Category: World

WASHINGTON: The bitter clash between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has drawn a spotlight on the South African-born tycoon’s businesses. Here is a look at his affairs as their White House partnership turns toxic, with billions of dollars in market value and government contracts hanging in the balance. – Tesla – The Tesla car company… Continue reading From allies to enemies: the cost of a Musk-Trump split

TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, MEXICO: A small airplane from Guatemala involved in fighting an outbreak of flesh-eating larvae crashed in southern Mexico on Friday, killing three people, authorities said. The aircraft came down in the southernmost Chiapas state while releasing sterile screwworm flies to combat a pest that prompted the United States to suspend livestock imports from… Continue reading Three dead as pest control plane crashes in Mexico

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military announced Friday the deaths of four soldiers in Gaza, saying it needed thousands more troops to press its offensive, just as the premier’s coalition faces the prospect of collapse over ultra-Orthodox conscription. News of the soldiers’ deaths came as Gaza’s civil defence agency reported 38 killed Friday in Israeli attacks across the… Continue reading Israel army announces 4 soldiers killed in Gaza, thousands more troops needed

NEW YORK: Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein conceded that he acted “immorally” but insisted he did nothing criminal as jury deliberations on his fate in his sex crimes retrial paused for the weekend Friday. Jurors said after two days that they needed “more time” to deliberate on a verdict for Weinstein. He is on trial… Continue reading Weinstein concedes he acted ‘immorally’ as jury deliberations pause

WASHINGTON: The Salvadoran migrant at the heart of a row over President Donald Trump’s hardline deportation policies was returned to the United States on Friday and arrested on human smuggling charges, officials said. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador and immediately arrested on charges of trafficking undocumented… Continue reading Wrongly deported Salvadoran migrant arrested on return to US

NEW YORK: An ex-girlfriend of Sean Combs testified Friday of sex with a network of paid male escorts at the music mogul’s behest and that he asked her to transport drugs for him. The woman speaking under the pseudonym Jane took the stand for a second day in the sex trafficking and racketeering trial, delivering… Continue reading Witness tells jurors of coercive sex, transporting drugs for Combs

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump can bar The Associated Press from some White House media events for now, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, pausing a lower court order to give access to the US news agency’s journalists. AP journalists and photographers have been barred from the Oval Office and from traveling on Air Force One… Continue reading US court says Trump can bar AP from key White House events for now

WASHINGTON: A divided US Supreme Court on Friday granted President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the social security data of millions of Americans. The decision came after the Trump administration appealed to the top court to lift an April order by a district judge restricting DOGE access to Social Security Administration… Continue reading Supreme Court grants DOGE access to social security data

NEW YORK: US agents pounced on two immigrants in the hallway of a New York courthouse Friday, wrestling them to the ground in a forceful display of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on people without papers. The two men had just attended a scheduled hearing when plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, some wearing black face… Continue reading US agents arrest two migrants at NY courthouse

NEW DELHI: India is committed to efforts to develop its restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, accusing neighbour Pakistan of seeking to destroy livelihoods there with April’s deadly attack on tourists. He was speaking on his first visit to the Himalayan region since Islamist attackers targeted Hindu tourists… Continue reading India vows to keep up development in Kashmir after tourist attack

THE European Medicines Agency’s safety committee has concluded that the use of Novo Nordisk’s popular weight-loss drug Wegovy and its treatments for type 2 diabetes may cause rare occurrences of a potentially dangerous eye condition. Called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), the condition may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people taking semaglutide, the… Continue reading Novo’s Ozempic, Wegovy linked to rare cases of dangerous eye disorder, EMA says

LONDON: Contraceptives that could help prevent millions of unwanted pregnancies in some of the world’s poorest countries are stuck in warehouses because of U.S. aid cuts and could be destroyed, two aid industry sources and one former government official said. The stock, held in Belgium and Dubai, includes condoms, contraceptive implants, pills and intrauterine devices,… Continue reading Contraceptives for poorest countries stuck in warehouses after US aid cuts

JERUSALEM: Ten Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza on Friday, local health authorities said, as a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group handing out aid in the enclave said all its distribution sites were closed until further notice. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the report of the 10 deaths in Jabalia… Continue reading GHF suspends Gaza aid sites after shootings, Israeli shelling kills 10 in Jabalia

KATHMANDU: Authorities in Nepal have charged former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal with corruption and demanded a million-dollar fine over the purchase of land by a firm owned by Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, a court official said on Friday. Nepal, prime minister between 2009 and 2011, faces charges of allowing Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal company… Continue reading Nepal ex-PM faces graft charge over land deal with Indian yoga guru’s firm

BEIJING: China called on Friday for steps to improve bilateral ties with Canada, saying there were no deepseated conflicts of interest, following a spike in trade tensions with many of Beijing’s Western trade partners this year. China is willing to work with Canada to put ties on a healthy and stable path and find solutions… Continue reading China seeks improved ties with Canada amid rising trade tensions

LONDON: Russia will take years to replace nuclear-capable bomber planes that were hit in Ukrainian drone strikes last weekend, according to Western military aviation experts, straining a modernisation programme that is already delayed. Satellite photos of airfields in Siberia and Russia’s far north show extensive damage from the attacks, with several aircraft completely burnt out,… Continue reading Russia faces struggle to replace bombers lost in Ukrainian drone strikes

LONDON: Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday. Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house… Continue reading Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer

MOSCOW: Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had carried out a massive and successful strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia. Russia’s military released the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched an intense missile and drone barrage… Continue reading Russia says its strike against Kyiv and other centres was a response to Ukrainian ‘terrorist acts’

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won a surprise victory on Friday in a fiercely fought by-election for the Scottish parliament, while support for the right-wing Reform UK party surged in a contest tainted by a row over racism. After one of the most bitter election campaigns in Scotland, Labour won the seat… Continue reading In surprise victory, UK’s Labour wins Scottish by-election after racism row

SOUTH Africa is building up vaccine stocks and expanding inoculations to fight a worsening foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the agriculture ministry said, as the country faces threats to beef supplies. Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious, viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals that may also affect other species. Flare-ups have been reported over the past several months… Continue reading South Africa to ramp up vaccinations as foot-and-mouth disease spreads

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he would pursue a deal under which U.S. cars could be imported into Europe duty free in exchange for tariff waivers on the same number of vehicles exported to the U.S. Speaking at an event in Berlin just hours after his inaugural trip to Washington for… Continue reading Germany’s Merz eyes car tariff offsetting mechanism after Trump talks

AMSTERDAM: The EU gave its backing on Friday to the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and EU member Slovenia said it would push Brussels to use its power to ensure the U.S. sanctions could not be enforced in Europe. “The ICC holds perpetrators of the world’s gravest crimes to… Continue reading ICC governing body condemns US sanctioning ICC judges

SYDNEY: China is taking further steps towards high seas boarding of fishing boats in the Pacific for the first time, risking tensions with Taiwanese fleets and U.S. Coast Guard vessels that ply the region, Pacific Islands officials told Reuters. The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships, used to enforce… Continue reading China demonstrates coast guard capability to Pacific nations, step towards high seas patrols

TOKYO: Japan’s government is distancing itself from tax cuts in its annual policy guidelines, amid heightened volatility in the government debt market driven partly by concerns about the country’s tattered finances. The draft of the annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines, presented on Friday, stated that Japan will aim to achieve higher disposable household income… Continue reading Japan’s government to say it is not relying on tax cuts to boost income

MOSCOW: Drones attacked an industrial enterprise in Russia’s southern city of Engels on Friday, causing a fire, the regional governor said. Video posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed a fire burning fiercely and emitting huge clouds of black smoke. Governor Roman Busargin did not specify what kind of industrial site was targeted.… Continue reading Drone attack set fire to industrial site in Russia’s Engels, governor says

BRUSSELS: Officials organising a NATO summit in The Hague this month are expected to keep it short, restrict discussion of Ukraine, and choreograph meetings so that Volodymyr Zelenskiy can somehow be in town without provoking Donald Trump. Though the Ukrainian president is widely expected to attend the summit in some form, NATO has yet to… Continue reading NATO’s dilemma: how Zelenskiy can attend summit without provoking Trump

MYANMAR’S military has arrested a six-year-old child as part of a group it labelled “terrorists” for the daytime killing of a retired military officer and diplomat last month, a junta-run newspaper reported on Friday. Cho Htun Aung, 68, a retired brigadier general who also served as an ambassador, was shot dead in Myanmar’s commercial capital… Continue reading Six-year-old girl among Myanmar group arrested for killing retired general

WARSAW: Poland’s foreign minister poked fun at Elon Musk late on Thursday, returning to a social media spat from March after the Tesla and SpaceX boss spectacularly fell out with U.S. President Donald Trump. Warsaw’s top diplomat Radoslaw Sikorski found himself embroiled in an extraordinarily public clash with Musk and U.S. Secretary of State Marco… Continue reading Polish foreign minister takes aim at Musk after Trump clash

WASHINGTON: When Donald Trump met privately with White House officials on Wednesday, there was little to suggest that the U.S. president was close to a public break with Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman who helped him win a second term in office. Two White House officials familiar with the matter said Trump expressed confusion and… Continue reading From bros to foes: how the unlikely Trump-Musk relationship imploded

ROME: Italians will start voting on Sunday in a two-day referendum on whether to ease citizenship laws and reverse a decade-old liberalisation of the labour market, but the vote may fail to generate sufficient turnout to be deemed valid. Opposition leftist and centrist parties, civil society groups and a leading trade union have latched onto… Continue reading Italians vote on easing citizenship requirements, reversing labour reform

RUSSIA sees little chance of saving its last nuclear accord with the United States, due to expire in eight months, given the “ruined” state of relations with Washington, its top arms control official said in an interview published on Friday. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also told TASS news agency that President Donald Trump’s proposed… Continue reading Russian official sees dim prospects for nuclear accord given ‘ruined’ relations with US, TASS reports

KYIV: Russia mounted an intense missile and drone barrage of the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing four people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the city. The attack followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via U.S. leader Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic… Continue reading Intense Russian air attack on Ukraine’s capital kills four

BANGKOK: Thailand’s military said it is ready to launch a “high-level operation” to counter any violation of its sovereignty, in the strongest words yet in a simmering border dispute with Cambodia that re-erupted with a deadly clash last week. The army said in a statement late on Thursday that its intelligence gathering indicated Cambodia had… Continue reading Thai PM says military ready to protect sovereignty amid border row with Cambodia

TOKYO: Japanese company ispace said its uncrewed moon lander likely crashed onto the lunar surface during its touchdown attempt on Friday, marking another failure two years after an unsuccessful inaugural mission. Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to join U.S. firms Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace in making successful commercial moon landings amid a global race that… Continue reading Japan’s ispace fails again: Resilience lander crashes on moon

SINGAPORE: Former Singapore Transport Minister S. Iswaran has completed his sentence and is no longer in prison custody, local media reported. The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) said on Friday that he has completed his emplacement on the Home Detention Scheme, The Straits Times (ST) reported. The 62-year-old was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by the… Continue reading Ex-Singapore Transport Minister Iswaran completes sentence

TOKYO: The global auto industry has been rocked by China’s decision to restrict exports of rare earth magnets that are crucial to making vehicles. With a near monopoly on the output of rare earth elements, Beijing is using them as a key weapon in its trade war with Washington. Here we look at the implications… Continue reading Auto sector reels from China’s rare earth restrictions

MINA, SAUDI ARABIA: Pilgrims were performing the last major ritual of the hajj — the “stoning of the devil” — on Friday, as Muslims around the globe celebrated the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday. Starting before day break, the more than 1.6 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage threw seven stones at each… Continue reading Muslim pilgrims ‘stone the devil’ as hajj nears end in Saudi Arabia

HONG KONG: In a Cantonese opera inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump, a Chinese actor donning a blond wig spars on a Hong Kong stage with a man playing a double of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – ridiculing his outfit and firing a water gun at him. The sold-out show, “Trump, The Twins President”, was… Continue reading Trump-inspired Cantonese opera in Hong Kong aims to bring love and peace

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to cut off government contracts with billionaire Elon Musk’s companies, while Musk suggested Trump should be impeached, turning their bromance into an all-out brawl on social media. The hostilities began when Trump criticized Tesla CEO Musk in the Oval Office. Within hours, the once-close relationship had disintegrated in… Continue reading Trump, Musk feud explodes with threats of cutting contracts, backing impeachment

NEW YORK: A court on Thursday put a temporary stay on Donald Trump’s latest effort to stop foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, as the US president’s battle with one of the world’s most prestigious universities intensified. A proclamation issued by the White House late Wednesday sought to bar most new international students at Harvard… Continue reading Court blocks Trump’s new ban on foreign students at Harvard

BENGALURU: Indian police arrested two people including a senior executive at IPL-winning cricket team Royal Challengers Bengaluru after 11 fans were crushed to death during victory celebrations, local media reported Friday. Hundreds of thousands had packed the streets in the southern tech city Bengaluru on Wednesday to welcome home their hero Virat Kohli and his… Continue reading India police arrest two after deadly cricket stampede: reports

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he asked Elon Musk to leave his role in the Trump administration, and appeared to threaten billions of dollars in government funding as the row between the once close allies continued to widen Thursday, Anadolu Ajansi reported. “Elon was ‘wearing thin,‘ I asked him to leave, I took away… Continue reading Trump says he told Elon Musk to exit administration, threatens funding cuts

LOS ANGELES: The suspect in a Molotov cocktail attack on a Jewish protest march in Colorado appeared in court Thursday facing more than 100 charges over an incident that injured 15 people. Mohamed Sabry Soliman is alleged to have thrown firebombs and sprayed burning gasoline at a group of people who had gathered Sunday in… Continue reading Suspect in Colorado fire attack on Jewish protest faces 118 counts

LOS ANGELES: When the United States, Mexico and Canada launched their joint bid for the 2026 World Cup in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, the prevailing mood was unmistakeably upbeat. Peace, love and harmony: three countries joining forces in a “United Bid” to roll out the welcome mat for the most popular sporting… Continue reading Trump trade, immigration policies clouding World Cup preparations