Author: Disha Mishra

(Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump is considering Washington trade lawyer Jeffrey Kessler to lead the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), according to people familiar with the matter, a key post in the U.S.-China tech war. Kessler, a partner at the law firm of WilmerHale, served as assistant secretary for enforcement and compliance during Trump’s first term, which made him the Commerce department’s top trade enforcement official. If selected to head BIS, Kessler would oversee export controls on U.S. technology exported to countries like China that pose a risk to national security. Over the past decade, export…

SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) – South Korea’s Constitutional Court adjourned the opening session of the impeachment trial of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol within minutes on Tuesday, after the embattled leader did not attend court. A lawyer advising Yoon had said the president, who has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul for weeks, would not attend, saying a bid by authorities to detain him prevented Yoon from expressing his position at the trial. The next trial session is scheduled for Thursday and if Yoon also does not attend, the trial proceedings will go ahead with his legal…

HELSINKI, Jan 14 (Reuters) – European nations must be prepared to face further incidents in the Baltic Sea following the recent damage to undersea infrastructure, leaders of NATO countries in the region said on Tuesday ahead of a security meeting in Helsinki. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and are discussing an increased NATO presence. Some 2,000 ships are crossing the Baltic Sea every day, making it difficult to monitor it all, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics…

(Reuters) – The head of an American organisation focused on hostage releases said on Monday he believes U.S. journalist Austin Tice was still being held in Syria by people loyal to toppled leader Bashar al-Assad. Speaking to Reuters in Damascus, Nizar Zakka said he believed Tice was being held by “very few people in a safe house in order to do an exchange or a deal”. Zakka, a Lebanese businessman who was held in Iran for four years until 2019 on charges of spying, later became a U.S. citizen. He is the president of Hostage Aid Worldwide. He has traveled…

DUBAI, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Talks held in Geneva between Iran, Britain, France and Germany will see dialogue continue regarding Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, Iran’s official news agency reported on Tuesday. “The talks were serious, frank, and constructive. We discussed ideas involving certain details in the sanctions-lifting and nuclear fields that are needed for a deal,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs, wrote on X on Monday. “Sides concurred that negotiations should be resumed and to reach a deal, all parties should create and maintain the appropriate atmosphere. We agreed to continue our dialogue,” he…

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Britain will sign a minerals cooperation partnership with Saudi Arabia that could help strengthen supply chains, create opportunities for British businesses and attract investment into the UK, the British government said on Tuesday. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Britain needs a secure, long-term supply of critical minerals, such as copper, lithium and nickel, which are used to make smartphones and electric cars, but are also vital to build data centres that help develop artificial intelligence systems. On its part, Saudi Arabia, which estimates the value of its untapped mineral resources at $2.5 trillion, is aiming to become…

DOHA/CAIRO, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Negotiators will meet in Doha on Tuesday seeking to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza after U.S. President Joe Biden said a ceasefire and hostage release deal he has championed was on “the brink” of coming to fruition. Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of an agreement on Monday, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by envoys of both the outgoing U.S. president and President-elect Donald Trump. “The deal … would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to…

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith concluded that Donald Trump engaged in an “unprecedented criminal effort” to hold on to power after losing the 2020 election, but was thwarted in bringing the case to trial by the president-elect’s November election victory, according to a report published on Tuesday. The report details Smith’s decision to bring a four-count indictment against Trump, accusing him of plotting to obstruct the collection and certification of votes following his 2020 defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden. It concludes that the evidence would have been enough to convict Trump at trial, but…

PRAYAGRAJ, India, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Hindus seeking absolution of their sins immersed themselves on Monday in freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers, as India began a six-week festival expected to draw the world’s largest gathering of humanity. Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival, as the religious event in the city of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is called, attracts more than 400 million visitors, both Indians and tourists. As many as 40,000 police officers are on guard to provide security and help manage the…

Jan 13 (Reuters) – Six member states of the European Union have called for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking, according to a paper seen by Reuters. EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27. European leaders began reassessing their policy toward Damascus after the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and most other countries, as well as the…