a watered-down resolution to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza — a revision backed by the United States, while other countries support a stronger text that would include the now eliminated call for the urgent suspension of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The revised draft resolution was discussed behind closed doors for over an hour by council members not long after it was circulated. Because there were significant changes, many said they needed to consult their capitals before a vote, which is now expected Friday. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after the consultations that the United States backs the new text, and if it is put to a vote the U.S. will support it.

Pakistan Army Chief Gen Syed Asim Munir during his USA trip in a desperate move has launched a charm offensive on the Pakistani diaspora, urging them to invest in Pakistan. Wealthy Pakistani individuals in the USA — investors, physicians, IT professionals, engineers, university professors, financial experts, and economists attended an event during the ongoing visit of Munir.

Israel's military pushed ahead with its punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza on Saturday, bolstered by a U.S. veto derailing U.N. Security Council efforts to end the war and word that an emergency sale of $106 million worth of tank ammunition had been approved by Washington. Unable to leave Gaza, a territory 25 miles (40 kilometers) long by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide, more than 2 million Palestinians faced more bombardment Saturday, even in areas that Israel had described as safe zones.