CNN — The US military will gain access to four more bases in the Philippines under an agreement announced as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Manila on Thursday. In addition, the two allies said projects at five bases already covered in the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) were almost completed. The EDCA allows … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. The West isn’t really saying “never” on fighter jets for Ukraine — it just wants to focus first on getting Kyiv weapons for a looming offensive. That’s the sentiment emerging in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s blunt “no” — echoed to various … Read more
Ramallah, West Bank CNN — Abu A’asem brews pot after pot of his specialty Arabic coffee, despite the pouring rain. His corner stand at the heart of Ramallah is always busy, no matter the weather, but his future as a Palestinian is very much as gloomy as the skies above. “I am 40 years old … Read more
Hong Kong CNN — Two years ago, cannabidiol was booming in Hong Kong. The compound, known as CBD, was popping up in cafes, restaurants and stores, with businesses eager to join an exciting new market already well-established in countries around the world. That all came to an end on Wednesday, when CBD was criminalized in … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. PARIS — Vladimir Putin is a “radically rational” leader who is betting that Western countries will grow tired of backing Ukraine and agree to a negotiated end to the conflict that will be favorable to Russia, former French President François Hollande told POLITICO. Hollande, … Read more
On In rare — albeit implicit — criticism of Israel, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called out Israeli policies, including settlement expansion and home demolitions, as detrimental to the two-state solution. Still, at a news conference at the end of his trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Tuesday, Blinken … Read more
CNN — The United States spends more on health care than any other high-income country but still has the lowest life expectancy at birth and the highest rate of people with multiple chronic diseases, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group. The report, released Tuesday, also says that compared … Read more
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its 2023 global growth outlook slightly due to “surprisingly resilient” demand in the United States and Europe and the reopening of China’s economy after Beijing abandoned its strict zero-COVID strategy. The IMF said global growth would still fall to 2.9 percent in 2023 from 3.4 percent in 2022, … Read more
CNN — A new paper adds to the mounting evidence that school-age children across the globe experienced significant setbacks in their learning progress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students “lost out on about 35% of a normal school year’s worth of learning” when in-person learning stopped during the public health crisis, according to a paper published … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. PARIS — France is considering Ukraine’s request for fighter-jet pilot training, according to an aide to French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The French and Ukrainian defense ministers are due to discuss the request during a call this week, the aide told POLITICO on Monday. … Read more