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Turkey set to host COP31 climate summit as deal with Australia takes shape

BELEM, Brazil/CANBERRA (Reuters) -Turkey would host next year’s UN climate summit while Australia would lead the conference’s negotiations among governments, under a compromise deal that three sources familiar with the matter said was taking shape in talks on Thursday.

Australia and Turkey both submitted bids in 2022 to host the annual COP, or Conference of the Parties, the world's main forum for driving climate action.

The two nations have been in a protracted struggle to host, with neither willing to back down.

FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev attend the opening of the Belem Climate Summit plenary session, as part of the COP30 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Belem, Brazil, November 6, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

G20 countries' medium-term growth to be weakest since 2009 crisis, IMF says

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The world's 20 largest economies will grow by just 2.9% in 2030 amid headwinds from protectionism and policy uncertainty, their weakest medium-term outlook since the global financial crisis of 2009, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

In a report to the Group of 20, the global lender mapped out a series of challenges facing the global economy, including widening excessive balances and stretched public coffers, as well as aging populations in advanced economies.

FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S. September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo/File Photo

Saudis lift travel ban on US citizen sentenced for tweets: family

Saudi Arabia has lifted a travel ban on a US citizen who criticized the kingdom on social media, his family said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump welcomed the crown prince.

Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a US citizen of Saudi origin, had been arrested during a visit to his native country in 2021 after tweets that mentioned corruption and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident writer strangled and dismembered in a Saudi consulate.

Ibrahim Almadi (L), poses for a picture with his father, Saad, at a vacation resort in Florida on June 20, 2021

US F-35 jets to be sold to Saudi Arabia to lack Israel's advanced features

By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The F-35 fighter jets the U.S. plans to sell Saudi Arabia will be less advanced than those operated by Israel, in line with a U.S. law that guarantees Israel’s military edge in the region, U.S. officials and defense experts said on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump announced the sale this week, but officials said the Saudi aircraft will lack superior features of Israel’s fleet that include advanced weapons systems and electronic warfare equipment.

An F-35 jet performs performs at the Dubai Airshow in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

Trump vows to end Sudan war, in sudden pivot

US President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to end Sudan's grinding civil war at the request of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, condemning "tremendous atrocities" in a conflict he has previously overlooked.

Trump admitted that the devastating war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was "not on my charts" before Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed him to get involved.

US President Donald Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had asked him to help end the Sudan war

Factbox-US secures $1 trillion Saudi spending commitments spanning nuclear energy to F-35s

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's lavish welcome of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington this week, touted by many as rehabilitation of human rights record of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, has been followed by the kingdom ramping up its planned U.S. investments to $1 trillion.

The move marks a remarkable increase from the $600 billion that the world's largest exporter announced during Trump's visit to Riyadh six month ago. Bin Salman is scheduled to meet top U.S. corporate leaders on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia interact during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

German minister backs stripping of citizenship from Hamas supporters

By Sarah Marsh

WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) -Germany's interior minister on Wednesday backed Berlin’s decision to strip a man of his citizenship for supporting Hamas, saying naturalised citizens should forfeit their nationality when they are found not to uphold German values.

The decision comes as Germany tightens immigration and citizenship rules amid a debate about who belongs in the country and the rise of the far-right.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany November 5, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

US lawmakers say any civil nuclear deal with Saudi must not create arms race

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. lawmakers cautioned against ushering in a nuclear arms race in the Middle East after the United States and Saudi Arabia said they signed an initial agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed an initial civil nuclear cooperation agreement on Tuesday as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, made his first White House visit in more than seven years.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia attend the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Trump says he will work on Sudan at Saudi's request

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said he will work to help end the war in Sudan after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to get involved in the matter.

"We've already started working on that," Trump said at a Saudi investment conference a day after he met with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler at the White House.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman holds President Donald Trump's hand during a meeting in the Oval Office. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Trump says will work to end Sudan war at Saudi prince's request

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would start "working" to end the war in Sudan, after visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to help solve the devastating conflict.

Trump has until now barely commented on the conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million since its outbreak in April 2023.

"His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump said at a Saudi-US business forum attended by Prince Mohammed.

US President Donald Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had asked him to help end the Sudan war