Author: arabcolumnist.com
MENA Newswire, NEW DELHI: India placed 16th out of 154 countries in the Responsible Nations Index 2026, a new global ranking that assesses how countries use national power in relation to citizens, the environment and the wider international community. The index was launched in New Delhi under the aegis of the World Intellectual Foundation, which said the framework is intended to broaden comparisons beyond conventional measures such as economic size or military strength. The launch was held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in the capital, with former President Ram Nath Kovind attending as chief guest. A government release said the index…
MENA Newswire, DETROIT: Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 119,000 vehicles in the United States after federal safety regulators said a defect in certain engine block heaters can raise the risk of an under-hood fire when the heater is plugged in. The recall covers some Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter engines, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA said the engine block heater in the affected vehicles may develop cracks that allow coolant to leak through the heater’s element pins. If coolant reaches the heater-to-cord interface and the system is connected to a 110-volt power supply, the condition can…
MENA Newswire, Cairo, Egypt: At a time when Arab literature is witnessing renewed interest in psychological depth and introspective storytelling, Emirati author Heba Ibrahim Al-Mansoori is set to make a notable cultural statement with the launch of her novel Tanfisa at the 57th Cairo International Book Fair. Her participation underscores the growing presence of Emirati writers on major Arab literary stages and reflects a broader shift toward narratives that explore the human psyche with nuance, sensitivity, and intellectual ambition. Introducing Tanfisa in Cairo, a city long regarded as the heart of Arab publishing and thought, positions the novel within a…
MENA Newswire, KARACHI: Rescue teams searched through debris at Karachi’s Gul Plaza shopping complex on Tuesday after a large fire swept through the commercial building over the weekend, killing at least 21 people and leaving 63 others missing, according to Rescue 1122 officials involved in the operation. The fire began late Saturday and burned for nearly two days, officials said, damaging much of the multi storey plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road in the Saddar area, a dense retail district in Pakistan’s largest city. Authorities said the search shifted from firefighting to recovery as crews used heavy equipment to remove rubble from collapsed sections…
MENA Newswire, RALEIGH: Spring & Mulberry has expanded a voluntary recall of select chocolate bars sold nationwide after testing indicated possible Salmonella contamination, according to a company announcement posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Raleigh-based company said the affected products have been available for purchase online and through select retail partners since Sept. 15, 2025, and consumers should not eat recalled items. The FDA posting lists the expanded recall announcement date as Jan. 14, 2026, with the agency publishing the notice on Jan. 15, 2026. The company said it is updating an earlier press release issued on Jan. 12, 2026, which…
MENA Newswire, BOSTON: Scientists at Tufts University say they have developed a more efficient way to make tagatose, a naturally occurring “rare sugar” that tastes close to table sugar while delivering fewer calories and a much smaller rise in blood glucose and insulin in published clinical studies. The team reported that engineering bacteria to convert widely available glucose into tagatose could address a longstanding obstacle that has kept the sweetener relatively expensive and limited in use. Tagatose occurs only in trace amounts in nature, including in some dairy products when lactose is broken down by heat or enzymes and in small quantities…
WASHINGTON: More than seven years after President Donald Trump launched sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods, official data and widely cited economic studies show the measures raised costs inside the United States while leaving the core U.S. goods trade deficit with China largely intact. The tariff program began in 2018 under a federal trade law investigation and has remained a defining feature of the bilateral economic relationship through successive policy adjustments. Congressional and executive branch summaries show the United States imposed additional duties ranging from 7.5% to 25% on roughly $370 billion worth of imports from China, prompting China to retaliate on about $110 billion in…
MENA Newswire, BUENOS AIRES: Argentina has repaid the United States $2.5 billion that it drew under a short term currency swap credit line from the U.S. Treasury, completing the repayment by the end of December 2025, according to statements from U.S. and Argentine authorities. The repayment closes out Argentina’s use of the facility that was opened in October 2025 as market pressures intensified and foreign currency reserves remained strained. The U.S. Treasury said the transaction was conducted through the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a long standing mechanism used for financial stability operations. Treasury officials said the fund no longer holds Argentine pesos…
MENA Newswire, ABU DHABI: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held talks with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal on Thursday, focusing on ways to strengthen bilateral ties and expand cooperation in priority sectors, according to an official readout of the meeting. The discussions took place in Abu Dhabi during Faye’s working visit to the United Arab Emirates. The leaders met at Qasr Al Shati, where they reviewed the state of UAE-Senegal relations and discussed practical steps to deepen collaboration across areas linked to development and shared economic interests. The agenda included coordination on initiatives intended to support prosperity in both countries, with officials framing the…
MENA Newswire, CHICAGO: A 25-year research effort at Northwestern University has detailed a consistent pattern among a small group of adults in their 80s and beyond who retain memory performance more typical of people decades younger. The team studies “SuperAgers,” defined as individuals age 80 or older who meet stringent standards on episodic memory testing, including scoring at least 9 out of 15 on a delayed word recall measure, comparable to typical performance in people in their 50s and 60s. Researchers said the long-running program, based at Northwestern’s Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease, has followed participants with annual evaluations and, in…