Qatar revamps investment strategy after Kushner building bailout
When news emerged that Qatar may have unwittingly helped bail out a New York skyscraper owned by the family of Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, eyebrows were raised in Doha.
‘Something has to give,’ EU’s Barnier tells Brexit Britain
European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday British Prime Minister Theresa May should endorse a permanent customs union with the bloc – as proposed by the opposition Labour party – to break the impasse over their looming divorce.
Lebanon calls for Syrian guarantees to speed return of refugees
Lebanon’s foreign minister urged Syria on Monday to offer guarantees on property rights and military service to encourage Syrian refugees to return home.
Hungary’s birth rate plan expected to cost up to $531 million next year
A new package of tax and benefit measures intended to raise Hungary’s sagging birth rate will kick into effect in the second half of this year and could cost up to 150 billion forints ($531 million) in 2020, state news agency MTI reported on Monday.
Mexico wants firms to revise contracts so electric rates don’t rise
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he wants to revise the contracts that private energy companies have with state-run power utility CFE so they do not hike electricity prices.
Russia, Turkey agree on decisive action in Syria’s Idlib: RIA
Russia and Turkey agreed on Monday that they needed to take decisive measures to stabilize the situation in Syria’s Idlib province after talks between the two country’s defense ministers, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
Factbox: Brexit – What will happen in the British parliament on Feb. 14?
The British parliament is set to hold a debate on Brexit on Feb. 14 but this is not a re-run of a vote last month on whether to approve the exit deal Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated with the European Union.
Explainer: Princess for PM – Why populists’ royal election bid shook Thailand
The political career of Thailand’s Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi lasted only three days, but in that time her declaration that she would be a candidate for prime minister in a March election shook up the kingdom.
Catalan leaders go on trial in Madrid over independence bid
Twelve Catalan politicians go on trial on Tuesday for their role in Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid, putting the spotlight back on Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades which could make it flare once again.
As revolution turns 40, Iran taunts U.S., vaunts military
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians marched and some burned U.S. flags on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the triumph of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shi’ite cleric who toppled the Shah in an Islamic Revolution that rattles the West to this da…
