Month: August 2025

WASHINGTON: The FBI is firing another round of employees, including former Acting Director Brian Driscoll, in its latest moves against officials who worked on issues that drew President Donald Trump’s ire, four people briefed on the matter said on Thursday. Driscoll, who temporarily served as the bureau’s director early this year before FBI Director Kash… Continue reading FBI fires ex-acting director Driscoll, other senior agents

WASHINGTON: The federal judiciary’s information technology systems have been targeted by “recent escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature,“ the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said in a statement on Thursday. The statement follows a Politico report late on Wednesday that the judiciary’s electronic case filing system had been compromised in a sweeping… Continue reading US federal courts targeted by sophisticated cyberattacks

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily halted new construction at an immigration detention facility in Florida dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” while a lawsuit over its environmental impact plays out. At a hearing in Miami, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams blocked new construction at the site in the Florida Everglades through August 12 but did not suspend… Continue reading Judge halts ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid environmental suit

SAN SALVADOR: El Salvador’s Congress on Thursday passed a swath of tax breaks offered to firms in exchange for investments of more than $2 billion in the country, meant to boost the small Central American nation’s economy. Firms will be offered exemptions on taxes on investment income, real estate transfers, municipal taxes and tariffs and… Continue reading El Salvador approves major tax breaks to attract billion-dollar investments

AMMAN: A Jordanian official told Reuters on Thursday that Arabs “will only support what Palestinians agree and decide on” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wanted to hand over Gaza to Arab forces that would govern it. “Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,“ the source said. Netanyahu did not… Continue reading Jordan: Arabs back only what Palestinians decide on Gaza

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haitian businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr took over his country’s leadership on Thursday, the last phase of its transition before it is mandated to hand power to a democratically elected successor, but a top gang leader threatened to topple the precarious government. Saint-Cyr was inaugurated at a ceremony at the capital’s Villa d’Acceuil, the temporary seat… Continue reading Haiti businessman takes presidency amid gang threats

PARIS: France’s constitutional court on Thursday blocked the re-introduction of a pesticide accused of harming bees, in the latest twist in a fierce political battle in the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer. The court said the re-authorisation of acetamiprid, part of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides banned in France, as proposed under a farming bill… Continue reading French court blocks return of bee-harming pesticide in farming law

JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave. “We intend to,“ Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bill Hemmer when asked if Israel… Continue reading Netanyahu seeks full Israeli military control over Gaza amid war

GLOBAL miners BHP Group and Vale have offered around $1.4 billion to settle a class action lawsuit in the United Kingdom tied to one of Brazil’s worst-ever environmental disasters, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The lawsuit stems from the collapse in 2015 of the Mariana dam in southeastern Brazil, owned and operated by the… Continue reading BHP and Vale offer $1.4b settlement for Brazil dam disaster lawsuit

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday reaffirmed France’s full support for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the launch of talks aimed at reaching a lasting and solid peace, following a “long discussion” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other European leaders. “I reiterated to the Ukrainian President France’s full support for establishing a ceasefire… Continue reading Macron backs Ukraine ceasefire after talks with Zelenskiy and EU leaders

BENGALURU/BRASILIA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke by phone on Thursday, their offices said, discussing a broad range of topics that included tariffs imposed by the United States on goods from both countries. Lula confirmed a state visit to India in early 2026 during the call, which… Continue reading Modi and Lula discuss US tariffs amid Trump trade blitz

THE U.S. Air Force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with between 15 and 18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters. These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or… Continue reading US Air Force denies early retirement for transgender service members

BEIRUT: The United States has presented Lebanon with a proposal for disarming Hezbollah by the end of the year, along with ending Israel’s military operations in the country and the withdrawal of its troops from five positions in south Lebanon, according to a copy of a Lebanese cabinet agenda reviewed by Reuters. The plan, submitted… Continue reading US proposes Hezbollah disarmament and Israeli withdrawal by year-end

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to allow private equity, real estate, cryptocurrency, and other alternative assets in 401(k) retirement accounts. The order smoothes the way for private equity and other fund managers to tap into trillions of dollars of Americans’ retirement savings. It could open up a… Continue reading Trump order allows alternative assets in 401(k) retirement plans

WASHINGTON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed a new financial assistance programme for the war-torn country with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a phone call on Thursday. “We discussed a new programme of financial assistance that will strengthen Ukrainians now and in the post-war period,“ Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging… Continue reading Zelenskiy discusses new IMF aid programme for Ukraine amid budget crisis

U.S. President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries kicked in on Thursday, raising the average U.S. import duty to its highest in a century and leaving major trade partners such as Switzerland, Brazil and India hurriedly searching for a better deal. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency began collecting the… Continue reading Trump’s higher tariffs spark defiance from US trading partners