Middle Eastern Politics Headlines at 2:00 p.m. GMT

Associated Press
Updated

Syria's foreign minister visits Qatar as new authorities seek regional and global diplomatic ties

Latest Stories

  • China and the UK restart economic and financial talks after a 6-year hiatus

    TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China and Britain restarted economic and financial talks on Saturday after a six-year hiatus during a visit by Britain’s Treasury chief to Beijing, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with the world’s second-largest economy.

  • UK and China selling new economic relationship as a win-win - but it's complicated

    The UK has laid out a new economic relationship with China, and to use one of China's favourite phrases, both countries are selling it as a "win-win" situation. China delivered a warm welcome for the chancellor. Rachel Reeves was shuttled from a Beijing Brompton bike shop, to the Great Hall of the People and on to a state guest house.

  • EU ministers will consider easing sanctions on Syria at a meeting later in January

    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria's new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last month’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

  • Germany's top diplomat calls for 'smart approach' to sanctions at start of Riyadh meeting on Syria

    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

  • Syrians hope for a future without Russia, but it may not be easy

    With the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Russia lost a key all in the Middle East - but it still hopes to keeps its military bases in Syria.

  • US, Japanese, Philippine leaders discussed China's behavior in South China Sea, White House says

    U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday met virtually with his counterparts from Japan and the Philippines to advance cooperation among the three countries, the White House said. The three leaders discussed trilateral maritime security and economic cooperation, and China's "dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea," it said in a statement. Biden spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. late on Sunday, a week before Biden leaves office and hands power to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.

  • Japan, Philippines, US vow to deepen cooperation in face of China's behaviour

    MANILA (Reuters) -Japan, the Philippines and the United States vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia's waters, the three countries said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden met virtually on Monday morning Asian time. Marcos' communications office said the leaders "agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation".

  • China vows all-out efforts on trade and FDI in fresh bid to kick-start economy

    China has pledged all-out efforts this year to stabilise foreign trade and draw overseas investment, as it tries to defuse external risks and support its ailing economy. The Ministry of Commerce outlined its key goals for 2025 on Sunday, including opening up the China market wider, deepening international collaboration on supply chain building, and stabilising foreign trade and capital flows. In a statement on its website following a two-day annual meeting, the ministry also pledged to boost dom

  • Opinion - From U.S. Steel to the ‘Art of the Deal’ — Trump’s opportunity for economic statecraft

    The deal-focused orientation of President-elect Trump can serve as both the carrot and the stick in a new diplomatic paradigm.

  • Chinese and Indonesian coastguards pledge deeper cooperation after first high-level talks

    The Chinese and Indonesian coastguards held their first senior-level talks this week on boosting maritime security cooperation. The two sides discussed topics such as setting up regular meetings at all levels, port calls and capability build-up, the China Coast Guard said on Saturday. "Both sides believe that it is necessary to further deepen pragmatic maritime cooperation, jointly maintain the order of maritime security and properly deal with maritime emergencies," its statement said. Do you ha

  • Israel's Netanyahu sends Mossad director to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar

    JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar in a sign of progress in talks on the war in Gaza.

  • Biden and Netanyahu discuss the latest in the effort to reach an Israel-Hamas war ceasefire

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Sunday about efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, a sign of the intensifying push to reach a deal before Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

  • Smaller countries must ‘double down’ on being open and neutral to survive a multipolar future, says Malaysia’s economic minister

    “Defending global trade is very important to us as a country," Rafizi told Fortune the day after Malaysia and Singapore unveiled the Johor-Singapore SEZ.

  • Syrian intelligence agency says it thwarted a planned Islamic State attack on a Shiite shrine

    Intelligence officials in Syria's new de facto government thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to set off a bomb at a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, state media reported Saturday. State news agency SANA reported, citing an unnamed official in the General Intelligence Service, that members of the IS cell planning the attack were arrested. It quoted the official as saying that the intelligence service is “putting all its capabilities to stand in the face of all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their spectrums.”

  • Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as U.S. officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone. Biden "stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal," it said.

  • Netanyahu and Biden discuss 'progress' in Gaza ceasefire, hostage talks

    Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu discussed Gaza hostage negotiations with outgoing US President Biden, who urged an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid access alongside hostage releases. Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas resumed last week in Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with outgoing US President Joe Biden on Sunday, updating him on progress in negotiations to reach a hostage release deal in Gaza.A readout from Biden's office confirmed the call and said t

  • South Korea, Japan foreign ministers to meet amid political turmoil in Seoul

    The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in the South Korean capital on Monday, as the key U.S. allies seek to underscore improved ties and shared security concerns amid the worst political crisis in decades in Seoul. The meeting between South Korea's Cho Tae-yul and Japan's Takeshi Iwaya marks the first of its kind between the countries since President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law last month, a move that stunned South Koreans.

  • EU foreign ministers to tackle Syria sanctions relief at end of month

    European foreign ministers will meet at the end of January to discuss the lifting of sanctions on Syria, the EU foreign policy chief said on Sunday in Riyadh ahead of a meeting of top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats and Syria's new foreign minister. Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on Jan. 27 in an effort to decide how the 27-nation bloc would relax sanctions on Syria.

  • Reeves says fiscal rules ‘non-negotiable’ during bid to boost ties with China

    The Chancellor called for more UK-China investment, but said this must not come at the price of national security.

  • Reeves defends China visit and hails £600m boost to UK

    The chancellor has been criticised for making the trip while the government is under pressure from rising borrowing costs.