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A Russian vessel arrives at the Simon’s Town Naval base as part of the Brics Plus countries which include China, Russia and Iran for joint naval…
Germany today called on Israel to reverse its decision to expand settlements in the West Bank, including the E1 project, warning that such steps undermine the chances of a two-state solution and increase the risk of instability. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office stated in a press release that there has been a recent and comprehensive intensification of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, adding that the E1 settlement project is part of this expansion. The Office stressed that proceeding with these plans risks increasing instability in the West Bank and the wider region. On December 24, the German Federal Foreign Office issued an official statement reiterating its rejection of settlement expansion, specifically mentioning the E1 project as a violation of international law that threatens the prospects for peace. It called on Israel to reverse its settlement expansion decisions in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Source link
Hardeep Singh Brar, president and CEO, BMW Group India, poses beside a Mini convertible at a BMW showroom in Mumbai, India. As part of a strategic push to grow its presence in India’s emerging luxury market, BMW has announced plans to launch 10 new models and 17 product upgrades this yearIn 2025, the automaker achieved record-breaking sales of 18,001 vehicles in India, a 14% increase that narrowed the gap with market leader Mercedes-Benz. Despite this growth, premium models continue to represent just 1% of India’s total annual car market, which exceeds 4.3mn units.BMW Group India chief executive Hardeep Brar said the automaker plans to tackle this limited market penetration by launching more models while cutting manufacturing costs through increased local sourcing. BMW sources roughly half of its components locally (including seats, engines, axles and tyres) for Indian-made vehicles. Brar is working to raise this proportion, although he has thus far declined to offer specific targets.So far, the strategy appears to be working — at least as far as electric vehicles (EVs) are concerned. Local assembly of the iX1 model, which launched in 2025, allowed competitive pricing against internal combustion engine-powered equivalents and fuelled 200% sales growth.Now, EVs account for more than a fifth of BMW’s Indian deliveries — up from 8% in 2024 — prompting the automaker to evaluate sourcing electric motors locally to further reduce production costs. Brar acknowledged these discussions remain at early stages.Brar is also urging the government to maintain the current 5% tax rate on EVs, which compares favourably against the 40% and above for internal combustion engine vehicles.While EV market penetration remains quite low in India, he argues that premium buyers are driving the momentum. “Overall EV penetration in India is about 4% but for luxury it is 10%. Hence we need this long term strategy from the government, wherein the lower tax is maintained for a certain period of time till EVs can sustain on their own.”More than one-third of BMW’s planned 2026 launches will arrive under the Mini brand as the automaker pursues growth momentum across multiple segments. The company delivered 17,271 BMW and 730 Mini vehicles in 2025, with long-wheelbase models proving particularly popular among Indian consumers, contributing 50% of sales. Source link
Kiyoshi Kimura poses with the 243kg bluefin tuna auctioned for a record 510mn yen ($3.24mn) at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, Monday. A Japanese sushi entrepreneur paid a record $3.2mn for a giant bluefin tuna Monday at an annual prestigious new year auction in Tokyo’s main fish market, smashing the previous all-time high.Dave Gershman at the Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries team used news of the auction to highlight that stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna were improving after being “near collapse”.Self-styled “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura’s sushi restaurant chain paid the top price for the 243kg fish that was caught off Japan’s northern coast.”I’d thought we would be able to buy a little cheaper, but the price soared before you knew it,” Kimura said after the pre-dawn auction at Tokyo’s main fish market.”I was surprised at the price…I hope that by eating auspicious tuna, as many people as possible will feel energised,” he told reporters.The 510.3mn yen price at the new year’s auction was the highest since comparable data started being collected in 1999.The previous high was 333.6mn yen for a 278kg bluefin in 2019, after the fish market moved from its traditional Tsukiji area in central Tokyo to a more modern facility.The top bidder last year paid 207mn yen for a 276kg bluefin.Shortly after this year’s auction, the tuna was butchered and turned into sushi, selling for around 500 yen ($3) per roll.”I feel like I’ve begun the year in a good way after eating something so auspicious as the year starts,” 19-year-old Minami Sugiyama from a table in one of Kimura’s restaurants in Tsukiji.Fellow customer Kiyoshi Nishimura agreed. “Even without dipping it in soy sauce, there’s sweetness. And the richness, the texture… it just makes you feel happy,” the 40-year-old Shinto priest said.During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices as restaurants scaled back operations.Gershman said in an emailed statement that a 2017 recovery plan “is working, and if decision makers take further action in 2026, the future for Pacific bluefin will be bright”.”This year, fisheries managers from Japan, the US, Korea, and other countries from across the Pacific who target bluefin should agree on a long-term, sustainable management plan that would lock in a healthy population and ensure that the species never again faces the overfishing of the past,” he added. Related Story…
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in talks to convert about $2bn of Saudi loans into a JF-17 fighter jet deal, two Pakistani sources said, deepening military co-operation months after the two nations signed a mutual defence pact last year. The talks underscore how the two allies are moving to operationalise defence co-operation at a time when Pakistan is facing acute financial strain and Saudi Arabia is reshaping its security partnerships to hedge against uncertainty about US commitments in the Middle East. The mutual defence deal was signed following Israel’s strikes on what it said were Hamas targets in Doha, an attack that shook the Gulf region. One of the sources said the discussions were limited to the provision of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, the light combat aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China and produced in Pakistan, while the second said the jets were the primary option among others under discussion. The first source said the total deal was worth $4bn, with an additional $2bn to be spent on equipment over and above the loan conversion. The sources close to the military with knowledge of the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the deal. Pakistan’s Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu was in Saudi Arabia for bilateral talks including on “military co-operation between the two sides”, Saudi media outlet SaudiNews50 said on social media platform X on Monday. Amir Masood, a retired Air Marshall and analyst, said Pakistan was in talks about or had finalised deals with six countries to provide equipment including JF-17s and electronic systems and weapons systems for the jets.He said those countries included Saudi Arabia, but could not confirm any details about the negotiations. The JF-17s marketability has been increased because “it is tested and has been used in combat,” he told Reuters, adding that it’s also cost effective. Pakistan has said the aircraft was deployed during its conflict with India in May last year, the heaviest fighting between the neighbours in decades. Pakistan’s military and finance and defence ministries and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saudi Arabia’s government media office also did not respond. The mutual defence pact, signed in September, committed both sides to treat any aggression against either country as an attack on both, significantly deepening a decades-old security partnership. Pakistan has long provided military support to the kingdom, including training and advisory deployments, while Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stepped in to support Pakistan financially during periods of economic stress. In 2018, Riyadh announced a $6bn support package for Pakistan, including a $3bn deposit at the central bank and $3bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payment. Saudi Arabia has since rolled over deposits multiple times, including a $1.2bn deferment last year, helping Islamabad stabilise its foreign exchange reserves amid chronic balance-of-payments pressures. Pakistan has in recent months stepped up defence outreach as it seeks to expand arms exports and monetise its domestic defence industry. Last month, Islamabad struck a weapons deal worth more than $4bn with Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army, officials said, one of the country’s largest-ever arms sales, which includes JF-17 fighter jets and training aircraft. Pakistan has also held talks with Bangladesh on the possible sale of JF-17s, as it widens its arms supply ambitions beyond South Asia and the Middle East. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s defence minister said the success of its weapons industry could transform the country’s economic outlook. “Our aircraft have been tested, and we are receiving so many orders that Pakistan may not need the International Monetary Fund in six months,” Khawaja Asif told broadcaster Geo News. Pakistan is currently under a $7bn IMF programme, its 24th, which followed a short-term $3bn deal that helped avert a sovereign default in 2023. It secured the Fund’s support after Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies provided financial and deposit rollovers. Source link
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that fuel shortages and road closures are significantly slowing the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip. “While fuel deliveries have resumed, ongoing access restrictions, congestion, and storage gaps continue to drive up costs and delay assistance”, OCHA said in a statement. It noted that UN partners were able to resume the distribution of monthly food rations for the first time since October 2023, reaching 100,000 people. Since the ceasefire, 35 health service points were reactivated, while 25 new ones were established, including 12 primary healthcare centers, most of which are located in northern Gaza, OCHA added.It also noted the expansion of Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) to 424 sites, including two TLSs that were opened between Jan. 3 and 4. The Israeli occupation continues its war of genocide in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, leaving thousands of martyrs, wounded, and missing persons, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Living conditions have severely deteriorated, with famine causing the deaths of many citizens, and widespread destruction that has destroyed most cities of the Strip, amid the occupation’s restrictions on the entry of food and medical supplies. Source link
US President Donald Trump announced that arrangements are being made for a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House, following phone talks between the two to discuss contentious issues. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Petro had called him to explain the differences between the two sides, adding: “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.” The US president added that arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Colombian Foreign Minister, and the meeting will be held at the White House. Meanwhile, Colombian media quoted President Petro as saying that he had spoken by phone with the US president for the first time, and asked him to reopen direct communication channels between Bogota and Washington. Source link
US police announced on Thursday that two people were killed and others injured in a shooting in Salt Lake City, Utah.A police spokesman said an initial report indicated the incident occurred in a parking lot. “There was some sort of altercation, and that’s when shots were fired,” police spokesman Glen Mills told reporters. They reported that at least two of the eight victims died from their injuries, while three of the survivors remain in critical condition, while the condition of the rest remained unknown.Police added that they have launched a large-scale search for the suspects. Gun violence is one of the most pressing security and social crises in the US. The country experiences high rates of violent gun crime, along with frequent mass shootings, leaving deep human, economic, and psychological scars. Source link
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit China from January 13-17, his office announced yesterday, signalling a thaw in relations that have been strained for years. The trip, the first to China by a Canadian leader since 2017, aims to “strengthen co-operation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security”, a Carney spokeswoman said. The first sign of improving ties came in late October when Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Carney met in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. Xi invited Carney to visit China following their meeting, which the Canadian premier had called a “turning point” in the strained relationship. The last Canadian leader to visit China was Justin Trudeau, in December 2017. Ties fell into a deep freeze in 2018 after the arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver and China’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges. Source link
People attend a rally ahead of a January 6th memorial march marking five years since the attack on January 06, 2026 in Washington, DC. Today marks…