WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday ordered mass layoffs at Voice of America and other government-funded media, moving ahead with gutting the outlets despite legal disputes and criticism that US adversaries will benefit. Kari Lake, a fervent Trump supporter named to a senior role at the US Agency for Global Media, said the notices…
BERLIN: Israel estimates its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon by “at least two or three years”, Israel’s foreign minister said in an interview published Saturday. Israel’s offensive, which has hit hundreds of nuclear and military sites, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists, has produced “very significant” results, Foreign…
JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, as Israel claimed it has already set back Iran’s presumed nuclear programme by at least two years. Trump’s latest comments indicated he could take a decision before the fortnight deadline he set a day…
Iran will consider diplomacy when aggression stops, foreign minister says Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (centre) met European diplomats in Geneva on Friday Iran has said it will not resume talks over its nuclear programme while under attack, hours after Israel’s defence minister warned of “prolonged” conflict against the Islamic republic. Exchanges of fire continued…
Last Friday, Israel launched massive air strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with barrages of missiles. In a video message that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Iranian people that in addition to Israel’s aim of thwarting Iran’s nuclear programme, “we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom”. Some…
Jihadists on 200 motorbikes storm Niger army base Niger’s army has been struggling to contain the jihadist insurgency (file photo) More than 200 gunmen on motorbikes have attacked a Niger army base near the border with Mali, leaving at least 34 soldiers dead, the country’s defence ministry said. The attackers – described by the ministry…
TOKYO: Japan’s core inflation hit a more than two-year high in May, exceeding the central bank’s 2% target for well over three years, keeping it under pressure to resume interest rate hikes despite economic pressure from U.S. tariffs. The data underscores the challenge the Bank of Japan faces in juggling pressure from persistent food inflation…
BEIJING: Tesla’s first China grid-scale battery storage station using its megapack batteries will be located in Shanghai, local media Yicai reported on Friday. The deal involving an investment of 4 billion yuan ($556.8 million) was signed between the U.S. automaker, China Kangfu International Leasing Co and the Shanghai local government on Friday, according to the…
BEIJING: China’s military criticised on Friday the sailing of a British warship through the Taiwan Strait as a deliberate attempt to “cause trouble”, while Taiwan’s president ordered monitoring stepped up in response to Chinese military activities. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, though Taipei rejects that claim, has stepped up drills around the…
THE BBC has threatened legal action against Perplexity, accusing the AI startup of training its “default AI model” using BBC content, the Financial Times reported on Friday, making the British broadcaster the latest news organisation to accuse the AI firm of content scraping. The BBC may seek an injunction unless Perplexity stops scraping its content,…
