SANA’A, Ye

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in Paris on Wednesday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. It’s his first trip to Europe since taking office in January, and a possible opening to broader ties with Western countries. It also comes amid renewed sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December. Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, ruled for more than two decades. Al-Sharaa is scheduled to meet with Macron early evening, according to Syrian state media.

China announced a barrage of measures meant to counter the blow to its economy from U.S. President Donald Trump ’s trade war, as the two sides prepared for talks later this week. Beijing’s central bank governor and other top financial officials outlined plans Wednesday to cut interest rates and reduce bank reserve requirements to help free up more funding for lending. They also said the government would increase the amount of money available for factory upgrades and other innovation and for elder care and other service businesses. Trump’s tariffs, set as high as 145% on imports from China, have begun to take a toll on its export-dependent economy at a time when it’s already under pressure from a prolonged downturn in the property sector.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — National Unity party chief Benny Gantz remarked on Tuesday that Israel should not have fully withdrawn from Gaza in 2005, and that the notions of further Israeli withdrawals or Palestinian statehood were “disconnected from the security reality,” according to a Times of Israel report. Gantz, who served during the 2005 disengagement as […]

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During a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu discussed developments in the Middle East, the Prime Minister’s Office in Yerushalayim said.
According to the Hebrew-language PMO statement, the two leaders also “exchanged warm greetings on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II,” which Moscow is set to celebrate on Friday with the annual Victory Day parade in the capital.
Netanyahu was said to have “emphasized the decisive contribution of the Red Army to the victory over the Nazis, highlighting the significant role played by the many Jewish commanders and soldiers in the war.”

Police arrested about 30 pro-Hamas rioters who illegally occupied a University of Washington engineering building and damaged property and set fires. Students from the group Super UW, which lauded the October 7 massacre, seized the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building in Seattle on Monday evening. “We are taking this building amidst the current and renewed wave of the student Intifada, following the uprising of student action for Palestine after the heroic victory of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, which shattered the illusion of zionist-imperialist domination and brought Palestine to the forefront for all justice-loving people of the world,” Super UW wrote in a manifesto published earlier in the day.

President Donald Trump is expected to declare during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia that the United States will begin using alternative names for the Persian Gulf — either “Arabian Gulf” or “Gulf of Arabia” — according to two American officials who spoke with The Associated Press.
This decision aligns with long-standing efforts by Arab nations to have the name of the waterway, which borders southern Iran, reflect their regional identity. Iran, on the other hand, continues to insist on the traditional name that highlights its historical significance.