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☆ University Graduations Are Flashpoints for Protests Over Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Kent State students protested the war in Gaza on Saturday during the annual commemoration honoring the four students who were killed by the National Guard on May 4, 1970. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Kent State University in Ohio on Saturday to protest the war in Gaza, exactly 54 years after a similar campus demonstration ended in four student deaths. Many of them were hoisting signs calling on the university to divest from weapons manufacturers and military contractors. Image Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the body of Jeffrey Miller, a student who was killed by Ohio National Guard troops during an antiwar demonstration at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Credit... Today, demonstrators at Kent State are asking the university to divest its portfolio of instruments of war.

Persons: James Rhodes, — Allison Krause, William Schroeder, Sandra Scheuer, Jeffrey Miller —, Ohio ”, Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Sophia Swengel, “, ”, ” Ms, Swengel, Mary Ann Vecchio, Jeffrey Miller, John Filo, Camille Tinnin, Yaseen Shaikh, Tinnin, Shaikh, Mark Polatajko, Rebecca Murphy, Polatajko, Murphy Organizations: Kent, National Guard, Kent State University, Force, Ohio National Guard, Kent State, Justice Locations: Gaza, Ohio, Kent State’s, Vietnam, Cambodia, Kent, ’, “, Palestine, ”

☆ Sept. 11 Trial Plea Negotiations Still Underway at Guantánamo Bay
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prosecutors and defense lawyers are still negotiating toward a plea agreement for the men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks despite the Biden administration’s refusal to endorse certain proposed conditions, the lead prosecutor said in court on Wednesday at Guantánamo Bay. “This is all whirling around us,” said Clayton G. Trivett Jr., the prosecutor, discussing key details of the negotiations in open court for the first time. He added that “around the edges we have agreed to do things” and that “the positions that we took at the time are still available.”In mostly secret negotiations in 2022 and 2003, prosecutors offered to drop the death penalty from the case in exchange for detailed admissions by the accused architect, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and four other men who are charged as his accomplices in the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people. Since then, one of the five men has been ruled not mentally competent to stand trial. The occasion of the briefing was a legal filing by lawyers for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the defendants and Mr. Mohammed’s nephew, asking the judge to dismiss the case or at least the possibility of a death penalty because of real or apparent political interference by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and other members of Congress last summer.

Persons: Biden, ”, Clayton G, Trivett Jr, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Ammar al, Mohammed’s, Ted Cruz Organizations: Republican Locations: Guantánamo, Texas

☆ US Navy warships can defeat exploding naval drones today, but these deadly systems are evolving
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Ukraine has found success at sea by using naval drones packed with explosive to batter Russia. AdvertisementIn two conflicts separated by more than 1,000 miles, US friends and foes alike have turned to a deadly weapon to defeat their enemy's warships: small naval drones packed with explosives. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower conducts flight operations in response to Houthi activity in the Red Sea on Feb. 23. In other words, there are ways that warships can protect against, evade, and ultimately defeat naval drones. Naval drones can potentially carry a large payload, and if they manage to get through undetected and hit a ship, "there could be significant damage."

Persons: —, Bradley Martin, Sam Tangredi, Ivan Lukashevych, Dwight D, Eisenhower, Tangredi, Archer Macy, Russia hasn't, Sergey Kotov, Macy, USVs, Martin, They're, Arleigh Burke, John Finn, Lewis, Clark, Cesar Chavez, AKE, Justin Stack, Shaan Shaikh, Shaikh Organizations: Former US Navy, Service, US Navy, AP, BI, Security Service, Former Navy, US, Sea Fleet, Ministry of Defense, Navy, Aircraft, Seahawk, Ruskin, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Yemen, Europe, Kyiv, Brig, Screengrab, Iran, —, Russian, Ukrainian, Crimea, Handout, Pacific, China, Washington, Beijing, Pearl, East China, they're

☆ Red Sea crisis could lead to global tanker shortage, Kuwait Petroleum CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-20 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Felix | Afp | Getty ImagesHOUSTON — The crisis in the Red Sea could lead to a shortage in the global tanker fleet if disruptions persist for another six months, the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation told CNBC. Houthi militants have been striking commercial shipping in the Red Sea since November in support of Palestinians as Israel wages war in Gaza. The company is continuing to ship through the Red Sea and is making decisions on which route ships should take on a daily basis, he said. "We maintain a strategic tanker tanker fleet for these types of reasons," al-Sabah said. Wirth told CNBC that Chevron is "not moving ships to the Red Sea."

Persons: Shaikh Nawaf Al, Mark Felix, Shaikh Nawaf, KPC, Saddam Hussein's, Michael Wirth, Wirth, CNBC's Brian Sullivan Organizations: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Afp, Getty, HOUSTON, CNBC, Houthi, Global, Chevron Locations: Sabah, Houston , Texas, Red, Israel, Gaza, Africa, al, Al, Persian, Kuwait, Iraq, China

☆ C.I.A. Violently Cut Off 9/11 Suspect When He Tried to Talk About Attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

wanted him to discuss Al Qaeda’s future plans, not the attacks that had horrified America a year and a half earlier, Dr. James E. Mitchell, the psychologist, said. So when the prisoner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mentioned Sept. 11, they would slam him, naked, into a wall. That month, interrogators would waterboard Mr. Mohammed 183 times at a secret overseas C.I.A. prison in the mistaken belief, Dr. Mitchell said, that a nuclear attack in the United States was imminent. But Mr. Mohammed still was not saying what his captors wanted to hear.

Persons: Al Qaeda’s, James E, Mitchell, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mr, Mohammed, ” Dr Locations: America, United States

☆ Lost Witnesses and Faded Memories Impede Progress in Sept. 11 Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Wednesday, Dr. James E. Mitchell told a stunned courtroom that episode had not happened. “I didn’t say anything about killing his son,” said Dr. Mitchell, a retired Air Force psychologist who in 2003 waterboarded Mr. Mohammed 183 times for the C.I.A. “He didn’t have sons until later.”Dr. Mitchell later acknowledged he had forgotten his threat. But the episode underscores a new challenge for the military court in the case against four prisoners who are accused of conspiring in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001: the fading memories and unavailability of witnesses whose testimony is central to getting the death-penalty case to trial. Testimony and other evidence often deteriorate over time, which is one reason that criminal defendants and their victims are entitled to a speedy trial.

Persons: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, James E, Mitchell, ”, Mr, Mohammed, ” Dr Organizations: Air Force Locations: U.S

☆ Long-Serving Prosecutor Quits Sept. 11 Case at Guantánamo Bay
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the longest-serving prosecutors in the Sept. 11, 2001, case is stepping down, citing the pressure of his repeated trips to Guantánamo Bay on him and his family. The prosecutor, Edward R. Ryan, is a Justice Department lawyer who served on a team of civilian and military prosecutors who for 15 years have sought to start the trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other prisoners accused of conspiring in the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. Mr. Ryan’s decision was seen as a sign that the case would not be going to trial anytime soon. He represented the government at the prisoners’ original court appearance at Guantánamo in 2008 and participated in nearly all the pretrial hearings since then. On Wednesday, Mr. Ryan told family members of victims of the attacks by email that he was leaving “with the heaviest heart” to return to North Carolina, where he was a federal prosecutor before his Guantánamo assignment.

Persons: Edward R, Ryan, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Ryan’s Organizations: Justice Department, Pentagon Locations: New York, Pennsylvania, Guantánamo, North Carolina

☆ Analysis: At this general election in Pakistan, old dynasties vie for power and populist Imran Khan languishes in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Sophia Saifi | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

That sets the stage for a difficult road to recovery for whoever wins in a nation where no democratically elected prime minister has ever completed a full term in office. Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a lawyers' convention in Lahore on September 21, 2022. Veteran Sharif will face a strong challenge, however, from first-time candidate for Prime Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 35, son of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto. Manahil Ahmed, 23, called Pakistan’s political environment “particularly hostile” right now. For Pakistan’s military and police forces, the last year was the bloodiest in a decade.

Persons: Imran Khan, –, Arif Ali, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Khan –, Khan, Fareed Khan, ”, Rabiya Arooj, Khan’s, Bushra Bibi, Imran Khan's, Asad Zaidi, Pakistan’s, Farzana Shaikh, “, ’, Murtaza Solang, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Mohsin Raza, he’s, Raja Ikram, Ameer Hamza, Manahil Ahmed, Shaikh, Hussain Nadim, Maurice R, Greenberg, ‘, Aamir Qureshi, Shoaib Tanveer, Baou Nadeem, ” Shaikh, Farooq Naeem, “ Sharif, He’s, Tim Willasey Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, Getty, PTI, World Bank, Pakistan, Bloomberg, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, CNN, for Research, Security Studies, Pakistan’s People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Baloch Liberation Army, Yale University, Pakistan Army –, Workers, King’s College London Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Lahore, AFP, Karachi, “, Rawalpindi, Asia, Hafizabad, Khan’s, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, India, Afghanistan, Iran, State Khorasan, restive Balochistan, Balochistan, Punjab, Sharif, States, China, British

☆ US Navy warships are getting their first combat experience against the kind of threats China is banking on in the Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US Navy in recent weeks has been shooting down Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles. Washington has also conducted preemptive strikes in Yemen, destroying anti-ship ballistic missiles before the rebels are able to launch them. CENTCOM has not specified which anti-ship ballistic missiles have been used in the attacks on international shipping lanes. AdvertisementChina has a formidable arsenal of anti-ship ballistic missiles, like the DF-21D and DF-26, and is increasingly expanding it. Advertisement"It doesn't matter what's coming at them, really," said Macy, the retired admiral who served aboard multiple US Navy warships.

Persons: —, Archer Macy, it's, Joe Biden, Jonathan, Bryan Clark, Mohammed Hamoud, Andy Wong, Clark, Shaan Shaikh, Shaikh, Carney, MCS2 Aaron Lau, Macy Organizations: US Navy, Pacific . Experts, Service, Pentagon, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Hudson Institute, People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, Military, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Navy, Combat System Locations: China, Pacific, Iran, Yemen, Gulf of Aden, Washington, Tehran, CENTCOM, Gaza, Jan, Sana'a, Western, Beijing, Tiananmen, Red

☆ New Mosque Construction in India's Ayodhya to Begin in May, Muslim Group Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

The dispute had scarred relations between the communities for decades and the destruction of the mosque sparked nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. India's top court said in 2019 that the razing of the mosque was unlawful, but ruled that evidence showed there was a non-Islamic structure beneath it. It ordered that the site be given to Hindu groups to build a temple and Muslim community leaders be given land elsewhere in the city for constructing a mosque. While construction of the $180 million temple began within months and the first phase is set to open on Monday, Muslim groups have struggled to raise funds and begin work at a desolate site about 25 km (15 miles) away. A crowd-funding website is expected to be launched in the coming weeks, said Shaikh, who is also a BJP leader.

Persons: Shivam Patel, Haji Arfat Shaikh, Ram, Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, Narendra Modi's, Athar Hussain, Shaikh, Muhammed bin Abdullah, Prophet Mohammad, Babur, YP Rajesh, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: DELHI, Islamic Cultural Foundation, Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, YP Locations: Indian, Ayodhya, India's, India, Babri

☆ Ayodhya’s Muslims confront grief and anxiety as Ram Temple inauguration nears
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Aishwarya Iyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

But like many of the town’s 500,000 Muslims, 65-year-old Maulana Badshah Khan says he’ll be staying at home. And tens of thousands of pious Hindus are thronging to the small town to place flowers and gifts inside the temple. “They will call for Muslims to be expelled from Ayodhya or demand a Hindu Rashtra (nation),” he said. Mahboob, one of the petitioners who fought for the Babri mosque in the Supreme Court, said for most Muslims of Ayodhya, its construction does not hold emotional sway. Muslims pray for peace ahead of verdict on a disputed religious site in Ayodhya, inside a mosque premises in Ahmedabad, India, November 8, 2019.

Persons: Saffron, Narendra Modi, Maulana Badshah Khan, he’ll, Modi, Khan, ”, Azam Qadri, Douglas E, Curran, Haji Mahboob, Mahboob, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Mukhopadhyay, Nalin Kohli, Modi’s, Amit Dave, Babri, Arafat Shaikh –, BJP –, Shaikh, Gharib Nawaz, Vinod Bansal, Mahant Jairam Das, Hassan Ali Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, Indian, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Getty, he’s, CNN, Ram, Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Locations: New Delhi, Ayodhya, New India, India, Babri, Ahmedabad, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan

☆ Iran's new jet-powered exploding drones in Russian hands could put even more stress on Ukraine's best air defenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Russia is suspected of having used a new Iranian exploding drone in Ukraine, though it's not confirmed. The weapon, Iran's jet-powered Shahed-238, is believed to offer a speed boost over the Shahed-136 loitering munition. With these new drones, Moscow could create more headaches for Ukraine's air defenses, experts say. Remain of a Russian-made Shahed 136 at an exhibition on May 12, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Bendett said Iran will likely be taking notes on how its drones are used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Persons: it's, —, hWuxfEUzSV, lY3Js7yPH4, 🐈🇺, Ma, sy Organizations: Service, Kyiv Post, Zone, Business Locations: Russia, Iranian, Ukraine, Moscow, Iran, Tehran, Russian, Kyiv, Kherson, Ky

☆ U.S. Offers Tapes From Bugged Guantánamo Prison Yard as Evidence in 9/11 Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The move comes as prosecutors have considered new ways to counter claims by defense lawyers that torture by the C.I.A. interrogations of Mr. Mohammed and his accused accomplices to produce confessions the government considers its most important trial evidence. It also shed light on an eavesdropping operation whose existence has until now never been formally acknowledged. vouched for a transcript of Mr. Mohammed describing how he learned when the hijackers would strike. Under a classified prison program, more than a dozen suspected terrorists, who had been subjected to years of solitary confinement and tortured by the C.I.A., were granted an hour of recreation time in earshot of another isolated prisoner.

Persons: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Mohammed Locations: Iraqi American, Guantánamo, earshot

☆ Egyptian Opposition Candidate Ends Campaign for Presidential Poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

In order to stand in the presidential vote, candidates were required to collect endorsements from 25,000 members of the public across 15 governorates, or from 20 sitting members of parliament, by Oct. 14. The campaign for Tantawy, who has 2 million followers on Facebook, said he had been able to gather 14,116 endorsements, including just 54 in his home city of Kafr El Shaikh. Sisi, a former army chief, was elected in 2014 and 2018 with 97% of the vote. In 2019 the constitution was amended to allow him to stand for a third term. (Reporting by Farah Saafan; Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Grant McCool)

Persons: Abdel Fattah al, Ahmed el, Sisi, Tantawy's, Tantawy, Kafr El Shaikh, Tantawi, Farah Saafan, Aidan Lewis, Grant McCool Organizations: Authority, Facebook Locations: CAIRO, Kafr El, Cairo

☆ Saudi Arabia will bid to host 2034 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia announced it will bid to host the 2034 World Cup just minutes after the world soccer's governing body FIFA invited countries from the Asia and Oceania regions to submit bids. "Saudi Arabia’s inaugural FIFA World Cup bid is backed by the country’s growing experience of hosting world-class football events and its ongoing plans to welcome fans across the world to the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup." After FIFA said that the 2034 World Cup will be held in the Asia or Oceania region, Asian Football Confederation president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa welcomed the decision. "We strongly believe it paves the way for a more equitable opportunity for all confederations to bid for, and host, the prestigious FIFA World Cup - the pinnacle of world men’s football," he said. The 2026 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams, will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Persons: Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Moaz Abd, Osama Khairy, Mohamed Yossry, Rohith Nair, William Maclean Organizations: FIFA, Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Saudi, Saudi Arabia’s, AFC Asian, Asian Football, Saudi Pro League, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, Saudi Arabia, Asia, Oceania, Saudi, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, United States, Canada, Mexico, Cairo

☆ Judge Severs Man Accused in the 9/11 Attacks From Guantánamo Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A military judge ruled on Thursday that a defendant in the Sept. 11 case who was tortured by the C.I.A. was ineligible for a death-penalty trial, adopting a finding that the prisoner was too psychologically damaged to help defend himself. Col. Matthew N. McCall, the judge, disqualified Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 51, from what had been a five-defendant conspiracy case in an 11-page ruling on Thursday evening. Mr. bin al-Shibh was charged as an accomplice in the attacks that killed 2,976 people, and is accused of helping organize a cell of hijackers in Hamburg, Germany, whose leader commandeered Flight No. 11 and flew it into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Persons: Matthew N, McCall, Ramzi bin al, bin, Shibh, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Organizations: World Trade Locations: Hamburg, Germany

☆ Sanity Question and Plea Talks Shadow Coming Sept. 11 Hearings
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prosecutors have issued a new deadline — Sept. 18 — for four detainees at the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to show their willingness to plead guilty to plotting the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and receive a maximum punishment of life in prison. The fifth defendant in the case has been found incompetent to stand trial and is likely to be removed from the case. Without a challenge, the judge is expected to sever him from the case when hearings resume next week after a 22-month hiatus. They describe the deadline as driven by the scheduled Oct. 7 departure of the current overseer of the case, Jeffrey D. Wood. In March 2022, Mr. Wood authorized prosecutors to pursue guilty pleas that would spare the defendants a capital trial to resolve the long-running case.

Persons: Ramzi bin al, Prosecutors, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Jeffrey D, Wood Organizations: Mr Locations: Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

☆ Man Accused in 9/11 Plot Is Not Fit to Face Trial, Board Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Carol Rosenberg | More About Carol Rosenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The finding is the latest setback to prosecution efforts to bring the long-running capital cases at Guantánamo Bay to trial. Last week, a military judge threw out the confession of a man accused of plotting the U.S.S. The question of Mr. bin al-Shibh’s sanity, and capacity to help his lawyers defend him, has shadowed the Sept. 11 conspiracy case since his first court appearance in 2008. He has disrupted pretrial hearings over the years with outbursts, and in court and in filings complained that the C.I.A. The five men are accused of conspiring in the plane hijackings in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

Persons: Ramzi bin al, bin, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Organizations: Pentagon Locations: Cole, New York City, Pennsylvania

At the same time, the property price surge and demand for the ultra-high-end segment is stirring memories of old excesses. In 2008, the global financial crisis hit Dubai hard, leading to a flight of capital and people, a crash in property prices and highly leveraged flagship companies known as government-related entities (GREs) struggling to repay debts. Dubai set up a Debt Management Office in 2022, has repaid or restructured some outstanding debt, and announced plans to list government stakes in 10 companies to raise capital and deepen financial markets. 'GLOBAL SAFE HAVEN'The United Arab Emirates' commercial centre, Dubai has shovelled resources into social and business reforms and sectors like digital technology. Average property prices rose 12.8% in Q1, with villa prices up almost 15%, according to property research firm CBRE.

Persons: Knight Frank, Nasser Al Shaikh, GREs, Shaikh, Justin Alexander, Betterhomes, Richard Waind, Philippe Zuber, Beyonce, Rachna Uppal, Yousef Saba, Lisa Barrington, William Maclean Organizations: Reuters, Khalij, GlobalSource Partners, Dubai Media Office, Management, HAVEN, United Arab Emirates, Villa, Dubai Inc, Emirates, Kerzner, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, DUBAI, Dubai, glitzy, Property, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi, Gulf, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE

☆ Food inflation: Tight grain, oilseed supplies to keep prices elevated
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Naveen Thukral | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"As this stage, it looks highly unlikely, if we look at the global production prospects for cereals and oilseeds." Wheat, corn and palm oil futures have from dropped from record or multi-year highs but prices in the retail market remain elevated and tight supplies are forecast to support prices in 2023. Food imports costs are already on course to hit a near $2 trillion record in 2022, forcing poor countries to cut consumption. Corn and soybeans climbed to their highest in a decade, while Malaysia's benchmark crude palm oil prices climbed to a record high in March. For rice, prices are expected to remain high as long as export duties imposed earlier this year by India, the world's biggest supplier, remain in place, traders said.

☆ ISIS 'matchmaker' called 'one of the most influential English-speaking terrorists of our time' on trial in NYC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

ISIS 'Jamaican cleric' Shaikh Abdullah Faisal is on trial for terror in state court in Manhattan. The defense counters that Faisal's hate speeches and matchmaking for ISIS brides don't equal terror. Instead, he gave impassioned speeches in London and beyond about violent jihad, and played matchmaker for would-be ISIS brides. "Focus on the substance of this case," not all the "noise" about ISIS and terror, defense lawyer Alex Grosshtern told jurors. "The defendant in effect was ISIS before ISIS," which didn't declare a worldwide state, or "caliphate," until 2014, Galperin told jurors.

☆ U.S. moves to shield Saudi crown prince in killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The U.S. intelligence community concluded Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had approved the killing of the widely known and respected journalist, who had written critically of Prince Mohammed’s harsh ways of silencing of those he considered rivals or critics. The Biden administration statement Thursday noted visa restrictions and other penalties that it had meted out to lower-ranking Saudi officials in the death. Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, and DAWN sued the crown prince, his top aides and others in Washington federal court over their alleged roles in Khashoggi’s killing. Prince Mohammed serves as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler in the stead of his aged father, King Salman. The Saudi king in September also temporarily transferred his title of prime minister — a title normally held by the Saudi monarch — to Prince Mohammed.

Last month, the Food and Agriculture Organization's global rice price index rose 2.2% to hit an 18-month high. "The international market has gone up and it will go up further," said Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business. Reuters GraphicsVietnam's unmilled rice output is forecast to hold flat to last year's 43 million tonnes, according to government data. Neighbouring Thailand is aiming to export 7.5 million tonnes this year, up about 7% from its previous target of 7 million tonnes, said Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot capitalise on India's export curbs after severe flooding ravaged its crop.

☆ Qatar to stage 2023 Asian Cup, most likely in early 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and President of Qatar Football Association (QFA) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani pose during an announcement ceremony of 2023 Asian Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 17, 2022. Asian Football Confederation/Kamarul Akhir/Handout via REUTERSKUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Qatar will stage the next Asian Cup in place of original hosts China, the Asian Confederation (AFC) announced on Monday, with the tournament likely to be moved from mid-2023 to early 2024 to avoid the heat of the Gulf summer. The Asian Cup is held every four years. The QFA is proposing all eight be used for the Asian Cup, Al Salat said. Qatar was also one of three nations bidding to stage the 2027 edition of the Asian Cup after Iran and Uzbekistan withdrew expressions of interest.

☆ Too late for a Saudi rethink? Critics say oil cut was a predictable blow for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Hyder Abbasi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The cut is also seen as helping Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, finance its war in Ukraine. “It failed both on blood and on oil,” Dr. Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi rights activist, told NBC News Thursday by telephone. Lina Alhathloul / TwitterAs a presidential candidate, Biden made no bones about his stance on the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Shortly after announcing his candidacy, he declared he was going to “cancel the blank check” the Trump administration had given Saudi Arabia during its war in Yemen, in which thousands of people have lost their lives. The U.S. has several options on how it can respond to Saudi Arabia, such as “freezing all arms sales and security cooperation, to withdrawing U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia,” Sheline said.

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