Author: admin

Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles while visiting the We Are Together Fourm and Awards Ceremony, on December 3, 2025 in Moscow, Russia. Contributor | Getty ImagesPeace talks held between the U.S. and Russia on Tuesday failed to deliver a breakthrough with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of discussions doubling down on threats toward Europe, saying Russia was “ready” for war with the Continent.U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner had traveled to Moscow for talks with Putin and his closest aides on a draft peace plan aimed at ending the almost four-year war in Ukraine.…

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union’s former foreign policy chief faces corruption accusations alongside two other people arrested this week as part of a fraud investigation, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday.Authorities in Belgium made the arrests on Tuesday after raiding the offices of the EU diplomatic service in Brussels, and a college in Bruges. Federica Mogherini led the EU foreign service from 2014 to 2019 and now serves as the rector of the College of Europe.The EPPO said in a statement that Mogherini and a senior staff member of the College of Europe were detained at its…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth barely squeaked through a grueling Senate confirmation process to become secretary of defense earlier this year, facing lawmakers wary of the Fox News Channel host and skeptical of his capacity, temperament and fitness for the job.Just three months later, he quickly became embroiled in Signalgate as he and other top U.S. officials used the popular Signal messaging application to discuss pending military strikes in Yemen.And now, in what may be his most career-defining moment yet, Hegseth is confronting questions about the use of military force after a special operations team reportedly attacked survivors of a…

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — There were sighs of relief and expressions of gratitude under the giant dome of a grand mosque in Jakarta on Wednesday as 51 couples exchanged wedding vows in a mass Muslim wedding. Most of the couples, who live in Jakarta, were able to marry through a program designed to help those facing financial barriers, and were given a dowry, stapple food packages, wedding gifts, and even the photo session. Endah Kartini, 44, the new wife of Fauzi, a 35-year-old porter from East Jakarta, said: “Praise God! I am happy and feel calm now.” She added that…

KUWAIT, Dec 3: 1999 — The Theatrical actor Mohammad Al-Surei’ died at the age of 59.2000 — The Kuwaiti Cabinet approved regulations for establishing private universities and full-time sports practice.2005 — The Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sponsored the golden jubilee for kindergartens. Kuwait opened its first kindergartens for children between the age of four to seven in the 1954-55 school year. The decision to establish kingdergartens was made in 1952.2006 — Al-Sadu House was launched during the 13th Qurain Cultural Festival. The facility is dedicated to traditional Sadu weaving in Kuwait.2006 — The national shooting team won…

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter, which brings you insights and analysis on what’s driving the world’s second-largest economy. You can subscribe here.The big storyChina is closing out 2025 with far more confidence on the world stage than at the start of the year.It was the first major economy to retaliate against U.S. “Liberation Day” tariffs, and has increasingly played the rare earths card. Its tech companies overcame U.S. chip restrictions and released low-cost artificial intelligence models that rival far pricier offerings from the U.S., such as those from OpenAI. Global perceptions of China are improving.Whether the broader Chinese economy exudes…

HONG KONG (AP) — The death toll of Hong Kong’s high-rise apartment blaze rose to 159 on Wednesday, as authorities arrested six people on suspicion of deactivating some fire alarms during maintenance work at the housing complex.The youngest person who died in the fire was a 1-year-old infant, police said. The oldest was 97.Police said they have completed a search for bodies inside all seven of eight high-rise residential towers ravaged in the fire that first broke out last Wednesday and took until Friday to be extinguished. About 30 people were still reported missing.“We have not finished our work yet,”…

This report is from this week’s CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.The dispatchAs expected, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her Budget to pour a bucket-load of tax-raising measures over the U.K. economy.One of them, though, will be of particular interest to Britain’s startup and scale-up businesses.Reeves announced she was widening eligibility for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and its sister scheme, Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), “so scale-ups can attract the talent and the capital that they need.”VCTs are publicly listed investment vehicles, run by fund managers, offering investors exposure to a portfolio of young, high-risk companies.…

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday issued updated guidance for asylum applications by Syrian nationals that reflects new conditions in Syria a year after the fall of the Bashar Assad. The changes may influence the result of asylum requests of some 110,000 Syrians who were still awaiting an asylum decision at the end of September.The European Union Agency for Asylum said opponents of Assad and military service evaders “are no longer at risk of persecution.”But the agency said other groups may be considered at risk in the post-Assad Syria, including people affiliated with the former government and…

The City of London skyline at sunset.Gary Yeowell | Digitalvision | Getty ImagesLONDON — European stocks were in positive territory on Wednesday as global markets move higher.The pan-European Stoxx 600 was over 0.2% higher at 10:45 a.m. in London (5:45 a.m. ET) with major sectors and bourses mixed.The positive open eyed by regional markets comes after major U.S. indexes recovered in Tuesday’s trading session and Asia-Pacific markets rose broadly overnight — that follows some losses at the start of the week. Wall Street’s gains came on Tuesday as tech stocks such as Nvidia rose and bitcoin gained, a day after the flagship…