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New street protests in France amid pension strikes

A protester waves a flare during a demonstration in Lyon, central France, January 16, 2020. /AP Image Thousands of workers took to the streets across France on Thursday for a sixth day of mass

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Mobile payment app Lydia raises $45 million round led by Tencent

French startup Lydia is raising a $45 million Series B round (€40 million). Tencent is leading the round with existing investors CNP Assurances, XAnge and New Alpha also participating.If you live in F

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Foreign organizations should not interfere in Hong Kong affairs: HKSAR gov't

File photo shows China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhu

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Trump's former national security adviser Flynn seeks to drop guilty plea

Michael Flynn, U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, is asking a federal court to let him withdraw his guilty plea on charges of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigatio

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US dismisses Iraq request to work on a troop withdrawal plan

Iraq’s caretaker prime minister asked Washington to start working out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, but the U.S. State Department on Friday bluntly rejec

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Iraq, U.S. discuss U.S.-Iran conflict on Iraqi soil

Caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone the recent U.S.-Iran conflict in Iraq and the need to preve

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Trump Says Wants to Include Middle East in NATO and Dub it 'NATO-ME'

Addressing the nation on Wednesday, President Trump said he would ask NATO to boost its involvement in the process in the Middle East. The message came after Iran attac

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UN-supported Libya government welcomes civil war truce calls

Libya’s United Nations-supported government has welcomed Russian and Turkish calls for a ceasefire in the country’s ongoing civil war, though its rivals appeared cool t

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U.S. forces withdraw from 2 bases in Syria's Hasakah

The U.S. troops withdrew on Wednesday from two military bases in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah following the overnight retaliatory attacks by Iran on U.S. t

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Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei Calls Overnight Missile Strikes 'a Slap in the Face' of US

In the early hours of Wednesday, Iran launched two missile attacks on American targets in Iraq in response to the assassination of its top military commander, General S

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Joe Biden blames Trump for exacerbating Middle East tensions

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said here Tuesday that President Donald Trump is bringing the United States "dangerously close" to starting a war with Iran. The D

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Pentagon denies reports on U.S. pullback from Iraq

The Pentagon said on Monday that there was no policy change regarding its force presence in Iraq after media reported earlier that U.S. troops are preparing to withdra

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Alibaba gets serious about becoming a challenger bank

Editor's Note: Matteo Giovannini is a finance professional at ICBC in Beijing and a member of the China Task Force at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. The article reflects the author'

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U.S.-led coalition announces preparation to withdraw from Iraq

The U.S.-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) militant group announced on Monday its preparation to exit Iraq after the resolution of the Iraqi

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Pentagon denies U.S. withdrawal amid aftermath of Soleimani killing

The United States has no plans to pull its troops out of Iraq, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday, following reports of an American military letter informing I

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Iraqi PM stresses importance of joint work with U.S. to withdraw foreign forces

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi confirmed Monday to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller the importance of joint work to implement the withdrawal of foreign f

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Libya's east-based parliament votes to cut ties with Turkey

Libya's east-based House of Representatives on Saturday voted to cut ties with Turkey after Turkish approval of sending troops to Libya to support the UN-backed governm